No. 19 Kansas loses Jalon Daniels to shoulder injury, falls 38-31 to No. 17 TCU

Kansas is no longer undefeated.

The No. 19 Jayhawks lost 38-31 to No. 17 TCU after losing starting QB Jalon Daniels to a right shoulder injury late in the first half.

TCU scored the go-ahead TD with 1:36 left on an incredible catch by wide receiver Quentin Johnston. Look at how he hauled this pass in.

Johnston was phenomenal on Saturday. After getting 12 catches in TCU’s first four games he had 14 grabs for 206 yards and that TD. TCU QB Max Duggan threw for three TDs and rushed for another as the two teams combined for 42 points in the third quarter.

The points explosion came after Daniels left the game. He was injured late in the first half when he landed on his throwing shoulder as he was getting sacked while scrambling toward the sideline. Daniels was in immediate visible pain after he landed on the ground and went to the locker room early before halftime.

He returned to the sideline in the second half in street clothes and never returned to the game.

Daniels was replaced at QB for KU by Jason Bean. Outside of an interception, Bean was very good for the Jayhawks and was 16-of-24 for 262 yards and threw four TDs in the second half.

Bean found Quentin Skinner for two TDs, including a game-tying TD before Duggan hit Johnston. Skinner had four catches for 98 yards.

KU’s dream day ends in heartbreak

Saturday was the first time ESPN’s “College GameDay” pregame show had come to Lawrence for a Kansas football game. The show’s presence was deserved. Kansas was one of the surprises of the season with its 5-0 start after years of moribund football.

Daniels was a huge reason why KU was so good to start 2022. He entered Saturday’s game with 983 yards passing, 329 rushing yards and 16 total touchdowns. Daniels’ 11 passing TDs through the first five games of 2022 are three more than he had in nearly 270 pass attempts over the first two years of his Kansas career.

Now Kansas has its first defeat of the season and could be without Daniels for quite some time. But Bean showed Saturday that he’s capable of leading the offense after making nine starts in 2021. Kansas’ offense has a much better surrounding cast in 2022.

TCU moves to 5-0

The Horned Frogs are now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Big 12 after the win. They're in a great early position to contend for a spot in the Big 12 title game. The offense is one of the best in the conference and the defense has done enough to slow down both Oklahoma and Kansas.

We’ll have a much better idea of TCU’s bona fides over the next couple of weeks. The Horned Frogs have home games against Oklahoma State and Kansas State before a trip to West Virginia to end October. If TCU can beat both the Cowboys and Wildcats, it'll be a favorite to be one of the two teams in the Dec. 5 conference title game.