Kansas QB Jalon Daniels Key In Pulling Off Upset Against Longhorns

Jalon Daniels holds all the tools in pulling off another upset against Texas in Austin.

Jalon Daniels should be a household name in college football and not just the Big 12. If not for his highlight plays that make the late-night television hits, his fashion statement alone speaks volumes.

Two years ago at Big 12 Media Days, Daniels came dressed to the nine, donning a navy suit to pair with his red velvet shoes. Last year, he converted an Apple Watch into a necklace that played highlights of his breakout 2022 season. 

Daniels dresses how he plays: flashy but confident. He was the catalyst of turning Kansas from the laughing stock of college football into a top-25 ranked team last season with a 5-0 start. 

And he's beaten Texas in Austin, a low point in the Longhorns' era under third-year coach Steve Sarkisian that marked the first conference victory for the No. 24 Jayhawks in two years. He'll be x-factor Saturday when Kansas arrives for another must-see matchup in Big 12 play. 

"He's got a lot of heart," defensive back Jahdae Barron said of Daniels. "He's an impactful player that can throw. Sometimes when a quarterback is looking to scramble, they're kind of looking to run. Oh, he's looking to throw and find open people."

Daniels doesn't just with athleticism but also consistency. Through three games, he's completed 74.4 percent of his passes for 704 yards and five touchdowns. Four different receivers have been on the end of a score and have found ways to convert that turn drives expected to end in punts into scoring opportunities. 

And yes, he can run. Oh boy, can Daniels make teams pay in the open field. Last season, en route to a 6-7 finish, the senior rushed for over 400 yards and scored seven touchdowns. He's already converted four first downs this season on runs over 10 yards since making his debut against Illinois. 

"He's a playmaker," linebacker David Gbenda said of Daniels' mobility. 

The No. 3 Longhorns are built to win a national title in 2023. They have the offensive star power that can dismantle any defense, headlined by future Sunday stars Ja'Tavion Sanders and Xavier Worthy. Quinn Ewers remains a front-runner to take home Big 12 Player of the Year honors and has catapulted the team's persona in wins over Alabama and Baylor. 

But while the Jayhawks might not be ready to dream of the College Football Playoff, they're talented enough to play the role of "spoiler." They did in 2021 by keeping the Longhorns bowl ineligible, headlined by a 202-yard, four-touchdown outing from Daniels that led to a 57-56 overtime upset. 

Texas Longhorns defense celebrates following fourth-down stop against Baylor  / © Ricardo B. Brazziell, Austin American-Statesman

Everything starts and ends with Daniels and those in Austin know he holds the key to derailing the Longhorns' perfect season. 

"The thing that he does is he's a real dual-threat," Sarkisian said. "I think the natural thing is we think about the runs that he has for explosive plays, but he throws the ball all over the place and they've got great schemes and concepts. It's not by any means, is it gimmicky? They're running real pass concepts that stress your coverages and then they have the run concepts with his legs as an added element to it."

Texas has been exceptional in handling dual-threat quarterbacks in the Sarkisian era. Only Kansas State's Will Howard and then-Oklahoma's Caleb Williams have rushed for over 80 yards in an outing. 

Last season, Daniels was limited to 12 yards on two carries in the rematch in Lawrence that led to a vengeful 55-14 for the Longhorns. One performance, however, means little, so Texas must prepare for him to break free for first-down gains as much as it must be ready for his deep-shot arm. 

The main concern? Who can play that role in practice? To prepare for Alabama, Sarkisian used running back Savion Red as a decoy quarterback on the scout team in practice. That likely won't help this week against a quarterback with a more consistent arm that delivers strikes at all three levels of the field. 

"He taxes you both ways, so it's not like you can just have a guy be a scout team quarterback that's a runner," said Sarkisian. "You have to have the ability to throw it to give the defense a realistic look about what they're going to be going up against."

Kickoff from Royal-Memorial Stadium is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.