Some fans (myself included, admittedly) picked the Kansas Jayhawks to lose less than two games in the entire 2024 regular season. Well, three weeks into the season, they have already hit that number.
Kansas has lost back-to-back games, and they seemingly gave the game away to the other team both times. They have lost the turnover battle in those contests 4-1, and 2-0. Four of those turnovers led to points on the ensuing drive for their opponents, which is the difference between winning and losing one-possession games.
Kansas will look to get things going in the right direction when the Jayhawks travel to Morgantown to take on West Virginia.
Kansas Jayhawks vs. West Virginia Mountaineers Matchup History
The Mountaineers are also off to a 1-2 start, albeit against a tougher schedule than the Jayhawks have faced. This will be the 13th meeting between the teams, with West Virginia holding a 10-2 advantage in the all-time series. Kansas, however, does have the most recent win back in 2022. In that game, Jalon Daniels had 294 total yards and three touchdowns, while Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw combined for 122 yards and five touchdowns.
Key Players for the Jayhawks
The biggest worry for the Jayhawks through three games is the play of Daniels. Not only has he not lived up to the preseason hype and expectations, he hasn’t even been an average quarterback thus far.
Daniels has completed just 55-percent of his passes, which isn’t too much of a concern given his propensity to push the ball down the field. What is big concern is his 3:6 touchdown to interception ratio and 6.2 yards per attempt. Daniels is simply not making good decisions and it’s costing his team.
He threw a pick six in the Illinois loss, then threw two interceptions deep in Kansas territory against UNLV to gift them 10 points. If he doesn’t clean up his game, it could be a long season of disappointment for the Jayhawks. However, if he gets back to playing like he was before the injury last season, there is still plenty of time to turn the season around.
Key Players for the Mountaineers
West Virginia boasts a very balanced offense. Garrett Greene is averaging just over 200 passing yards per game, and is just shy of two touchdowns and less than an interception per game. Greene also spreads the ball around, with five different receivers over 80 total yards so far. The Mountaineers are running for about as many yards as they pass for, with three different players over 100 total yards.
Defensively, West Virginia is averaging just north of two sacks per game. However, they don’t have a single interception and have recovered just one fumble. Their inability to force opponents to turn the ball over has cost them at least one game, as they lost the turnover battle 2-0 in their four-point loss to Pitt last week.
Keys for the Kansas Jayhawks to win the game
The key for Kansas breaking out of their slump is their quarterback breaking out of his own slump. The defense has been playing at an extremely high level, especially considering the situations they’ve been put into.
If Daniels can even be an above average quarterback, the Jayhawks will be a tough team to beat. If Daniels can play at the level he has in the past, Kansas can still play for a Big 12 Championship.
