Kansas Preview
Much has been said about how the Jayhawks’ 1-4 record may be the most deceiving season mark among Big 12 teams. Let’s take a detailed look at the challenges and opportunities ASU's upcoming opponent will present.
Kansas Offense
Once thought to be a potential breakout player on a national level with high-tier potential, Jalon Daniels has been an enigmatic case of a rollercoaster career since his arrival to the Kansas program in 2020.
From 2020-23, Daniels started 21 games, but in three of those four seasons, he appeared in seven or fewer games. His efforts in 2022 put him on the proverbial map, as he threw for 2,014 yards with 18 touchdowns to just four interceptions, 419 net rushing yards, and seven scores in nine games.
However, though he was the 2023 Big 12 Preseason Player of the Year, he only appeared in three games last season due to injury and was ultimately redshirted.
This season, Daniels has been healthy, but his play has been erratic. He has completed just 53.1% of his passes, averages 161.0 passing yards per game with five touchdowns to eight interceptions, and has 117 net rushing yards with two touchdowns.
Through injury issues and generally limited effectiveness, Daniels has not had a 200-yard passing game this season and has gone a full calendar year without achieving that mark. His last 200-yard effort came in a 298-yard day versus Nevada on Sept. 16, 2023.
Though Daniels offers experience and dynamic versatility, his passing accuracy has been a major question mark this season. Only one player in the nation has thrown more interceptions than Daniels, Jake Garcia of East Carolina, who has thrown 11 picks thus far.
Additionally, durability issues have been a red flag throughout Daniels’ entire college career, as the most games he’s played in a single season at this level are nine.
For the second straight game, ASU faces a team with a nationally elite running back, this time Kansas’ Devin Neal, a 5-11 215-pounder in search of his third straight 1,000-yard rushing season.
After rushing for 1,090 yards with ten total touchdowns in 2022, Neal climbed even higher to a 1,280-yard rushing effort with 17 total touchdowns last season.
So far in 2024, Neal has 513 rushing yards with four touchdowns, along with three catches for 38 yards. He topped 100 yards in each of Kansas’ first four games with a season-best 120 against UNLV but was held to 70 yards on 14 carries with a touchdown last week against TCU.
A Second-Team All-Big 12 selection last year, Neal ranks 20th nationally in rushing yards per game (102.6), which crazily is only good for fifth in the Big 12 and is also six slots down in the national rankings from No. 14, ASU’s Cam Skattebo, who averages 108.2 rushing yards per game.
Neal is not the only capable back on the roster as Daniel Hishaw, Jr., a 5-10, 220-pounder, has rushed for 262 yards with three scores on 6.9 yards per carry this season after rushing for 626 yards with eight touchdowns in 2023.
Kansas starts a group of seasoned wide receivers in seniors Luke Grimm, Lawrence Arnold and Quentin Skinner.
Grimm is by far and away the team’s leading receiver, as he has 30 of the team’s 74 total receptions for 317 yards and four of the team’s six touchdown catches.
Arnold ranks second on the team with 15 catches for 209 yards with one touchdown, while Skinner places third on the team so far with eight receptions for 74 yards.
Last year, Arnold was an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 pick after leading Kansas with 44 receptions for 782 yards with six touchdowns.
Outside of this starting trio, no other Jayhawk receiver has more than two catches on the year.
At tight end, Jared Casey is listed as the starter and has six receptions for 74 yards so far this season.
The Jayhawk offensive line figures to start left tackle Bryce Cabeldue, left guard Michael Ford, Jr., center Bryce Foster, right guard Kobe Baynes, and right tackle Logan Brown.
Kansas Offense Summary
Statistically, through five games, Kansas, despite immense experience at quarterback and across its pass-catchers, has been quite a one-dimensional team on offense. The Jayhawks boast one of the nation’s better ground attacks but one of the shakiest pass offenses in college football.
On the ground, guided by the charge of Neal, Hishaw, and Daniels, the Jayhawks rank 15th nationally in both rushing yards (224.4 yards per game) and yards per carry (5.81).
However, as a team, Kansas ranks 112th out of 133 FBS teams in passing offense (171.2), 122nd in completion percentage (.544), and team pass efficiency (110.08), and only two teams (Auburn, nine and East Carolina, 11) have thrown more interceptions than the eight tossed by Kansas – all of which by Daniels.
The six sacks allowed by Kansas put the Jayhawks in a tie for 36th nationally and 75th in team pass efficiency defense (129.44). In total, the team ranks 77th nationally, averaging 28.0 points per game.
The Jayhawks rank 68th nationally in total offense (395.6), and only six teams have committed more turnovers than the 11 Kansas has given away through five games.
From a schematic perspective for the Sun Devil defense, the approach seems simple in that ASU should highly prioritize limiting the Jayhawk run game while essentially daring Daniels to use his arm to win the day.
Kansas Defense
Operating out of a base 4-3 alignment, the Kansas line figures to start tackles D.J. Withers and Caleb Taylor with ends Dean Miller and Jereme Robinson.
Robinson, an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 pick last season, leads the way with team-highs of 5.5 TFLs with 3.5 sacks along with four quarterback hurries, while he has 12 total tackles as well as a fumble recovery and a forced fumble.
Miller has tallied 13 tackles, including 2.0 for loss with 1.5 sacks and two quarterback hurries; Taylor has posted nine tackles, including 1.5 for loss with a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry, and Withers has five tackles, including one for loss with a pass breakup.
JB Brown and Taiwan Berryhill, Jr. start at linebacker along with Jayson Gilliom at the “Hawk” position.
Brown ranks second on the team through five games with 25 tackles including 5.0 for loss with 2.0 sacks, which also rank second on the squad. He also has two quarterback hurries and one pass breakup.
Berryhill has 15 tackles with a quarterback hurry while Gilliom has four tackles in three games.
Linebacker Cornell Wheeler, the team leader in tackles per game with 24 tackles in four games, missed last week’s game due to injury and is not listed on this weekend’s depth chart for Kansas.
In the secondary, Kansas has perhaps the best pair of cornerbacks in the Big 12 in Cobee Bryant and Mello Dotson and they’re joined in the starting lineup by safeties O.J. Burroughs and Marvin Grant.
Dotson is off to an incredible start as he leads Kansas with 27 total tackles and only two players in the nation have more than his three interceptions through five games. He earned Honorable Mention All-Big 12 distinction last season and is well on his way to even greater accolades this year.
Bryant, a First-Team All-Big 12 selection in 2023, ties for the team lead with four pass breakups while also collecting 18 tackles with an interception and a forced fumble.
Grant ranks fourth on the team with 23 tackles including a sack and two pass breakups, while Burroughs has added 17 tackles including one for loss with an interception and a share of the team-high of four pass breakups.
Kansas Defense Summary
Against the run, Kansas ranks 59th in the nation, allowing 126.8 yards per game, though they have held opponents to relatively limited outputs of 3.60 yards per carry and five touchdowns in five games.
Though the Jayhawks have a star cornerback duo in Dotson and Bryant, Kansas ranks right near the middle of the FBS in pass defense (70th, 211.2 yards per game).
Overall, Kansas ranks 73rd nationally allowing 23.8 points per game. The Jayhawks are also in a multi-team tie for 60th nationally in team sacks (2.00 per game) while also tying for 57th nationally in total defense (338.0).
As the statistics indicate, Kansas performs at an average to slightly below average level in most defensive categories, but it will still be very important that ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt does not make mistakes against a talented cornerback duo and that the Sun Devils are able to effectively run the ball against a solid if unspectacular Jayhawk rush defense.
Kansas Special Teams
Kansas kicker Tabor Allen has been perfect on the year as he’s connected on all five field goal attempts with a long of 41 yards.
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Punter Damon Greaves has been one of the best in the nation, ranking seventh nationally and leading the Big 12, averaging 46.93 yards on his 15 punts.
In the return game, Trevor Wilson averages 7.33 yards on three punt returns and 19.9 yards on ten kickoff returns.
Overall Summary
In what will be the first-ever meeting between these two football programs, though ASU enters with a 3-1 record and Kansas with a 1-4 standing so far, this game is of crucial importance for both teams.
The No. 22 ranked team in the nation in the preseason AP Poll, it is not an exaggeration to – at least at this immediate point – label Kansas as the most disappointing team in the nation outside of Florida State.
That said, this feels like one of those games where you can throw the records out the window as Kansas is essentially fighting for its life in this game while ASU looks to bounce back from a frustrating loss at Texas Tech as the Sun Devils open a sequence of highly challenging Big 12 Conference games that runs through the remainder of the regular season.
Kansas hasn’t necessarily played badly, but the Jayhawks have exhibited an inability to close out games. Three of KU’s four losses have been by a combined total of 13 points.
When a team is on the brink of potential collapse, as is this Kansas team, they’ll likely look for quick and early momentum moves in order to sway mojo in their direction at an early point.
To combat that, ASU will need to limit the Jayhawk ground game and force Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels to throw more often, hoping that Daniels will continue to be one of the country's more turnover-prone passers.
On offense, the Sun Devils need to play to their strength on the ground—but not to a predictable level—while Sam Leavitt needs to play with a high IQ and not force dangerous passes toward a talented Jayhawk secondary.
Overall, for Arizona State to maintain the momentum created by its 3-0 start and for ASU to stay on track for a potential postseason appearance, this contest has the feel of the textbook “must-win” game for the Sun Devils.
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