photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas wide receiver Andrew Parchment (4) races up the field for a touchdown during the third quarter on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

More than 10 minutes into the third quarter against West Virginia, Kansas football receiver Andrew Parchment finally got the route he had hoped for — and asked for — all afternoon.

Parchment had worked on a specific post route toward the middle of the field all week during practices. The junior receiver, who hadn’t contributed a catch for the Jayhawks’ offense up to that point of the Big 12 opener, made sure to bring that up to his position coach, Emmett Jones, multiple times, convinced it would work.

Sure enough, on KU’s second possession of the second half, the call came in. A Carter Stanley play-action pass hit Parchment in stride for a 75-yard touchdown, as the wideout beat WVU senior cornerback Hakeem Bailey for a one-play scoring drive.

With that highlight as his first catch of the afternoon, Parchment finished with five receptions, 132 yards and a pair of touchdowns, leading to the Big 12 naming the junior college transfer the conference’s Newcomer of the Week.

“I’m just happy it worked out the way it did,” Parchment said Monday of his career-long catch. “Shoutout to the O-linemen and Carter, Khalil Herbert for picking up the linebacker blitz as well. Also, there were other receivers doing their part on the route to make me get open.”

A two-star receiver at Iowa Central Community College a year ago, the 6-foot-2, 180-pound playmaker from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has quickly emerged as one of the Jayhawks’ most important offensive players. His 24 catches and 367 receiving yards rank third among all Big 12 players. Plus, he’s tied with five other players for second in the league in TD receptions with four — only Oklahoma State’s Tylan Wallace (six) has more.

Kansas head coach Les Miles, who has spoken highly of Parchment’s abilities dating back to the spring, said the team’s first Big 12 award winner of the season has been “tremendous.”

“As soon as we got him on campus,” Miles said, “we realized the abilities that he had to move his feet, catch the ball. In just a matter of time, you know, we were going to get him set up and into a position where he could make some catches. That’s happening now week in and week out.”

Stanley, KU’s senior starting quarterback, said he speaks with Parchment and other receivers throughout each week, to determine how they think certain routes will work against the upcoming opponent, given the styles and tendencies of the defense they’re about to face.

Through his first four starts in a KU uniform, the preparation has played a part in Parchment producing three 100-yard receiving games.

Stanley said the junior’s “speed and passion” are his best attributes.

“He wants to win just about as bad as anyone else,” Stanley said.

Averaging 15.3 yards per catch and 91.8 yards per game, it seems likely that Big 12 defensive coordinators will start game-planning to take away Parchment as a weapon.

Even if that makes it harder for the breakout receiver to keep putting up such impressive numbers, that’s OK with him.

“If they want to key their attention to me then somebody else is going to kill you,” Parchment said, referencing other KU skill players such as running backs Pooka Williams Jr. and Herbert and fellow receivers Stephon Robinson and Daylon Charlot. “So I’m not really too worried about it.”

Parchment found out about his Big 12 newcomer award Monday morning, and he considered it a “great accomplishment,” but also one that reminded him there are a lot of games left on the schedule.

“I feel like there’s more to come from me, and also more in store for this team as well,” Parchment said. “I’m happy about it, but I’m not satisfied.”

KU (2-2 overall, 0-1 Big 12) plays at TCU (2-1, 0-0), in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday.