The Kansas Jayhawks took a big hit last Friday with a home loss to UNLV. It dropped the Jayhawks to 1-2 on the season. Illinois and UNLV, both teams that beat Kansas, now sit at 3-0 and may be better than everyone initially thought, but that doesn’t excuse the close losses that could have just as easily gone the Jayhawks way. Things won’t get easier for KU as they are about to enter conference play.
Saturday at 11:00 a.m. on ESPN2, the Jayhawks travel to Morgantown, West Virginia, to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers. Both teams are sitting at 1-2 on the season, and their losses are coming to teams that are still undefeated. Both teams will come into this game thinking they should have won last weekend. Both of these teams will be desperate for a win. That is what makes this game so intriguing, as Big 12 conference play officially opens up this weekend.
Despite the early setbacks, Kansas and West Virginia can start with a clean slate this weekend. With the expanded college football playoff starting this year and the Big 12 firmly being involved as one of the top power conferences in college football, the Jayhawks and Mountaineers can still hope to make a run this season. West Virginia has a very tough schedule ahead. After Kansas, they play three teams that are currently ranked in Oklahoma State, Iowa State, and Kansas State. Following that three-game stretch, road trips to Arizona and Cincinnati won’t be a walk in the park. A loss for the Mountaineers could really put them into a tailspin.
On the other hand, Kansas has a much more favorable schedule the rest of the way. They will only face two teams currently ranked the rest of the season, which would be at Kansas State and a home matchup with Iowa State. If Kansas can go on the road and pull out a win over West Virginia, that would be a game that can get them back on the right track and put some much-needed momentum into their season. There’s a great chance the Jayhawks would be 4-0 in conference play heading into that game at Kansas State.
Obviously, nothing is a given after watching the first three weeks of the season. The Jayhawks were expected to be 3-0 and are now 1-2. The most significant issues so far for the Jayhawks have been turnovers and offensive playcalling. It happened in back-to-back losses for Kansas. Three interceptions in each game, including one big one right before halftime. It was like a bad movie playing on repeat for the Jayhawk faithful.
In a season where the expectations were as high as they’ve ever been in the 134 year history of Kansas football, the Jayhawks have fallen flat on their face. They still have a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball, and the defense has been playing spectacular football through the first three weeks of the season.
It’s time for quarterback Jalon Daniels to flip a switch mentally and get things right. As he goes, so does the Kansas offense. Offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes needs to help Daniels out by leaning into the run game more to set up the passing game. Devin Neal is one of the best running backs in America, it’s time to utilize him and maximize his talents to get this team to another level.
There’s still time for Kansas to bounce back and make a run in the Big 12, but this is a must-win game for the Jayhawks on Saturday. The team’s goals of winning the Big 12 and making it into the College Football Playoff are still on the table, but they must turn things around this week.
