photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Quarterback Jalon Daniels throws on the sideline at KU's game against Houston on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas City, Mo. — Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels looked deep down the middle of the field on the first play of the team’s second drive and found wide receiver Quentin Skinner in one-on-one coverage. Daniels threw the ball 48 yards, placing it above the right shoulder of the Houston defensive back and right into the hands of Skinner for a touchdown.

The play was one of three touchdown passes Daniels had in KU’s 42-14 win over Houston at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday in a welcome offensive performance.

In a season where little has gone right for the Jayhawks — particularly in the passing game early in the year — Daniels’ sharp performance was much needed. He completed 76% of his passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns. It was his first three-touchdown game since BYU in 2023, the final game he played that year.

“(We) probably played our best ball all season,” Daniels said, “but we still haven’t played to our fullest potential yet.”

It wasn’t a one-time thing, either. Before the bye week, Daniels had what was, at that point, his best performance against Arizona State. In total, Daniels completed 34 of 52 passes in the last two games for 507 yards and five touchdowns. He also hasn’t thrown an interception in that time after throwing at least one in every other game this year.

Much of the KU passing attack has been between Daniels and wide receiver Luke Grimm — almost 40% of Daniels’ completions entering Saturday’s game went to Grimm alone. Against Houston, it was a much different story. Daniels threw 21 times and targeted seven total pass catchers, six of which were targeted multiple times.

Daniels still credited Grimm for his role in the game, by pulling the defense over to his side and freeing up the other receivers, but the passing offense succeeded without having to force the ball to Grimm.

Lawrence Arnold caught four passes for 80 yards. Tight end Jared Casey saw a lot of action close to the goal line, with two touchdowns on two receptions. Daniels said after the game that getting the ball to tight ends has been a focal point of KU’s offense in previous years. Trevor Kardell, Devin Neal and Skinner all had two or more receptions.

Daniels also said that spreading the ball around to multiple receivers helped lighten the box, which allowed him to find open running lanes. He had 58 rushing yards and a touchdown against Houston, his second straight game with a rushing touchdown.

While KU’s offense had been a source of frustration for the team, the Jayhawks have started to build some momentum. This was Daniels’ second straight game with multiple touchdowns and no interceptions. The offense scored a touchdown on its first four drives.

At 2-5, a lot still has to go right for KU to turn the season around. On top of that, the Jayhawks have to play on the road against two of the top teams in the Big 12 Conference, including Kansas State on Saturday.

But Daniels and the offense are finding success with players whom they expected to succeed with. Running back Devin Neal said postgame that the offense is building trust.

“The familiar JD that we saw in the past came out to show today,” Neal said. “It was really cool to see and I was super happy for him, especially with all the negativity that we’ve all seen.”

There are five games left in the season, three of which will be on the road. While the offense isn’t where the team wants it to be, it is trending in the right direction entering a crucial stretch of the season.