photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels (6) flaps his arms after a touchdown against UNLV during the first quarter on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.

West Virginia coach Neal Brown agreed on Monday with a reporter’s suggestion that “Jalon Daniels’ biggest strengths are the things that you’ve struggled with so far.”

“That’s fair,” Brown said. “He’s probably pretty excited.”

The Mountaineers, who like Kansas have suffered a pair of frustrating nonconference losses, finished their third week of the season allowing 280.7 passing yards per game, which was 120th of 133 FBS teams, and 16.51 yards per completion, which was second-worst nationwide.

There’s also some question as to how WVU will handle Daniels’ mobility after giving up 14 carries for 59 yards to Pittsburgh’s Eli Holstein, including several critical scrambles on the two late touchdown drives that allowed the Panthers to steal a win in the Backyard Brawl.

On the other hand, Daniels will come into Saturday’s game at West Virginia, set for 11 a.m. Central Time, following two of the worst starts of his collegiate career.

The Mountaineers’ coaches, who saw Daniels’ potential firsthand when he led an overtime victory for KU in 2022 (not to mention took WVU down to the wire in 2021), are acutely aware of his capabilities even so.

“I think (it) very simply, to me, just looks like a little bit of rust,” defensive coordinator Jordan Lesley said. “I know firsthand how good a player he is. I don’t put a whole lot of stock into that. He is dynamic, he’s a game-changer with his legs and his arm.”

Lesley added that with the length of time Daniels had to sit out between games due to his back injury (namely, from Sept. 23, 2023 to Aug. 29, 2024) his rust is like “any other player, probably, in that same situation.”

If that’s the case, the Jayhawks will be hoping he can knock off that rust completely this weekend. But as head coach Lance Leipold and offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes have repeatedly stressed, the blame for the offense’s issues thus far cannot be attributed to a single player.

Grimes, who is in his first year at KU, said that the team’s overall trouble with the two-minute drill — it’s gone almost nowhere on potential game-winning drives each of the last two weeks — could serve as a “microcosm” for the offense overall.

“I think it’s, like a number of things with the offense right now, just a lack of consistency,” Grimes said. “One play it might be the protection, one play it might be the route, the quarterback and receiver being on the same page. We’ve practiced it a good bit and honestly this fall camp, and even when we’ve practiced it this season, we’ve been as good as I’ve been anywhere, but that’s kind of been the case with a lot of things.”

To bridge the gap between practices and games, he added, you have to consider both the players’ “emotional side and mentality” and “address the things that are holding you back” like turnovers and penalties more directly.

On the defensive side, KU has been much improved through three games, a fact the offense’s problems have tended to overshadow. Even so, the Jayhawks couldn’t get off the field late against UNLV.

“If we attack the end of practice harder than we have,” defensive tackle Tommy Dunn Jr. said on Tuesday, “I feel like it’ll correlate to the game and fourth quarter, like we did today.”

They also haven’t been forcing turnovers as much as they should, defensive coordinator Brian Borland said.

“I don’t think we’ve been fully taking advantage of all the opportunities we’ve had,” Borland said.

They’ll need to seize every possible moment on Saturday against an offense with some familiar qualities — another mobile quarterback in Garrett Greene, another contrasting running back duo in CJ Donaldson Jr. and Jahiem White — and some new ones, such as the presence of 6-foot-7 tight end Kole Taylor, an all-conference second-team selection last year who leads the Mountaineers in receiving.

West Virginia Mountaineers (1-2) vs. Kansas Jayhawks (1-2)

• Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, West Virginia, 11 a.m. Central Time

• Broadcast: ESPN2

• Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KKSW FM 105.9)

• Betting line: WVU -2.5; over/under 57.5

• Series history: WVU leads 10-2

What to watch for

1. Fishing for complements: The Jayhawks were without complementary running back Daniel Hishaw Jr. against UNLV due to a combination of multiple ailments, including flu-like symptoms. His status is still in question for WVU. Grimes said that it is “more than a little bit” helpful to have him around to take the load off Neal, who is “in really good shape, and for the most part I think he can handle that, but I’ve felt like for years it might be the most physical position in the sport, and so when you take those blows and over and over and over, not to mention what you’re doing in pass protection, it does take a toll on you in the fourth quarter.”

2. Missing piece: A popular topic of conversation this week in press conferences with Leipold and Borland was last week’s abnormally low snap count for safety Marvin Grant, who played his fewest downs in a single game since his 2020 season at Purdue, despite having just excelled on the road at Illinois. Both coaches suggested this was simply a product of the personnel groupings UNLV used, and Borland said, “He’s one of our best players. I know he needs to get on the field. He’s a good producer when he’s out there.”

3. New faces: Brown suggested that his cornerbacks TJ Crandall and Jacolby Spells have earned additional playing time in the secondary. The two have combined for 33 snaps thus far this season, according to Pro Football Focus, so haven’t figured prominently into the defense thus far. Grimes said that the challenge of facing new personnel is mitigated somewhat by the fact that “(WVU’s) style is going to be their style, and that’s been consistent since they’ve been there,” and coaches might figure out in-game what they want to run against certain players.

Spotlight on…

Alex Raich: The little-used linebacker from Chur, Switzerland, earned his first career start against UNLV due to an injury to Jayson Gilliom. With Gilliom removed from this week’s depth chart and looking unlikely to return for WVU, Raich will have another chance for extended action; so far, Borland said he “played solidly, and we’re not asking him to do things outside of what his capabilities are.” Namely, he doesn’t have to take a huge number of defensive snaps as long as opposing offenses come out in the spread sets that allow KU to deploy its Cinco package with Grant. Even so, Raich will be part of the group tasked with stopping WVU’s dangerous running backs.

Inside the numbers

164.3: Total number of passing yards per game KU is averaging thus far this season.

51.4: The PFF grade of West Virginia’s pass coverage, which is sixth-worst in the country and stands in stark contrast to their No. 11 run defense and fourth-place tackling.

15: Devin Neal’s career total of 100-yard rushing performances, after posting three straight to open the 2024 season.

Prediction

WVU wins 28-27. At this point, it is difficult to pick the Jayhawks to win a road game that looked difficult even entering the year until the offense demonstrates proof of concept — particularly as the defense faces likely its steepest challenge of the year thus far. With two teams desperate for a win to open conference play, the edge has to go to the home team playing before friendly fans, in a place where KU has rarely experienced success.