Over the past two weeks, things in Lawrence, Kansas, have taken a turn for the worse.
After dropping back-to-back games against Illinois and UNLV, Lance Leipold and the Kansas Jayhawks are in dire need of an offensive spark due to the uncharacteristic play of junior quarterback Jalon Daniels.
Kansas head coach Lance Leipold was asked for his thoughts on Daniels following the 23-20 loss, which prompted the use of an interesting word to describe his star quarterback: fragile.
“I say fragile,” Leipold said. “I think anybody would be like a little bit… I’m not going to pick words you’re going to quote, okay.”
With Daniels tossing two interceptions against UNLV, he has now thrown the second-most interceptions of any quarterback in 2024, trailing only ECU’s Jake Garcia. His six picks clear the most in a single season throughout his career despite just playing three games.
“I guess I mean, he’s throwing as many interceptions…it’s uncharacteristic,” Leipold continued. “And I’m not going to sit here and say, you know, that is it fair to him because he went through fall camp? Yeah, he went to fall camp, but he still hasn’t played in a lot of game situations in a while.”
“But we’ve got to find all the answers, as well, to help him. So I guess what I’m saying is…he threw a pick six a week before and now, he threw one that got returned again. It’s not going to be where it was…but he keeps fighting and competing. And like I say, I’ll believe in Jalon Daniels, and we’ll continue to get better.”
While the 1-2 start to the non-conference schedule doesn’t set the Jayhawks back any in the race for Arlington, the two games do come as a bit of a shock. Kansas entered both games as a touchdown favorite but couldn’t get the job done down the stretch.
The Jayhawks take the field next on Saturday, September 21st, vs. West Virginia on ESPN2.
