Does loss to West Virginia end Kansas’ Big 12 hopes?

At the beginning of the season, Kansas had many reasons to be hopeful.

In a preseason poll, league media picked the Jayhawks to finish fourth and even gave them five first-place votes. Most importantly, QB Jalon Daniels — who completed nearly 75 percent of his passes in three games last season — returned after a back injury that sidelined him late last September. Perhaps Kansas was even a dark-horse contender for the league conference championship game in December in Arlington, Texas.

But after Saturday’s 32-28 loss at West Virginia, Kansas (1-3) is on a three-game losing streak and has an imposing schedule looming. Its chances of making the title game seem like a massive long shot.

Kansas head coach Lance Leipold believes positivity is crucial after the recent loss to the Mountaineers, stating (per KUSports.com), “I expect anybody who touches our program to stay positive and work as hard as they’ve ever worked before. Because we owe that to our people.”

If a loss to the UNLV Rebels on Sept. 13 was not enough of an unexpected blow to the program’s postseason hopes, the loss to West Virginia certainly was. Kansas coughed up an 11-point lead with only 5.5 minutes left against the Mountaineers (2-2), who the previous week blew a 10-point lead in losing to Pitt.

For those who were expecting a trip to Morgantown for the Jayhawks to be a get-right game for Daniels, they were wrong. Against a weak WVU secondary, Daniels threw an interception, giving him seven in the four games this season and prompting calls on social media for backup Cole Ballard to play Saturday against TCU at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

In the games against West Virginia and Lindenwood, Daniels had a 60 percent pass completion rate. In four games, the junior has thrown 626 yards and rushed for 111 yards, but he’s completing only 56.3 percent of his passes overall.

Clearly, Leipold and his staff must provide more time for Daniels to pass. A confidence boost for the junior QB would help, too.

Beyond what is shaping to be a winnable game against the Horned Frogs on Saturday, the Jayhawks can keep some potential momentum with matchups against the Arizona State Sun Devils and the Houston Cougars afterward.

If the team hasn’t found a rhythm by then, it’s a tough road beyond that, with Kansas State, Iowa State and BYU on deck with a combined record of 10-1 to this point.