Back-to-back losses resets expectations for this year’s Kansas football team

Prior to the start of the 2024 season, terms such as “Big 12 Championship” and “College Football Playoff (CFP)” were being mentioned in connection with Kansas football.

In fact, ESPN’s 2024 Football Power Index gave KU the best odds of any Big 12 team to win the conference this year (17.4%) and the 15th-best odds in the country to make the playoff (24%).

The team features 30 seniors who have had a lot of success the past two years, along with several highly touted freshmen. The offense was supposed to be one of the best in the country, and the schedule lined up favorably.

This year had the potential to be a dream season for the Jayhawks, but so far it’s turned into a nightmare.

Last week, KU lost to Illinois – a team picked to finish 13th in the Big Ten this year – by a score of 23-17. It was a game in which the Jayhawks dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and held a four-point lead with nearly nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.

Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels threw three interceptions in the loss – one of which was a pick-six – which proved to be the difference maker.

On Friday, KU lost at home (Children’s Mercy Park) to a UNLV team picked to finish second in the Mountain West Conference this year.

The Jayhawks were a 9.5-point favorite at kickoff but fell 23-20 to the Rebels despite outgaining them in passing and rushing yards, allowing a total of only seven completed passes and holding star wideout Ricky White III to just four yards receiving.

Turnovers and penalties were the killer for the Jayhawks in this one as KU racked up nine penalties for 90 yards (compared to UNLV’s three for 25 yards) and Daniels threw two interceptions – one of which eventually led to a Rebels touchdown as time expired in the second quarter.

These past two games, Jalon Daniels has not looked like the same Jalon Daniels we were accustomed to seeing prior to his back injury last season. He’s making poor throws, his confidence looks down, and he just doesn’t look comfortable in this Jeff Grimes offense.

And this new offense under Grimes looks like a far cry from the one KU had under previous offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki who is now calling plays for Penn State (2-0).

After back-to-back upset losses to Illinois and UNLV, KU now faces the harsh reality of knowing their CFP chances are all but gone and their odds of winning a Big 12 Championship look bleak.

Could they turn it around? Sure. Better play calling and better decision making from the quarterback are both very fixable things, and if KU was to finish with a 10-2 regular season record, that would understandably be celebrated as the Jayhawks haven’t finished with double digit wins since 2007-08.

But the best teams find a way to win when things aren’t going their way and KU was unable to do that against opponents who are much less talented than the Big 12 teams they are about to face.

The coaches and team would tell you that their expectations have not changed despite the recent losses – and that’s how it should be. They should be striving for greatness.

But from the outside looking in, the simple truth is this team is not the CFP and Big 12 title contender that many thought they could be heading into this year.