Via Kansas Athletics
LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas Jayhawks opened Big 12 Conference play with a 41-10 victory over West Virginia Saturday night at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
With the win, Kansas improves to 3-1 (1-0 Big 12) on the year while beginning conference play with a victory for the third time in the past four seasons. West Virginia dropped to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in conference play.
The 31-point margin of victory is KU’s largest ever in a Big 12 Conference opener, surpassing the previous best of 28 points in a 52-24 victory over Oklahoma in 1996, the league’s inaugural season.
Jalon Daniels threw for 138 yards and three touchdowns, including one to Leshon Williams, who recorded the first 100-yard rushing game of his KU career with 19 carries for 129 yards and a score. Levi Wentz and Boden Groen both hauled in their first touchdowns as Jayhawks, while Emmanuel Henderson Jr. scored on a 94-yard kickoff return to open the second half.
Dean Miller and Blake Herold led the way for KU defensively with seven tackles apiece. Miller added a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss, while Herold had a tackle for loss and recovered a fumble. Trey Lathan recorded an interception and a sack against his former team.
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Kansas forced a quick three-and-out to open the game as Miller recorded his first sack of the season on third down. After a 30-yard punt return from Tate Nagy set the Jayhawks up at midfield, KU needed just four plays to score as Daniels found Wentz for a 41-yard touchdown on fourth down to make it 7-0 just over three minutes into the contest. Defense dominated the rest of the first quarter as the two teams combined for just three first downs and eight punts as the Jayhawks maintained the 7-0 lead at the end of the quarter.
KU added to its lead, opening the second quarter with a 10-play scoring drive that ended with a 42-yard field goal from Laith Marjan, making it 10-0 with 10:25 to play in the half. West Virginia got on the board with a 26-yard field goal that cut the deficit to 10-3 at the 3:43 mark of the quarter. Kansas quickly responded, scoring on a 39-yard touchdown from Daniels to Williams, which put the Jayhawks up 17-3. KU added a 44-yard field goal from Marjan as time expired in the half and took a 20-3 lead to the break.
The Jayhawks’ scoring run continued on the opening kickoff of the second half. Henderson Jr. took the kickoff at the six-yard line and returned it 94 yards for a score, the first kickoff return touchdown by a Kansas player since 2020. KU added a seven-yard touchdown from Daniels to Groen to lead 34-3 at the end of three.
West Virginia scores its lone touchdown of the game at the beginning of the fourth quarter, making it 34-10. Kansas answered with a 62-yard touchdown run by Williams, which would prove to be the final score of the game as KU opened league play with the victory by a 41-10 margin.
With Big 12 Conference play underway, the Jayhawks return to action on Saturday, Sept. 27 when KU welcomes the Cincinnati Bearcats to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Kickoff for that game is slated for 11 a.m. CT on TNT/TruTV/MAX.
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