Kansas QB Jalon Daniels reiterates he’s a generational-type talent in win vs. Illinois
With three Illinois defenders closing fast, Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels backpedaled deeper and deeper into the pocket before escaping by bolting to his right and stumbling on the turf.
Averting a fall, he accelerated some 20 to 25 yards toward the sideline while keeping his view fixed downfield. Finally, on the dead run with another defender about in his grill, he uncorked a pass 52 yards in the air to a well-covered Luke Grimm.
It was one of those signature, indelible moments that leaves you sitting up in your seat and shaking your head in wonder.
A little in the realm of what Chiefs fans have come to expect of Patrick Mahomes, come to think of it, with what turned out to be a distinctly Mahomes-esque ending to the play:
As that last Illini player closed on him, the vulnerable Daniels braced for a hit that he reckoned “could have killed me.” But the defender let up, Daniels believes, because he’d been giving kudos to the Illini defenders.
If that sounds familiar, well, Daniels took that right out of Mahomes’ playbook.
“Literally,” he said, laughing — after KU’s 34-23 victory over the Illini at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. “I saw him say that on (the Netflix documentary) ‘Quarterback,’ and he’s right. I feel like if you give those guys compliments and tell them that they’re making great plays, then they won’t try to hurt you.”
That play was just one of several I-don’t-believe-what-I-just-saw highlights produced by Daniels in a stiff-arming of Illinois that was eye-opening in itself. Before sagging in the second half, the Jayhawks dissected the Illini on both sides of the ball on the way to a 34-7 lead to earn their second straight 2-0 start.
That’s no small thing after KU had averaged fewer than two wins a season (1.92) over the previous dozen years before last season’s revival: a 5-0 start that led to Kansas wisely extending coach Lance Leipold’s contract on the way to a 6-7 finish.
If the awe factor of 2-0 isn’t necessarily as striking this time around after what happened a year ago, it’s nonetheless another crucial step. It helps reinforce that last season was no fluke, for starters. But it’s also paramount stuff in building a program with lasting — and increasing — expectations.
Especially considering the at least tentatively apparent improvement of KU’s defense, which was 124th among 131 teams in the nation last season (35.5 points game), and Kansas’ ability to shred the defense of a Big Ten school that led the nation (12.3 points a game allowed) in 2022.
Different season, different Illinois coordinator and defense (with only six returnees), to be sure. But that still says something about the context of what Kansas was up against.
As for the awe factor of Daniels, the preseason Big 12 offensive player of the year who earned some Heisman Trophy buzz before his injury last season, that was as evident as ever in his season debut after dealing with a lingering back issue. And we saw again how his success is entwined with where KU could go this season, not to mention the future, as it strives to make strides in conference play.
KU was 3-6 in Big 12 games last season, which was as many conference victories as the Jayhawks had mustered in the previous five seasons combined.
But the air gets thinner on the way up from here, which is why Daniels says KU has to keep elevating its own standards to keep climbing.
It’s also the sort of place you need a charismatic, generational-type talent to help you reach — a force to catalyze everything else a team might have going for it the way KU seems to be right now.
Daniels has a chance to be that, both in terms of how he lifts all around him now and how his further exploits could stoke the imagination of prospective recruits.
Speaking of which: Along with an announced crowd of 45,809 in the stadium with a capacity of 47,233, a national television audience on ESPN had to take fresh notice of Daniels on Friday.
Whoever watched saw a fluid and dynamic presence, play-in and play-out, with a vast capacity for the spectacular — as he flashed a handful of times in plays that some might consider more telling than the one that leads this column.
Consider, for instance, how he wiggled and whirled away from what might have been a safety as KU faced a third-and-5 at its own 11 in the second quarter.
He avoided a guy, Leipold said, “who’s going to make a lot of money someday in the NFL, too.”
Running left after he escaped an Illinois rusher flush in his face, Daniels whistled a pass to Lawrence Arnold for a 25-yard gain that sparked a 94-yard drive to take a 21-0 lead.
Considering that play and what was officially a 48-yard pass to Grimm to set up a late first-half touchdown, Leipold smiled and said, “Those throws were amazing.”
To say nothing of a couple others on a night he completed 21 of 29 passes for 277 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
Oh, and ran for 15 yards to convert a third and 9 … and converted another third-down with a terrific fake pitch before running for 12 yards.
“Jalon,” Leipold said with quite some understatement, “didn’t show any rust.”
For a program that had been left to rust for so long, Daniels stands for quite the opposite: a potentially transformative force in the spirit of the guy he’s emulating, in more ways than one.
This story was originally published September 9, 2023 at 12:44 AM.