‘Heartbroken’: Jalon Daniels' Kansas football career comes to an end

LAWRENCE — Jalon Daniels has been one of the faces of the the Kansas football program in recent years, during coach Lance Leipold’s tenure.

Although injuries hindered Daniels in 2022 and 2023, the quarterback played a role both seasons in leading the Jayhawks to bowl games. His personality proved to be magnetic, on and off the field, and something teammates enjoyed being around. He served as a leader at KU, too, including but not limited to the redshirt senior’s role as a captain in 2025.

But after his last game in a Kansas uniform Friday, a 31-21 loss against Utah in Lawrence, where the conversation with Daniels started was with how heartbroken he felt. Because he understood how much he struggled in that defeat and felt such a weight of responsibility for why the KU (5-7, 3-6 in Big 12) season will end with that defeat. Sure, he threw for a touchdown and 187 yards, and rushed for 34 yards and a touchdown, but he also completed just 37% of his passes and threw three interceptions — one returned for a score.

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“At the end of the day, like I’ll continue to tell you all every week, I’m somebody who doesn’t really give — I don’t give a damn about my stats, personally.” Daniels said. “I don’t care what they look like as long as — the stat that counts is the win. And when my stats are the reason why I feel as if we’re losing, that leaves me heartbroken. Especially when that’s the game that we need to be able to become bowl eligible.”

Kansas coach Lance Leipold would note postgame that holistically it wasn’t Daniels’ best day, and that it’s unfortunate it came in his last game at KU. Leipold doesn’t think Daniels ever fully felt like he was in a rhythm and at times had a look that told Leipold he wasn’t in one. There were moments Daniels looked to throw, instead of handing the ball off, that Leipold didn’t think he saw everything he needed to complete the play.

Daniels’ first interception came on a promising drive from Kansas that opened the game, and Utah responded by taking a 3-0 lead in the first quarter. The second interception came in the fourth quarter, in the end zone, and instead of KU extending what was a 14-10 advantage, the Jayhawks watched Utah drive down and take a 17-14 lead. The third interception, on Kansas’ next drive, also came in the red zone and was returned for the touchdown that helped increased the Utes’ lead to 24-14.

The Jayhawks responded to that deflating moment by driving for a touchdown to help cut the deficit to 24-21. That’s when Daniels threw his lone touchdown pass, a 21-yard strike to tight end Leyton Cure. But that’d be the last time Kansas scored against Utah, and later on Daniels’ final play on the field saw him get sacked.

Daniels said his teammates were trying to uplift him throughout the game, even as he struggled, and that’s something he’s felt been consistent about the locker room he’s been a part of since he arrived at Kansas ahead of the 2020 season. Those relationships he built are part of why he’s become the person he is today. He just wasn’t able to deliver for them against Utah in the way he wanted, and it hurts.

Now he’ll have to move on to the next chapter of his career in football, in life and in general, and watch as the Jayhawks’ program has to start its own next chapter without him. He’ll have to watch and see if fellow quarterbacks like redshirt freshman Isaiah Marshall and redshirt sophomore Cole Ballard can help get KU back to bowl eligibility in the future. And while he was critical of himself Friday, he was optimistic about the future.

“First of all, there’s a lot of guys on this team who are young guys who I’ve gotten a chance to be able to see go out there,” Daniels said. “Even if you haven’t seen them on the field on game day, I’ve seen a lot of young guys have ability, have talent, to be able to go out there and make plays. And when they do get their chance to be able to be in that spotlight, and be on that big stage, they’re going to go out there and make the play. So, I’m very excited to be able to see the future of Kansas football.”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas football quarterback Jalon Daniels' college career comes to end