The Kansas Jayhawks have momentum on their side as they look toward their matchup with Kansas State this upcoming weekend. KU football took down the Houston Cougars 42-14 thanks to CB Cobee Bryant on the defensive side of the ball, but also in large part to QB Jalon Daniels, who was the highest graded Week 8 QB in college football according to Pro Football Focus:
Highest Graded Week 8 Quarterbacks🔥 pic.twitter.com/5Eral5QEuc
— PFF College (@PFF_College) October 21, 2024
Daniels looked poised, confident, and even electric against Houston, as he finished 16-for-21 passing for 247 yards and three passing TDs, two of which were to KU fan-favorite Jared Casey. The Kansas QB also added 58 rushing yards and a TD with his legs on seven attempts. It was a truly dominant performance.
His PFF grade of 91.0 was by far the best of the weekend, even putting him above potential Heisman Trophy finalist Cam Ward (83.4 grade) and K-State’s Avery Johnson (88.4 grade), among every other signal-caller in the nation.
Will this spark Jalon Daniels for the rest of the season?
Despite the horrific start to the season for the Jayhawks, things have been trending in a positive direction for Daniels as of late. After throwing an interception in each of the first five games of the campaign, he has now gone two games in a row without one and has been better at protecting the ball overall.
Additionally, even though Kansas fell short of beating Arizona State, Daniels had a very solid 81.8 QBR in that meeting and just posted his best QBR since 2022 with his 95.6 QBR against Houston. His previous highest QBR before these last two contests was a mediocre 50.8 against UNLV.
Daniels will now aim to make it three consecutive solid performances against their Sunflower Showdown rivals this weekend. The betting lines currently favor KSU by two possessions and are still rising in favor of the Wildcats. Kansas is looking to shock the football world by beating K-State for the first time since 2008, and they will need Daniels in peak form in order to do so.