Kansas Jayhawks improve to 3-0 with convincing win over Houston Cougars
The Kansas Jayhawks and their white-hot offense continued their early season excellence on Saturday, taking down the Houston Cougars on the road 48-30 to improve to 3-0 on the season.
This is the first time since 2009 that the Jayhawks have started the year 3-0. Additionally, until this season, Kansas hadn’t won consecutive games by double digits since 2018.
Coach Lance Leipold’s legend and legacy continues to grow early in his Kansas tenure, too. He now has as many road wins in the last two weeks as the previous five KU coaches had in 11 years.
Just like last week, the game didn’t start out well for KU, with Houston taking a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. However, also similarly to last week, the Kansas offense erupted after facing the early deficit. Led by a career day by junior quarterback Jalon Daniels, the Jayhawks strung together a streak of six touchdowns in seven drives across the first three quarters, with the only miss coming on a drive that ended the first half.
Beyond lighting up the scoreboard, KU’s success on Saturday was reminiscent of the hallmarks from its first two games. The offensive line didn’t allow a sack against Houston, while it also committed just two penalties on the game and won the turnover battle.
Daniels completed 14-of-23 passes for 158 yards and three touchdowns in the win, while also leading the Jayhawks with 123 yards rushing and another two scores on the ground. That’s a new career high in rushing yards for the burgeoning star quarterback.
Freshman running back Daniel Hishaw added a rushing touchdown, while junior Luke Grimm, redshirt junior Torry Locklin and redshirt sophomore Jared Casey all tallied receiving touchdowns.
Houston slightly outgained Kansas in total yardage this weekend, although KU had a big advantage in rushing yards. The Jayhawks also committed just two penalties in the game versus 10 for the Cougars, and KU also led in time of possession.
KU’s 48 points on Saturday actually brought the team’s scoring average down; it now sits at 53 points per game.
Houston, which was the preseason favorite to win the American Athletic Conference, played its worst game of the season thus far, falling by three scores after going to multiple overtimes in its first two games of the season. Quarterback Clayton Tune, who was once committed to Kansas, threw for 272 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the losing effort.
The Jayhawks will return home next weekend for their nonconference finale against Duke. The Blue Devils are also undefeated after they beat North Carolina A&T on Saturday.
