photo by: Kansas Athletics

Kansas running back Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman charges forward against West Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2026, in Morgantown, W.Va.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — As Kansas quarterback Isaiah Marshall put it late Saturday night, the Jayhawks’ 37-14 win over West Virginia was a “full, complete game” on both sides of the ball and special teams.

That made Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman, a converted safety and special teamer now thrust into extensive action at running back, perhaps uniquely qualified to comment on the result.

“As an offensive player now, us coming out, our mindset this week was coming out and showing what we can really do,” Cummings-Coleman said postgame. “And that’s what we came out here and did. And as a former defensive player, it was nice seeing our defense really come out, be as dominant as they are, really show once again — show the world what KU defense is really about, you know?”

With running back Dylan Edwards injured on the Jayhawks’ opening drive on Saturday — running the total number of hurt running backs to five — Cummings-Coleman and Chase Belcher split the workload for the remainder of the game.

KU didn’t miss a beat. That was especially impressive considering that Cummings-Coleman was at one point going to play nickel this year and Belcher wasn’t even in Lawrence when the season started — he’s a Kennesaw State transfer who obtained an injunction in Indiana to become eligible and then wasn’t able to return to the Owls as he might have intended.

Cummings-Coleman carried the ball 15 times for 56 yards; Belcher had 14 rushes for 58 more. Each scored two touchdowns.

“They did a nice job,” KU coach Lance Leipold said. “Both of them, they both run hard. There’s times with Khi yet you can tell he’s still raw at the position — continuing to work on that. But for both those guys to come in after Dylan — I mean now, I don’t know how long Dylan will be down, hopefully we can get him back — but there’s more injured guys in the position room than there are healthy guys right now.”

True freshman Kory Amachree and redshirt freshman Justin Thurman suffered season-ending injuries before the year even began, while Syracuse transfer Yasin Willis, of whom much was expected, hasn’t played since going down in London on Sept. 19. Colorado State transfer Jalen Dupree hasn’t been healthy for much of his time in Lawrence and last received one offensive snap, according to Pro Football Focus, in the win over Baylor on Oct. 24.

All that has yielded far more opportunities than expected for the duo of Belcher and Cummings-Coleman.

“It’s no surprise to me,” Marshall said. “They put in the work each day. They practiced good. They had a great week of practice, so just seeing them out there scoring two touchdowns each, I was so happy for them, very excited. We got to keep going.”

Cummings-Coleman credited Edwards for helping him make the transition to running back in the first place. He said he told Edwards on Saturday that “this was just an embodiment of me playing through him.”

He certainly channeled the elusiveness of Edwards on his best play of the day, a patient 26-yard touchdown run that put KU ahead 17-7 late in the first quarter and kicked off a stretch of 27 straight points for the Jayhawks. It was particularly well timed because Marshall had needed to exit for a play after getting hit in the back, and the instant score gave the starting quarterback time to recover on the sideline.

Belcher’s best play came through the air. He ran an effective route out of the backfield to make a 28-yard grab on third-and-4 at midfield late in the third quarter and help KU keep a drive alive. He was rewarded in turn with a 6-yard touchdown run, untouched into the end zone, to conclude that series (and to conclude the Jayhawks’ scoring for the night).

“It was a great read by Isaiah, I think it was a third-down throw, was a big-time catch for Chase to make a key reception when we needed something,” Leipold said.

In all, KU totaled 448 yards of offense and performed in generally the fashion the Jayhawks might have hoped against the Big 12’s worst defense.

“It was nice to see the whole offense click together, and it really shows our depth, it shows how comfortable we are together, how easy things have been as a team together,” Cummings-Coleman said.

They’ll now need to sustain that sort of production going forward. As Leipold mentioned, it’s not clear what the remainder of the season might hold for Edwards with just two games left in the regular season, but in the near term, KU may need to rely on Belcher and Cummings-Coleman entering its home finale against a top-10-ranked BYU squad.