Injured Daniels gives moral support to QB Bean during KU Jayhawks’ 52-42 loss at OU
.JPG "Kansas quarterback Jason Bean throws a pass against Oklahoma during the first half Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, in Norman, Okla.")
Kansas junior quarterback Jalon Daniels, who is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury sustained a week ago during the Jayhawks’ first football loss of the season, made the trip to Norman, Oklahoma, for Saturday’s Big 12 battle against the Oklahoma Sooners.
Backup QB Jason Bean, who threw for four touchdowns in KU’s 52-42 loss to OU at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, appreciated the sideline help and overall support from one of KU’s main leaders and one of his best friends.
“He’s a big part of this team. He is one of the reasons we are at where we’re at,” Bean said after No. 19-ranked KU fell to 5-2 on the season and 2-2 in the Big 12. OU snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 4-3 overall and 1-3 in the conference.
“I am very thankful he was able to make the trip and be at my side the whole way. I’m very thankful for him,” added Bean, who completed 16 of 27 passes for 265 yards. The 6-foot-3 senior from Mansfield, Texas connected with wide receiver Lawrence Arnold for TD completions of 39 and 28 yards and with tight end Mason Fairchild for scores of 18 and 9 yards.
Bean also threw two costly interceptions that led to OU scores.
“Good downs and bad downs — a lot to work on and a lot to build on, too,” Bean said of his first start since week 9 a year ago. Daniels took over for the final three games of the season.
Asked to assess Bean’s performance on a day KU gained 430 yards and scored six touchdowns, coach Lance Leipold said: “Up and down. He made some really good plays. He showed his ability again to lead this football team. He’ll tell you there were some plays he wishes he had back as well. I thought offensively we were very sporadic.”
The problem was not offense, however. OU, which has defeated KU 18 consecutive times, shredded KU’s defense for 701 total yards. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who missed last week’s shutout loss to Texas because of concussion-like symptoms, completed 29 of 42 passes for 403 yards and two TDs. He also rushed for 37 yards on 10 carries and one TD. Eric Gray had 176 yards rushing on 20 carries and two scores, while Jovantae Barnes had 69 yards on 21 carries and two scores.
“One hundred plays and 700 yards … that’s not a very good performance, You can’t give up 700 yards and 100 plays and expect to win a lot of football games in this league,” Leipold said.
Oklahoma totaled 100 plays from scrimmage to KU’s 62.
“Like I told our team, this is an extremely competitive conference right now,” Leipold said. “We’ve got to embrace the fact we’ll be in more games that will be very tight all the way through. We’ve got to find a way to make them turn in our favor.”
It didn’t help KU’s defense that end Lonnie Phelps was held out most of the game because of an undisclosed injury.
“I was told before the game he wasn’t going to be able to go. He tried to go a while,” Leipold said.. “Obviously when you lose your best pass rusher, right now it’s a little bit more of a sting, It’s part of it now, unfortunately,” he added.
Also, cornerback Cobee Bryant was helped off the field in a cart after suffering an injury late in the second quarter.
“It’s an ankle,” Leipold said “I saw him in a boot just now We’ll have to wait and see (on availability).”
The Jayhawks will next play Baylor at 11 a.m., Saturday in Waco, Texas. Bean is hoping for continued improvement, especially if Daniels once again is sidelined.
“It feels good to be able to go out and start. I think it’s what every college quarterback wants to do,” Bean said. “I think it was a big opportunity. We’ve got to come in and work on those little things and come out harder next week.”
Leipold was not despondent after KU’s second straight defeat.
“That’s not fair to the team to say it was just a total debacle,” Leipold said, “We were putting points on the board. We got three turnovers today (Kenny Logan interception; two fumble recoveries).. You watch us, we were still playing (to the end) and trying to make some things happen.”
This story was originally published October 15, 2022 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Injured Daniels gives moral support to QB Bean during KU Jayhawks’ 52-42 loss at OU."
