Jalon Daniels wants to flip the script from previous Sunflower Showdowns
The Jayhawks are being reminded or made aware of the team’s shortcomings in last year’s game against Kansas State. The last five minutes of that game – when Jalon Daniels turned it over twice and Kansas gave up a game-winning field goal – are being played as the Jayhawks prepare to snap a 16-game losing streak in the Sunflower Showdown.
For Daniels, it means reliving two crucial mistakes. With four minutes left, Daniels coughed up the ball on a scramble, leading to the field goal that gave the Wildcats the lead. On fourth down during the deciding two minute drill, Daniels evaded an all-out blitz but fumbled again.
“It’s something that you see every single day as you wake up, and you know you’re pissed about it,” Daniels said. “The last five minutes, there was a mistake that I made that was very detrimental to the game, two fumbles in those last five minutes. And that’s something that hurts me every single time that I watch it.”
Kansas has used the ending of last year’s Sunflower Showdown before. Throughout spring football, it played on the video board while the Jayhawks practiced late-game scenarios.
Mistakes have caught up to Kansas in last two losses to Kansas State
Each of the last two games against Kansas State has come down to who executes better in crunch time. In 2023, Kansas threw two interceptions, dropped a would-be pick six, and muffed a punt. Daniels knows the Jayhawks can’t afford to make mistakes on Saturday.
“It’s no secret, a lot of the games against Kansas State every single year have been close, and it kind of just comes down to who makes the least amount of mistakes,” Daniels said. “So it’s just about being able to go out there and try to play mistake-free football in preparation for this year’s game.”
Despite mistakes being the theme in the last two losses against Kansas State, Daniels isn’t trying to think too much about them. He can’t change the past but only look ahead.
“I try not to think about or harp on the past too much because at the end of the day, it’s about being able to stay where your feet are,” Daniels said. “And I think that we’ve been doing a great job of taking care of the ball this season. So it’s about being able to do what we’re doing now instead of harping about what happened in the past.”
Sunflower Showdown has given Daniels a lasting memory
Daniels is in the midst of his sixth college season and approaching his fifth game against Kansas State, losing the past four. However, that first Sunflower Showdown back in 2020 did bring up a fond memory – learning how to play in the cold and scoring his first touchdown as a Jayhawk.
“It was cold, Daniels said. “That was my first game, I believe, below 30 degrees since being from Los Angeles. And I just remember my first passing attempt was like a five-step inside post, and I tried to throw it on a rope, and it went straight to the ground, and I was like, wow, okay. So this is how it’s going to feel to try to throw through this. But I eventually finally grasped how to be able to play in the cold within that game.”
“My very first touchdown as a Jayhawk was against Kansas State,” Daniels added. “And that’s something that I’m always going to remember. It was a rushing touchdown going to the right.”
Kansas is looking to beat Kansas State for the first time since 2008. Cam Pickett said the Jayhawks are looking forward to try and flip the narrative of the Sunflower Showdown.
“Oh, we know that they’ve won the last couple ones,” Pickett said. “We feel like we might have let some slip, and so we’re just looking forward to showing that we can do it.”
