The 2024 football season hasn’t exactly gone how Lance Leipold and the Kansas Jayhawks had envisioned. With the roster they had coming back (from a nine-win team in 2023), many thought they could be a contender in the Big 12. That just has not been the case through seven games.
After a season-opening win against Lindenwood, a trend continued over the next five games that turned into losses and a 1-5 record that derailed the season. In the final minute of the first half of each game they lost, they allowed a touchdown. When four of those five losses came by less than seven points, those late first-half lapses proved to be the difference in each game. Even in an 11-point loss to TCU, the Jayhawks would have had a 17-14 lead, along with momentum, if they hadn’t allowed a touchdown in the final minute of that first half.
Despite outscoring their opponents 213-168 on the season, the record remains 2-5 after a 42-14 win at home against Houston last Saturday. The Jayhawks finally seemed to put everything together despite still giving up a touchdown in the final two minutes of the first half against the Cougars. At that point, KU led 28-14, and the game was well in hand. However, the Jayhawks will need to adjust their end-of-half play if they want to pull off some upsets to close the season.
This week starts an incredible stretch of three games for the Jayhawks. They’ll go on the road to play #16 Kansas State in Manhattan, host #10 Iowa State after a bye week, and then travel on the road to play #11 BYU in Provo, Utah. The Jayhawks season has been a bust so far, but picking up a win in the Sunflower Showdown against their rival Kansas State would be a good start to turning the season around.
Kansas State, Iowa State, and BYU all have legitimate College Football Playoff hopes. The Wildcats’ only loss is to BYU. Iowa State and BYU don’t play each other in the regular season and could meet up in the Big 12 Championship Game, both with an undefeated record. Kansas State and Iowa State play in their final game of the regular season in what could be a play-in game for the Big 12 Championship. The Jayhawks would like nothing more than to play spoiler for all of them.
Kansas has the talent to play with and to beat all of these teams coming up on their schedule. Sure, the task looks more daunting now than it did back in August when the only game Kansas was projected to be the underdog was at Kansas State. Now, the Jayhawks don’t have any pressure. Their season has been deemed lost by many, myself included. Clawing their way back to making it bowl-eligible even seems like a long shot. That could make this KU football team dangerous as they take on these highly-ranked opponents.
It all starts with the Sunflower Showdown in Week 9. Kansas leads the series overall 64-52-5, but Kansas State has won 15 in a row. The Jayhawks nearly ended the losing streak last year behind third-string quarterback Cole Ballard. This year, with Jalon Daniels as the starting quarterback, the Jayhawks should look to go back into the well in what made him a great quarterback: his dual-threat capability. Largely to this point in the season, the Jayhawks have kept Daniels in the pocket and not given him as many opportunities to use his legs and make plays on the run. Considering his lengthy injury history and wanting to keep him fresh, this makes sense, but it is time to take off the training wheels. It’s time to let Daniels loose.
They did a little bit better doing that in the 42-14 win over Houston last weekend when Daniels ran for 58 yards and a touchdown. He was also very efficient, completing 16 of 21 attempts for 247 yards and three touchdowns. More of that from Daniels could lead to significant upsets in the coming weeks.
The season isn’t a complete wash for Kansas just yet. Despite being a long shot, the Jayhawks still have the opportunity to become bowl-eligible. They also have a chance to ruin the fun for other teams along the way. It will take a complete team effort, but they have the talent to make things uncomfortable for ranked teams down the home stretch of the season. Starting this stretch with a win over Kansas State would heal some wounds in a season that has brought plenty of hurt to the Kansas fanbase.
