The Kansas Jayhawks have put themselves in a tough spot. After the heartbreaking loss to their in-state rival two weeks ago, they need to win out to become bowl-eligible. They responded with their best performance of the season last week, laying the hammer down against Iowa State. The 45 points were the most they have scored since the season opener against Lindenwood. Kansas will look to keep the momentum going when they head to Provo, Utah to take on the unbeaten BYU Cougars.
Key Players for Kansas Jayhawks
Offensively, Jalon Daniels has started to heat up. The quarterback is averaging 304 total yards and three touchdowns over his last four games. Daniels has also turned the ball over just once in that time, after having at least one giveaway in each of the first five games.
The big story in the Iowa State game was the historic day for Devin Neal. His 116 yards and two touchdowns made him the school’s all-time leading rusher and touchdown scorer. Barring injury, he will eclipse 4,000 career rushing yards and 50 touchdowns as a Jayhawk.
Neal will be one of the best offensive weapons the school has ever seen; and, what he’s done this season alone is quite impressive. His 874 yards rank fifth in the Big 12, while also being tied for fourth with 10 touchdowns. He has surpassed 100 yards in six of the team’s nine games and found the endzone in seven. While Daniels is the ceiling raiser for the offense, Neal’s ability to raise the floor has kept the team competitive in nearly every game this season.
Defensively, the front seven is cranking up the pressure on opposing quarterbacks. They have three players (Jereme Robinson, Dean Miller, and JB Brown) with at least four sacks, and a pair of others (Marvin Grant and D.J. Withers) with multiple sacks. The defense is collecting over six tackles for loss per game, which is helping set opposing offenses back. In the secondary, the usual suspects lead the way.
Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson both have four interceptions, with two of Dotson’s being returned for touchdowns. Along with those two, six others have defended multiple passes. Sure, they’re eleventh in the Big 12 in total yards allowed. However, they are fourth in the conference in takeaways, which helps nullify some of the big yardage totals. The turnover margin could be vital in this week’s matchup against the Cougars.
Key Players for BYU Cougars
BYU’s offense is nothing spectacular. They are just eighth in the conference in passing yards and ninth in rushing yards. However, they don’t turn the ball over (12th in the conference in giveaways) and the defense gets turnovers (1st in the conference in takeaways, by a wide margin). They have four players with multiple interceptions and seven others who have one.
It’s not quite an “immovable object vs unstoppable force” level of matchup, but it is certainly an interesting one to watch. Daniels has been nearly turnover-free over the past month, while the Cougars defense averages three takeaways per game in that same amount of time. If the Jayhawks can win the turnover battle, or even not lose it by more than one, they have a real shot at pulling off the upset.
Keys to Victory for the Jayhawks
Believe it or not, this game might mean more to the Jayhawks than it does to the Cougars. Obviously an undefeated regular season would likely earn BYU a spot in the CFP regardless of the Big 12 Championship outcome, but a loss would still leave them in a good spot in both regards. They would be tied with Colorado at the top of the Big 12, and a one-loss power conference team would still have a solid argument for an at-large CFP bid. Kansas, on the other hand, has to win this game if they want to make a bowl game.
The trajectory for the Jayhawks’ future could weigh fairly heavily on how this season finishes. The hype was through the roof coming into the season. It obviously has dropped, but a strong finish and bowl appearance would likely repair a good amount of the damage that the past couple of months have done.
Consider this a massive game for both of these programs.
