Kansas and Iowa State both are coming off bye weeks ahead of their Big 12 Conference matchup Saturday afternoon in Ames, Iowa.
With two weeks left in the regular season, the Cyclones (6-4, 3-4) are bowl eligible but the Jayhawks (5-5, 3-4) need one more win to achieve the feat.
In their most recent game, the Jayhawks lost 24-20 at Arizona on Nov. 8. The Cyclones picked up a 20-17 win at TCU on the same day, overcoming an 11-point deficit in the final 10 minutes.
When Kansas returned to practice this week, it tightened its red-zone and third-down offense.
“It’ll be critical for us to be better in those situations down the stretch,” said Jayhawks coach Lance Leipold. “We schedule them at the end of our practice to try and simulate game situations.”
In the loss to the Wildcats, senior quarterback Jalon Daniels completed 15 of 29 passes for 199 yards and a touchdown. He also was Kansas’ leading rusher with 74 yards and a TD on 14 carries.
Because he’s been such an efficient passer and runner — Daniels has completed 65.1% of his throws for 2,190 yards and 21 touchdowns and has rushed for 345 yards and three TDs — Iowa State coach Matt Campbell said the Cyclones will have to account for all of his play-making skills.
“What he’s done an incredible job of in his career is to just get better and better and better,” Campbell said. “He can make you pay horizontally, so you have to be gap-sound. He’s a player that can make you pay in a heartbeat.”
Campbell announced this week that tight end Gable Burkle (leg injury), the team’s No. 4 pass-catcher with 26 receptions, is scheduled for surgery and will miss the rest of the season. But the coach added a dose of optimism when he said redshirt senior linebacker Caleb Bacon will return to the lineup. Bacon’s 55 tackles rank third on the Cyclones and his 6.5 tackles for loss are second.
