If the Kansas football team hadn’t nearly upset Texas on the road in 2019, Jalon Daniels might not have ever joined the Jayhawks.
Named this week’s Gorilla Glue “Toughest Player on Planet Earth” by “The Rich Eisen Show” after helping the Jayhawks beat the Longhorns on the road in overtime, Daniels said it was that shootout in Austin, Texas, two years ago that grabbed his attention as a recruit.
Daniels told Eisen it was midway through his senior year at Lawndale High (Calif.) that he started getting recruited by KU, and the process began days after the Jayhawks lost, 50-48, at the buzzer at UT.
“That game was something that really inspired me to want to come to Kansas, to be able to help turn around a program with my teammates here,” Daniels said.
In the week leading up to KU’s first trip to Austin since that game, Daniels estimated he rewatched it five or more times, and even spoke to teammates about how close the Jayhawks came to shocking the college football world two years ago.
“Let’s finish what that 2019 team started,” Daniels said of his message.
Of course, the sophomore QB and his teammates did just that this past weekend, defeating the Longhorns, 57-56, in another wild game. In his first start of the season, Daniels went 21-for-30, with 202 passing yards and three touchdowns, plus a clutch two-point conversion throw in overtime to KU’s breakout walk-on Jared Casey.
Daniels said head coach Lance Leipold showed his trust in KU’s players and the offensive unit by going for two and the win. The QB also credited offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki for calling a play that Daniels had “a great feel for,” which helped him execute when he had to roll out to escape pressure with the game on the line.
Additionally, the QB praised Casey, a reserve walk-on who joined the program at the same time as Daniels, for delivering the game-winning catch when Casey didn’t even know he was going to be playing offense that night.
“I’m so proud of him. Just being able to see all the work that he’s put in,” Daniels said.
Like Casey, who picked up an NIL deal with Applebee’s as the result of his attention-grabbing two-point conversion, Daniels also benefited from his performance, with an NIL opportunity of his own. Per the agreement between “The Rich Eisen Show” and Gorilla Glue, each weekly award winner gets $1,000 from the company.
Although the Jayhawks (2-8 overall, 1-6 Big 12) hadn’t defeated an FBS opponent all season before their marquee win at Texas, Daniels said Leipold had emphasized since his arrival in Lawrence just more than six months ago philosophies that helped the players make it happen.
One motto is “E+R=O,” or “event plus response equals outcome.” Daniels said another concept the head coach brings up is: “When adversity strikes, how are you going to respond?”
Daniels said there’s “a lot of energy in the building” now for the Jayhawks this week, as they prepare for this year’s road finale.
KU plays at TCU (4-6, 2-5) on Saturday (3 p.m., ESPN+).
Our @GorillaGlue #ToughestPlayerOnPlanetEarth this week helped score one of the craziest upsets in #collegefootball last Saturday – we loved our chat with @KU_Football QB @jalondaniels6:#GorillaTough#RockChalk pic.twitter.com/pz1Iy7avfP
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) November 17, 2021
