With an experienced quarterback like Jalon Daniels at the helm, his greatest strength debatably becomes his smarts on the field. Daniels has seen the peaks and troughs of collegiate football from playing for a 0-9 team in 2020 to now, where the redshirt senior has mounted 18 touchdowns to just two interceptions this season and looks in fine form with 1,752 yards in the air to back that up.
What many come to expect of Daniels is a mobile threat, and with good reason. Through Daniels’ 44 games, he has notched 20 rushing touchdowns and 1,240 yards for a chunk of approximately 28 rushing yards per game.
Yet this season, when watching Daniels, one question had arisen: Where are the designed runs?
This is what Kansas head coach Lance Leipold was asked on Monday during his obligatory media availability.
“It's what we're seeing defensively. That's playing a big part in that…was it, the Cincinnati game? We ran when they had a bad pitch, and as soon as you do that, you probably don't run stuff as much. You've got to make sure it's the clean look that you want to do it, but it's still part of the plan, and it will be.”
Daniels’ fumbles came deep into the Cincinnati red zone with 12 minutes to play in the fourth quarter and the Bearcats up 30-27.
However, it is worth noting that with a 37-34 scoreline, certainly not all the blame falls on one offensive mistake by Daniels, as the defense conceded 603 yards to Cincinnati.
“But I just think some of the things that when it's fallen into a time that we could call it and stuff, it looks extremely difficult to get executed.”
Yes, Daniels is unfortunately injury-prone and has seen chunks of his career missed due to injury, so putting him in any position to get hit is not a smart way of keeping your talented quarterback on the field.
Yet with a mix-and-match running back room, Kansas has compiled, things can quickly be abandoned, and a passing game takes center stage.
This season, Kansas has totaled 133.7 yards on the ground, which measures out to 84th in the nation.
Leading the Jayhawks in the rushing department is Iowa transfer Leshon Williams, who leads the pack with 309 yards and five touchdowns. In second place ranks long-standing running back Daniel Hishaw Jr. Hishaw has posted 231 yards and one touchdown himself.
Daniels ranks third on the list with 199 yards on the ground and one touchdown on the ground.
With the preliminary injury report released yesterday, Kansas listed running back Hishaw as probable, only adding cycle of runners.
When looking across the field this Saturday, Kansas will be taking on the 3-4 Kansas State Wildcats. The holes will be there for the Jayhawks to attack. The Wildcats rank 83rd in the nation with 162.7 points given up per game.
Make sure to bookmark Through the Phog and follow us on X and Facebook with the username @Throughthephog