West Virginia heads back home this weekend as they host Kansas to open their Big 12 slate against the Jayhawks.
The Jayhawks are 1-2, coming off back-to-back losses to Illinois and UNLV. Kansas opened the season with a 48-3 win over Lindenwood, before losing on the road, 23-17 to Illinois, and then a 23-20 home loss to UNLV.
Head Coach
Lance Leipold is in his fourth year coaching at Kansas. He is 18-23 overall, coming off a nine-win season in 2023, and he's 55-56 overall in his 10-year coaching career.
Before Kansas, Leipold coached at Buffalo, where he had a 37-33 record in six seasons.
Leipold has made two bowl game appearances at KU and is 1-1 in those two games. He is also 1-1 against WVU during his tenure at Kansas.
Offense
Kansas' offense is led by Jalon Daniels, who is a true dual-threat quarterback.
This season, Daniels has completed 55 percent of his passes for 442 yards and three touchdowns, but he's thrown six interceptions. He also has 92 rush yards on 21 carries and has two rushing touchdowns as well.
Against Illinois in week two, Daniels passed for 141 yards and two touchdowns, while he threw three interceptions as well. Against UNLV, he completed 50 percent of his passes for 153 yards and threw two picks.
Outside of Daniels is running back Devin Neal, who has 333 net rush yards and two scores on the season. He also has one reception for 33 yards.
Daniels and Neal are the main focus of the KU offense, who so far this year has been better on the ground than through the air.
Daniels has two main guys who have seen most of the action through the air this season and that is Luke Grimm who has 18 catches for 157 yards and two touchdowns as well as Lawrence Arnold who has 10 catches for 131 yards and a touchdown. Outside of that duo, there is no other player on Kansas' offense who has more than four catches on the season.
Defense
Kansas' defense is sixth in the Big 12 in points allowed per game, giving up 16.7 points per game through three games.
Their defense has had opposite strengths in their two losses to Illinois and UNLV. Against Illinois, the Jayhawks gave up 79 yards on the ground but 192 yards through the air. Against UNLV it was about the opposite, giving up 181 yards on the ground and 86 yards through the air.
In the UNLV game, KU was able to mostly limit the UNLV running backs, as they totaled only 57 yards. However, UNLV's QB rushed for a team-high 124 rush yards on the day.
Cornell Wheeler leads the team with 19 tackles, as he has three total TFLs and a forced fumble as well.
Mello Dotson has 16 total tackles and a TFL and is also responsible for the only Jayhawk interception through their first three games. JB Brown also has 16 total tackles, three of them being for a loss.
Kansas has six total sacks on the year, with Jereme Robinson having 2.5, and Dean Miller having 1.5.
Opponents are 15-for-44 (34%) on third down against KU, but they are 4-for-5 (80%) on fourth down attempts this year. Opponents also have gotten into the red zone nine times and have scored eight times. However, out of those eight scores only two times have opponents scored touchdowns when they reach the red zone.
Special Teams
Kicker Tabor Allen is a perfect 3-for-3 on field goal attempts this season. His long so far this year is 41 yards.
Opponents are averaging 4.5 punt return yards as they have returned four Kansas punts for 18 total yards.
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