Lance Leipold evaluates the play of Jalon Daniels so far in the season

Heading into Big 12 play, Kansas sits at 2-1 after opening the season with back-to-back wins over Fresno State and Wagner before falling to Missouri 42-31 in the first edition of the ‘Border War’ played since 2011.

Senior quarterback Jalon Daniels is off to a good start for Lance Leipold and the Jayhawks, as he has completed 72% of his passes for 679 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions through three games. His completion percentage is up 15% from last season, and he’s also rushed for 90 yards and one touchdown on 21 carries.

During a media opportunity on Tuesday, Leipold discussed the play of Daniels over the first three weeks of the season.

“I think there were a couple of times in the Missouri game where he tried to do a little bit much,” Leipold said. “All in all, he’s continued to play confidently within himself and not tried to put everything on his shoulders. I thought maybe there was a time or two in the game where we tried to get something going and… face it. He’s done it a lot in his career and he’s created a lot of plays for us here.”

Leipold praises Daniels’ maturity and understanding

“That’s a hard one to totally reel in and stuff but like I continue to say, his maturity and his understanding (and he’s been that way all the way through) is good because he doesn’t show frustration and panic in what he’s doing,” Leipold continued. “This team is gonna need that throughout conference play.”

Against Missouri, Daniels completed 18/30 passes for 223 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. His play wasn’t strong enough to propel the Jayhawks past the Tigers however, as they were handed their first loss of the season. Coming off a bye week, Daniels and Kansas now turn their attention towards West Virginia as they begin Big 12 play.

The Mountaineers, once looked at as an afterthought following a Week 2 loss to Ohio, shocked many and upset Pittsburgh 31-24 this past week in the latest edition of the ‘Backyard Brawl.’ In — career games played against West Virginia, Daniels is 55/86 passing for 652 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. He is 1-2 against the Mountaineers in five contests.

Kick-off between Kansas and West Virginia on Saturday is scheduled for 6:00 PM. The game can be seen on FS1.