The 2024 Kansas football team fought through three ranked foes just to earn the chance to play for a postseason berth on Thanksgiving weekend. It didn’t take advantage of that opportunity and finished the year on a down note at 5-7.
The 2025 Jayhawks, who enter Friday’s battle with No. 13 Utah at 5-6, will need their first ranked win and by far their most impressive victory of the year — their three conference wins to this point are over teams with a combined 4-20 league record — if they wish to earn one more game for their senior class.
“I’m going to enjoy this game,” sixth-year running back Daniel Hishaw Jr. said, “whether it’s the last one or the next one, and I don’t like saying the last one, so I prefer not to hear that word.”
It’s been a challenging second half of the season for KU and its many seniors. Since they beat UCF 27-20 in Orlando, Florida, on Oct. 4, the Jayhawks have lost four of five games, including three blowout losses — previously a rarity under head coach Lance Leipold — and a 24-20 heartbreaker at Arizona that slipped out of their grasp.
That series of events precipitated this do-or-die final matchup against one of the nation’s most consistent football programs.
“They’re solid in all phases, a physical football team,” Leipold said. “They’re top two or three in the league in almost every important category.”
Last season, in its first year in the Big 12, Utah struggled and missed the postseason altogether, a surprise for a team that has been to 16 bowl games and was a perennial Pac-12 contender under longtime head coach Kyle Whittingham. The Utes quickly proved this year that the performance was an aberration. New offensive coordinator Jason Beck, who came from New Mexico along with quarterback Devon Dampier, has steered a unit that leads the Big 12 in total offense.
That’s because Utah runs the ball better than just about anyone else. The Utes’ run game is second in the nation; three of the top five teams are service academies that run the triple option. But in a sense, facing Utah is “the opposite of playing a military-type team” because they score quickly and frequently, as KU’s own OC Jim Zebrowski put it.
That’s in large part because of Washington State transfer running back Wayshawn Parker (121 carries, 836 yards, seven touchdowns) and the dual-threat Dampier (116 carries, 637 yards, seven touchdowns), but Utah has in recent weeks unlocked another option in freshman backup quarterback Byrd Ficklin, and auxiliary running backs Daniel Bray and NaQuari Rogers have also had their moments. Paving the way are two offensive tackles in Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu who could potentially be early picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
“When I say everybody on the field can run the ball, I mean everybody,” KU defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald said.
That’s concerning for KU, which is still hammering away at issues with gap discipline and eye placement 11 games into the season, and allowed Iowa State to rush for 221 yards and therefore control the time-of-possession battle in last Saturday’s dispiriting 38-14 loss. The Jayhawks also couldn’t get off the field on the money downs — a frequent refrain this season — and now have to play one of just nine teams in the country more likely than not to convert a third down. (Utah is also the only team in the country converting at least 50% of third downs and 70% of fourth downs.)
On the other hand, the Utes’ defense suddenly looks vulnerable after conceding 47 points and 472 rushing yards to Kansas State, a game that has prompted Kansas to comb through the film for potential sources of inspiration. In addition, star edge rusher John Henry Daley, Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded non-Texas Tech player in the Big 12, is out for the season due to an injury suffered against K-State.
KU also knows, as Leipold said, that the Utes will adjust after their worst defensive showing of the year. After all, their postseason hopes depend on it — just a slightly different sort of hopes than KU’s.
“We know the last week people aren’t just going to sit down and lay down, and especially because Utah is one of those teams that are kind of on the bubble of making the (College Football) Playoff, we know they’re going to try to make a statement to the playoff committee,” KU center Bryce Foster said. “And we got to come in there with our chinstraps buckled, shoes tied, ready to go.”
Kansas Jayhawks (5-6, 3-5 Big 12) vs. No. 13 Utah Utes (9-2, 6-2 Big 12)
• David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, 11 a.m.
• Broadcast: ESPN
• Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KKSW FM 105.9 / KMXN FM 92.9)
• Betting line: Utah -11.5; over/under 60
• Series history: Tied 2-2
Keep an eye out
1. Doing too much: A new talking point arose in the wake of KU’s loss to Iowa State, with regard to the Jayhawks’ assignment issues on defense, when Leipold said that he felt some players were trying to exceed their given responsibilities on certain plays and go places they weren’t supposed to. Middle linebacker Trey Lathan admitted he could sometimes be one of them and said it can be in a player’s nature to try to go out and attempt to make something happen. Leipold clarified on Monday that the onus is on the coaches “to be able to find a way to get them to execute these things appropriately and consistently.” Whatever the case, this topic will be more important than ever before against an offense as challenging as the Utes’.
2. Holiday hours: How much fan support will KU actually get at this game? The Jayhawks sold out three of their home games this year — Fresno State, Cincinnati and Kansas State — but have lost a lot of their on-field momentum in recent weeks. Throw in the morning kickoff on Black Friday and it’s anyone’s guess how many fans will show up for senior day. KU has been promoting some special deals on ticket prices. Leipold acknowledged the unusual scheduling and the Jayhawks’ recent results but said he hoped fans would support players like Jayson Gilliom, Tommy Dunn Jr., D.J. Withers and the rest of the seniors who helped play a role in the program rebuild, “guys that persevered through the tough times and changed how Kansas football is looked at.”
3. Last ride?: Several players ostensibly considered seniors are not going through senior-day festivities on Friday, suggesting they could potentially return in 2026. That includes apparent medical-redshirt candidates in Dylan Brooks, Leyton Cure and Lyrik Rawls and standard redshirts like Efren Jasso and Joseph Sipp Jr. The big question is the situation with Bryson Canty, a transfer receiver from Columbia who has seen greater playing time over the course of the season as he’s become healthier and settled into the offense. Canty played three full seasons with the Lions and had one cut short during which he redshirted, then played this year at KU. It’s hard to envision a scenario in which he could obtain additional eligibility, but Leipold will undoubtedly be asked soon about the future prospects for Canty and these other players.
Spotlight on…
Jalon Daniels: This could be the last game of Daniels’ collegiate career. He is a member of an increasingly rare breed of program lifers, to the point that he spent all six years of his career at KU through coaching changes, brutal injuries and turbulent seasons. He helped kick-start the Jayhawks’ program rebuild with memorable wins at Texas in 2021 and at West Virginia in 2022, but hasn’t had as many to his name in the years since. Daniels began the 2025 campaign in exceptional form, but in the last four games is completing just 54.7% of his passes with three touchdowns and two picks and hasn’t cleared 200 passing yards in any given matchup. If he can reclaim his early-season form, it could go a long way toward creating another signature moment. Zebrowski said of Daniels, “The biggest thing for me is I just want him to play to the best of his ability, have fun doing it one more time here in the stadium. Hopefully, one more game after that, obviously.”
Inside the numbers
287: Utah’s total number of first downs achieved on offense this season, which is second in the country.
33: The number of seniors KU will honor, setting the stage for another big offseason in the transfer portal for the Jayhawks’ coaching staff.
21.2: The Jayhawks’ average number of points per game over the last five contests.
Prediction
Utah wins 42-24. KU has not risen to the occasion in its biggest games this season. It underperformed dramatically against Kansas State and Iowa State, and even in one of its best showings this year against Arizona didn’t quite have enough in the tank to earn a victory.
Senior day may be a different beast, and perhaps the Jayhawks can channel their emotions productively into some sort of strong effort, but it’s hard to imagine at this stage of the year that they can put it together to the extent that would allow them to defeat a playoff hopeful.
— Sports reporter David Rodish contributed to this story.
AP Photo/Matthew Putney
