The Kansas football team, and more specifically its cornerback Cobee Bryant, gave BYU a rude awakening last season as the Jayhawks welcomed the Cougars to the Big 12 for their first game in the league.
On BYU’s second offensive play at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Bryant, listed at 6-foot and 175 pounds, laid out wide receiver Parker Kingston on an end-around with one of the biggest hits by any Jayhawk in recent memory. Kingston fumbled, Bryant took it back for a score, and even though BYU led at halftime, that play set the tone for KU’s eventual 38-27 victory.
A few more teams beat BYU far worse last year, and the Cougars finished 5-7.
This year’s team is not the same.
The BYU squad that welcomes KU to LaVell Edwards Stadium on Saturday at 9:15 p.m. Central Time — yes, it’s the Big 12 After Dark time slot — is unbeaten, No. 6 in the nation, and just keeps finding ways to win in unlikely situations.
“It actually started off wrong,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said of the 2023 game against KU, “and we know we could play better than what we did against them. Now they’re coming to our house, and we’re excited for that opportunity to play them again.”
KU head coach Lance Leipold called the Cougars “probably our best opponent yet of the season.”
“I think that program, after our game last year, talked about what it needed to do to probably be a better Big 12 team, and I think they wanted to address their physicality, and that’s very evident that they have done that,” he told reporters on Monday.
The well-rounded Cougars are No. 2 in the Big 12 in scoring offense and No. 3 in scoring defense. They’re particularly strong against the pass, where they’ve held opposing teams to 176.9 yards per game (although Iowa State was doing even better than that before Jalon Daniels’ 234-yard, two-touchdown first half in KU’s win over the Cyclones last week) and intercepted a league-leading 16 passes.
A big part of the Cougars’ ongoing championship positioning is Jake Retzlaff, who in his first year as a full-time starter has thrown for 2,091 yards with 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions, adding on 291 rushing yards and four more scores on 71 carries. That makes him No. 5 in the league in total offense. He’s throwing to familiar targets like Chase Roberts and Darius Lassiter (son of Kwamie) and handing off to a slew of running backs.
“I don’t think there’s a weak position where they just don’t measure up,” defensive coordinator Brian Borland said.
Three of BYU’s top-rated defensive players on Pro Football Focus are cornerbacks in Marque Collins, Evan Johnson and Jakob Robinson, as Collins and Robinson have also played the most snaps for the Cougars among defensive players this year.
Leipold highlighted BYU’s special teams, too; in fact, the Cougars have returned two kicks and one punt for touchdowns this year. He said they are doing “all the things that make teams that have chances to compete for championships what they are.”
BYU wide receiver Darius Lassiter (5) runs the ball in for a touchdown in the final seconds of the second half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Provo, Utah.
BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff passes in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Utah, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, in Salt Lake City.
No. 6 BYU Cougars (9-0, 6-0 Big 12) vs. Kansas Jayhawks (3-6, 2-4 Big 12)
• LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, Utah, 9:15 p.m. Central Time
• Broadcast: ESPN
• Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KKSW FM 105.9)
• Betting line: BYU -2.5; over/under 56.5
• Series history: KU leads 2-0
Keep an eye out
1. Grimes Bowl I: Two of KU’s final three games, both this week’s and the Nov. 30 date at Baylor, are against teams whose current head coaches once employed Jeff Grimes as their offensive coordinator. Grimes worked as the offensive coordinator under Sitake for three seasons, from 2018 to 2020, before leaving for Baylor. Sitake said he expects Grimes’ involvement in the game to be a wash: “I think it’s going to help both sides. He knows a little bit about our scheme and we know a little bit of his background.” Grimes, for his part, mentioned his “deep respect and strong positive feelings” for much of the BYU staff, as well as his experience on both sides of the “raucous” environment at LaVell Edwards Stadium; at Baylor in 2022, he went there and had a potential game-winning drive in double overtime ruined by a pair of false starts in a goal-to-go situation. He said the KU staff and players have talked about what to expect.
2. Going for it: One stat that does not look particularly good for KU if it finds itself in a close game in Provo: The Jayhawks are 14th of 16 teams in the league in opponent fourth-down conversion rate, as they have let foes go 10-for-15, while BYU is best in the league at fourth downs on offense (16-for-20, 80%). Throw in BYU’s clutch showings as recently as games against Utah and Oklahoma State, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, as well as KU’s struggles inside the two-minute warning, and these trends could make for some dicey late-game moments for the Jayhawks.
3. File this away: Cole Ballard suffered an apparent injury in the Sunflower Showdown at Kansas State after Grimes had briefly tried to get him involved in a small package of plays, including a carry for six yards. True freshman Isaiah Marshall was listed on KU’s depth chart on Monday as the backup to Daniels, with Leipold describing Ballard as doubtful and stating that he’s going through a “throwing program.” That means that Marshall, whom Leipold has praised for his poise and calm demeanor, would be next in line if anything were to happen to Daniels — or if Grimes just felt like experimenting again in some way by throwing an odd look at the Cougars’ defense.
Spotlight on…
Calvin Clements: The redshirt freshman offensive tackle and Lawrence native took some time to get up to speed after dealing with an injury in the offseason, and briefly played himself into a rotational role along KU’s offensive line, spelling Logan Brown periodically. But that rotation lapsed after KU’s first bye week in early October, and Clements largely remained on the bench until an injury to starting left tackle Bryce Cabeldue on Saturday against ISU. Now, he’s charged with protecting Daniels’ blind side and will likely have to do so at BYU given that Leipold has labeled Cabeldue doubtful. BYU isn’t an elite pass-rushing team and Clements already has experience as a starter from the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl, but this could be by far his most extended action since then.
Inside the numbers
93.0: Tight end Trevor Kardell’s PFF grade from the ISU game, which is the second-highest single-game grade for any Jayhawk all season.
29.2: BYU’s Keelan Marion’s average yardage per kick return, which is best in the Big 12.
1: Just one player from Utah is on KU’s roster: Tevita Ahoafi-Noa, a reserve blocking tight end from Salt Lake City who has seen increased playing time this season.
Prediction
BYU wins 31-30. There are some good reasons to like the Jayhawks in this game: They’re playing their best football of the season and doing so with a greater sense of urgency than at any point prior, as they strive for long-shot bowl eligibility. Meanwhile, BYU is coming off a tumultuous, emotional victory against its greatest rival.
But KU is faced with some uncomfortable indicators entering this game: its past performance in these road night games in the western part of the country (at Nevada last year, at Arizona State this year), its relatively poor downfield coverage against the Cyclones, BYU’s ability to scratch and claw its way to close victories and of course the simple fact that KU is 3-6 and the Cougars are undefeated.
BYU has pulled out close games over and over. KU has not. With the home crowd on their side, the Cougars will not let this one go easily.
AP Photo/Charlie Riedel
AP Photo/Spenser Heaps
AP Photo/Spenser Heaps