Has Jalon Daniels era started at KU? Miles turns to freshman QB in 47-14 loss at Baylor
Kansas’ football fortunes may rest on the right arm and legs of a freshman quarterback for the rest of the 2020 season.
Jalon Daniels, a 6-foot, 200-pound true freshman quarterback from Lawndale, California, who played just one series in the Jayhawks’ season-opening loss to Coastal Carolina two weeks ago, started and finished KU’s Big 12 opener against Baylor Saturday night in Waco, Texas.
Daniels showed some toughness in absorbing three hard hits on unnecessary roughness calls in the first half. He led KU to a touchdown and 7-0 lead on its first drive, his first drive as a starter. Things didn’t go as smoothly the rest of the way, though, as KU fell 47-14 to the Bears, who were led by the four-touchdown performance of Trestan Ebner. The senior running back/return man scored on a 100-yard kickoff return and 83-yard return of a KU kickoff following a fourth-quarter safety.
Daniels threw for 80 yards the first half as KU trailed 17-7 at the break.
He finished his first start 19 of 33 for 155 yards passing with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He also ran for 23 yards on 14 carries. He also was hit hard by Baylor’s Terrel Bernard in the end zone and relinquished a fourth-quarter safety, one that gave Baylor a 33-7 lead. Ebner followed with the 82-yard kick return to make it 40-7.
“He is going to be good and is going to get better and better. That’s just a start,” KU coach Les Miles said of Daniels at halftime in an interview with the Jayhawk radio network.
After the game, Miles explained what went into going with Daniels. In the opener, Miles started senior Thomas MacVittie, used Miles Kendrick extensively and had Daniels in for just the final series.
“He wasn’t healthy at this point,” Miles said of senior MacVittie who suffered a shoulder or arm injury in the opener. With MacVittie out, Daniels simply earned the job at practice over Kendrick.
“That’s kind of what ended up happening,” Miles said. “We might give Miles Kendrick an opportunity. We might rethink that.”
Prior to that statement, Miles conceded “I think we could certainly (go with the freshman Daniels on Saturday against Oklahoma State). We are going to give him (Daniels) a chance to have a good quality week of practice.”
Miles liked what he saw from Daniels Saturday.
“You probably saw his arm (Saturday), but you didn’t see highlights of his arm. We know the highlights that he is capable of producing,” Miles said. “That’s why we started him.”
Miles also liked the times Daniels pulled the ball down and ran.
“Jalon probably showed us his ability to run as much as anything today,” Miles said. “He pulls it down and runs and shows everybody in the stadium he’s an athlete who is strong and capable. We will not play with just a one-dimensional factor. We will make that man who we anticipate he can be, that is talented at both the run and pass, a guy who has leadership and can step in and do some special things. I’m not displeased with him in any way.”
Miles was displeased that Velton Gardner (70 yards on 14 carries) dropped a perfect pass by Daniels that could have led to a touchdown and given KU a 14-7 lead early.
“You get a little sick in your stomach when you finish second like we did, especially with the idea you take the lead 7-0 and have an opportunity with a dropped pass that could have been a 14-0 lead (14-7). That’s certainly something I look at,” Miles said.
KU freshmen are not allowed to give interviews during the season. No Jayhawks players were made available following Miles’ Zoom call with media.
Daniels’ performance ended up being overshadowed by Baylor senior Ebner, who scored four TDs. His 100-yard kickoff return opened the second half. Ebner’s performance made a winner of Dave Aranda in his head-coaching debut at Baylor. He was the defensive coordinator at national champion LSU last season and once worked for KU’s Miles at LSU.
Ebner’s performance was pivotal as KU dropped its 50th straight Big 12 game on the road. KU has fallen to Baylor 11 straight times and is 0-10 in Waco.
The Daniels-led effort marked the first time since 2014 KU had scored in double digits versus Baylor. KU finished with 328 yards to Baylor’s 352. Charlie Brewer hit 15 of 23 passes for 142 yards and one TD.
Pooka Williams had 76 yards on 14 carries and rushing TDs of 21 and 16 yards.
Daniels survived two hard hits in the first quarter and one in the second quarter, all three resulting in unnecessary roughness calls on Baylor. A hard hit on a sliding Daniels with the score tied at 7 resulted in the ejection of Baylor junior safety Christian Morgan. Morgan was hit with a targeting penalty and left for good with 2 minutes, 45 left in the first quarter.
The play after the targeting call had the makings of an epic score.
Shaken up a bit on the targeting hit, Daniels remained in the game and tossed a perfect pass to Gardner, which Gardner dropped at the Baylor 5-yard line. It would have, and should have, accounted for a TD on the perfect pass, a play that would have given KU a 14-7 lead.
Earlier, on a third-and-13 call, Daniels was roughed by lineman T.J. Franklin. That kept alive the first drive (as a starter) of Daniels’ career.
The eight-play, 79-yard drive resulted in a 21-yard TD run by Williams.
Baylor had tied it at 7 by marching 55 yards on seven rushes and scoring on a 1-yard run by Ebner. Baylor then hit a short field after stuffing KU’s Daniel Hishaw on a fourth-and-1 call at the 45. That Baylor drive was marred by a pair of holding calls on Baylor on the first two plays, which were run with backup quarterback Gerry Bohanon taking snaps. QB Charlie Brewer was shaken up on a running play on the drive and missed a couple of plays.
Baylor went up 17-7 on an 18-yard pass from Brewer to a wide-open Ebner. That seven-play, 67-yard drive was aided by a late KU hit on an Ebner rush to the 35.
Daniels was clobbered late by a Baylor player in the last minute of the second quarter. KU marched to the Baylor 34 in the final moments of the half, thanks in part to that penalty. That final KU drive of the half stalled. KU’s Miles elected to not try a 50-yard field goal in the final seconds, instead going for it, unsuccessfully, on fourth and long.
Ebner returned the opening kickoff of the second half 100 yards to give Baylor a 24-7 lead. It was Ebner’s third TD of the night. Baylor outscored KU 14-0 in the third quarter to open a 31-7 advantage and cruised from there.
KU is set to next meet Oklahoma State at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Booth Memorial Stadium. Chancellor Douglas Girod said Friday that up to 10,000 fans would be allowed to attend the game.
This story was originally published September 26, 2020 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Has Jalon Daniels era started at KU? Miles turns to freshman QB in 47-14 loss at Baylor."
