Kansas vs. Illinois Best College Football Prop Bets for Week 2 (Bet on Jalon Daniels)

Reed Wallach | Sep 6, 2024

Aug 29, 2024; Kansas City, Kansas, USA; Kansas Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels (6) throws a pass during the first half against the Lindenwood Lions at Children's Mercy Park. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Kansas and Illinois meet for the second season in a row, this season in Champaign after the Jayhawks won convincingly last season at home.

Will Illinois get even? The team will trot out its new featured running back Kaden Feagin to hopefully bully a vulnerable Kansas defensive line. Is it worthwhile to take his rushing yard prop?

We discuss below in addition to a pair of Jalon Daniels props for our favorite player props for Kansas vs. Illinois on Saturday night.

Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook

Best College Football Player Props for Kansas vs. Illinois 

• Kaden Feagin OVER 72.5 Rushing Yards (-115) FanDuel Sportsbook
• Jalon Daniels OVER 210.5 Passing Yards (-115) FanDuel Sportsbook
• Jalon Daniels UNDER 26.5 Rushing Yards (-117) Caesars Sportsbook

Kaden Feagin OVER 72.5 Rushing Yards

From our betting notes column, Reed ‘Em and Weep, Feagin is in for a monster outing against Kansas. 

The Jayhawks are counting on FCS transfers to fill the void of losing its best pass rusher from a year ago in Austin Booker. 

After ranking 97th in defensive line yards with four of the top six producers on the DL departing, Kansas may get pushed back against a physical and veteran Illinois offensive line. 

The game script got away from the Fighting Illini last year, but the team still averaged five yards per carry on 28 rushes. At home, I think the team establishes Feagin and he flirts with triple digits. 

Jalon Daniels OVER 210.5 Passing Yards

Illinois head coach Bert Bielema said that the team needs to be wary of Daniels the rusher, which can mean an emphasis on keeping him inside the pocket and turning him into a more traditional quarterback. 

Well, if that’s the case, I’ll take Daniels to go over his passing yard mark after he completed 21-of-29 passes for 277 yards last season against Illinois. While I expect the Illinois defense to be improved, I am going to lean on Kansas scheming up explosive plays and for this game to be higher scoring than oddsmakers believe, which means we are going to see some high yardage totals. 

Jalon Daniels UNDER 26.5 Rushing Yards

Piggy backing off of my thoughts above, Daniels only had 11 carries for 24 yards in the win against Illinois last season. After his season was cut short due to a back injury, will Daniels still be on the move as much? He didn’t run against Lindenwood at all (probably by design), but against a revamped Illinois defensive line, can the team get pressure and rack up a few sacks to impact his rushing total? 

This number is envisioning Daniels is full strength and can rip off chunk plays, but there is enough doubt and adjustments in place from last season that Illinois will look to shut off that facet of the Jayhawks offense under new play caller Jeff Grimes. 

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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