LAWRENCE, Kan. – Coming off the first of three open weeks this season, the Kansas Jayhawks will return to action Saturday when they open Big 12 Conference play with a home matchup against the West Virginia Mountaineers.
The Jayhawks (2-1) and Mountaineers (2-1) will kick off at 5 p.m., on FS1 with Noah Reed and Robert Smith on the call. The matchup will mark the third time over the past four seasons that the two teams have opened Big 12 play against each other. Kansas won the 2022 matchup in Morgantown, while host West Virginia won last year’s game.
Kansas returns to the new David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium after a road game at Missouri earlier this month. The Jayhawks are 2-0 at home this year, outscoring opponents 77-14. The Kansas offense totaled 631 yards last home game against Wagner in a 46-7 win, while the defense has allowed just 359 yards in two home games.
The Kansas offensive attack has been led by sixth-year quarterback Jalon Daniels. Daniels is completing 72 percent of his passes through three games, with 679 yards, nine touchdowns and just two interceptions. He has also added 90 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
He has found a connection with several different pass catchers, including tight end DeShawn Hanika (nine catches, 95 yards, three touchdowns) and receivers Emmanuel Henderson Jr. (12 catches, 183 yards, two touchdowns) and Cam Pickett (10 catches, 124 yards, three touchdowns).
Defensively, linebackers Trey Lathan and Bangally Kamara have had a strong start to the season for the Jayhawks. Lathan, who began his career at West Virginia and spent three seasons with the Mountaineers, leads the team with 25 tackles, and has also added 3.5 tackles-for-loss and a pair of pass breakups. Kamara, who missed the Wagner contest, has 13 tackles in two games, with a team-best four tackles-for-loss.
West Virginia opens conference play coming off an emotional 31-24 overtime win over Pitt in the Backyard Brawl. The Mountaineers trailed by 10 points in the fourth quarter, but staged a dramatic comeback to earn the win, behind 141 yards and three touchdowns from running back Tye Edwards.
The Mountaineers are under the direction of head coach Rich Rodriguez, who is in his first season back with West Virginia. Rodriguez served as the head coach for the program from 2001 to 2007 and is 63-26 at the school