Kansas (3-6, 2-4 Big 12) at No. 6 BYU (9-0, 6-0 Big 12)
- Kickoff: Saturday, 8:15 p.m. MDT
- Venue: LaVell Edwards Stadium (Capacity: 62,073)
- TV: ESPN
- Livestream: https://www.espn.com/watch
- Radio: KSL 1160 AM/102.7 FM/BYU Radio Sirius XM 143.
- Series: Kansas leads, 2-0
- Weather: Snow showers in morning, expected to clear as the day goes on; much colder than previous days this week, with temperatures in the low 40s during the day and dropping into the 30s at night. Winds from the West reaching 8 mph.
The trends
For BYU: The Cougars are 9-0 for the fifth time in school history and having a magical season reminiscent of 2020, Zach Wilson’s final year in Provo. They are No. 7 in The Associated Press Top 25, and No. 6 in the College Football Playoff rankings. They are 27-7 under head coach Kalani Sitake when playing as a ranked team.
BYU leads the Big 12 and is No. 2 nationally in the ESPN FPI strength-of-record metrics. They have wins over two teams currently in the top 25, having downed SMU and Kansas State.
For Kansas: The Jayhawks began the season in the national rankings, but were a major disappointment the first two six weeks of the season. After knocking off Lindenwood 48-3, they lost five straight games, but all were close losses and the general feeling is that they are much better than their 3-6 record indicates.
They upset nationally ranked Iowa State 45-36 last week at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City and are being picked by a lot of so-called experts to upset the Cougars in Provo.
What to watch for
The Cougars are relatively healthy compared to past seasons, when injuries have derailed promising starts. Starting right tackle Brayden Keim sustained a lower leg injury in the 22-21 win over Utah last week and will be out until at least the postseason. Colorado transfer Isaiah Jatta will take his place on the offensive line.
Receiver Kody Epps and center Connor Pay should return to action this week; neither has played since the win at Baylor. Defensively, BYU shut out Utah for three of the four quarters Saturday, but in the second it gave up 21 points to the Utes.
BYU has been dinged by running quarterbacks for much of the season, and faces another one Saturday in KU junior Jalon Daniels; watch for BYU to play a lot of nickel packages with a spy on Daniels, and dare the average passer to put the ball in the air.
The Jayhawks are known for their offense in 2024 with Daniels, Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw Jr. leading the way, but don’t forget about their defense. If not for a pair of defensive touchdowns, including a scoop-and-score by Kobee Bryant, KU might not have defeated BYU at Booth Stadium last year.
The defense is led by senior DE Jereme Robinson, who has 5.5 sacks this season. He’s got 14.0 career sacks in his time in Lawrence.
Key player
Jalon Daniels, Junior, Quarterback, Kansas:
Daniels led the Jayhawks to the come-from-behind win over BYU last year, then sat out the remainder of the season with back troubles. He was turnover-prone at the start of the season, a big reason why the Jayhawks started 1-5. But he’s been lights out the past three games, leading KU to wins over Houston and Iowa State and a close loss at nationally ranked Kansas State.
The Cougars will try to capitalize on Daniels’ problems taking care of the football, especially if the weather is wintry, as expected. But the Cougars have had issues containing mobile quarterbacks, and Daniels will look to do some damage with his legs. He’s also got two great running backs to help him with the rushing load, Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw Jr.
Quotable
“We are excited because we know that game didn’t go our way last year. It actually started off wrong. So we know we can play better than what we did against them. Now they are coming to our house and we are excited for that opportunity to play them again. There are a lot of their guys that are back, so the matchup is going to be awesome.” — BYU coach Kalani Sitake
“BYU is that story about a program that people kind of forgot about. That program, after our game last year, I think, talked about what it needed to do to be a better Big 12 team I think they wanted to address their physicality, and it is very evident that they have done that.” — Kansas coach Lance Leipold
Next up
- BYU: at Arizona State on Saturday
- Kansas: vs. Colorado on Saturday
BYU schedule
- Aug. 31 — Defeated Southern Illinois, 41-13
- Sept. 6 — Defeated SMU, 18-15
- Sept. 14 — Defeated Wyoming, 34-14
- Sept. 21 — Defeated Kansas State, 38-9
- Sept. 28 — Defeated Baylor, 34-28
- Oct. 5 — Bye
- Oct. 12 — Defeated Arizona, 41-19
- Oct. 18 — Defeated Oklahoma State, 38-35
- Oct. 26 — Defeated Central Florida, 37-24
- Nov. 2 — Bye
- Nov. 9 — Defeated Utah, 22-21
- Nov. 16 — Kansas
- Nov. 23 — at Arizona State
- Nov. 30 — Houston