Kansas starting quarterback Jalon Daniels threw for a career-best 324 yards on Saturday at home vs. Duke. The Daniels-led offense bested Duke, 35-27, and moved the Jayhawks to 4-0 (1-0, Big 12) for the first time since 2009.

Hitting several targets vs. the Blue Devils, Daniels recalled his favorite reception of the day - a left-side floater pass to running back Daniel Hishaw Jr. that resulted in an unhinged 73-yard touchdown run that placed Kansas ahead 14-7 early into the second quarter.

“It’s not every day where you throw a flat route to the running back and he just breaks out and goes the entire way,” Daniels said. “Being able to see that amount of explosion, just his will to want to get into the endzone, we love to see it.”

Teammates with Hishaw since the pair arrived in Lawrence as freshmen, Daniels said watching Hishaw’s breakout score was special. Hishaw underwent season-ending surgery early last season.

“Finally being able to see him get back in his mojo, to be able to make a lot of people miss, to be able to run people over, it’s just exciting to be able to see him back at 100%,” Daniels said.

Starting the game with a disappointing turnover on the Duke 1-yard line, KU got the first word on its next drive with a 6-yard pass from Daniels to tight end Trevor Kardell. On the road at West Virginia and Houston, Kansas trailed by two scores before the end of the first quarter.

Despite the botched start, Daniels said his team shook the weak drive easily.

“I feel like we handled adversity very well,” Daniels said. “That's something that we harped on during the offseason, which is handling adversity no matter what situation it is. We were able to come out there and just be able to play Kansas football.”

Daniels said the team doesn't sweat leaving points on the field, as long as it’s corrected next time up. Not sweating the mistakes has been core to Kansas’ approach this season, according to Daniels.

“It’s the game of football,” Daniels said. “You always feel like you made mistakes and that you left points out on the field. But at the end of the day, if you give your 100%, then you can’t complain. Just got back into the film and try to clean it up.”

The raucous environment of a sold-out David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium played a role in the early momentum, too. Daniels said walking into a packed stadium was a well-deserved moment for the program.

“It was rocking, it was crazy,” Daniels said. “To be able to come out there for the intro and see the whole, entire booth packed out, you love to see things like that because that's something that we've been working on. A lot of guys on his team haven't been able to see that for a while.”