It’s all water under the bridge now, but it bears repeating that Kansas’ schedule was not supposed to turn out this way.
When the Jayhawks agreed to play in the Union Jack Classic on Sept. 19, the idea was that they would secure waivers to move the Middle Tennessee game scheduled for the same day to Week 0, before the previously planned start of the season — not later in the year.
It didn’t quite work out in that fashion, and now after its lone open date following a loss to Arizona State, KU is staring down the barrel of nine straight games without another bye week, beginning on Saturday at 11 a.m. against the Blue Raiders, and continuing with eight Big 12 contests in a row.
“We were already down the path when we thought it was going to happen,” head coach Lance Leipold said. “I can’t change that. And I told the team we’re not going to use the trip to London as an excuse. We’ve got to be able to go play.”
A KU team that is already dealing with many injuries is going to have to keep its roster, top to bottom, as healthy as possible: “We’re going to have to make sure everybody’s fresh, ready to go,” defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald said.
To hear McDonald tell it, though, it might be a mental challenge as much as a physical one. He chooses to view it as “We get to do this.”
“Is it a ‘have to’ or a ‘get to’? This is what we get to do,” McDonald said. “And so this is fun. We got to approach it that way.”
As much as it may have come into play already, the depth that KU coaches touted all offseason is going to be relied on particularly heavily throughout the stretch that begins on Saturday and wraps up at Boone Pickens Stadium on Nov. 28.
“I think we got to take care of the guys in practice,” McDonald said. “Take care of them on the off day. Practice hard, but practice smart and get the best fresh group you can to go out there and play.”
Defensive tackle Eamon Smalls’ workload may be lessened somewhat once new arrival Clifton Thompson is fully integrated, but he put it quite simply on Tuesday: “We’re going to live in that training room. That’s the best way to do it, man.”
Nine straight weeks without a bye is abnormal for college, and certainly grueling, but it might not be all that different from the sort of thing players experienced in high school, as quarterback Isaiah Marshall noted.
“It’s what you signed up for,” he added.
All the Jayhawks can do is tackle each week in succession, and their first opponent is a feisty Group of Six opponent that has periodically given power-conference foes trouble over the years. Middle Tennessee sits at 2-2 following a 3-9 season, albeit one in which it won its final two games. Derek Mason, former Vanderbilt head coach and defensive coordinator at Stanford, Auburn and Oklahoma State, is attempting to demonstrate some material progress.
The Blue Raiders have their fair share of playmakers, none more prominent than 5-foot-8, 158-pound wide receiver Cam’ron Lacy, who has 29 catches for 310 yards and four touchdowns as no one else has caught more than eight passes.
“He’s quick as a hiccup,” McDonald said. “They give him the ball, they’re smart, they give him the ball a lot, which I would too if I was them. And so that’s going to be an interesting matchup for us, because they move him around a lot of different spots, so we got to kind of find where he’s at, kind of (a) ‘Where’s Waldo’ type of thing.”
Quarterback Roman Gagliano clearly knows where his bread is buttered, but he’s also off to a strong start overall with eight touchdowns and one interception.
“This summer I was driving here in town and I was listening to some national college sports radio and they were talking about him being one of the surprises of the Manning (Passing) Academy, how well he performed there,” Leipold said. “And you can see it.”
The defense has actually been the more statistically productive side of the ball for MTSU, even though its pass rush has only recorded two sacks through four games.
“I really like their defensive front four,” associate head coach Andy Kotelnicki said. “I think they have (been) disruptive. They’re playing a lot of guys in the back half of their secondary. They know what they’re doing, you know what I mean? They play within their structure.”
As they look to get back on track, the Jayhawks are under no illusions about what this sort of game could mean to their opponent.
“They have weapons and they’re going to come in here and play hard,” Leipold said, “and I guess this is one of those opportunities, games like this for them, games like this can really be one that can get a program feeling really good about things, and again, we’ve got to be prepared.”
KANSAS JAYHAWKS (1-2) VS. MIDDLE TENNESSEE BLUE RAIDERS (2-2)
• David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, 11 a.m. Central time
• Broadcast: ESPNU
• Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KKSW FM 105.9)
• Betting line: KU -18.5; over/under 49.5
• Series history: None
KEEP AN EYE OUT
1. One-week wonder?: The KU defense put together one of its best performances under Leipold in the Union Jack Classic, and a lot of that had to do with a resurgent secondary. One of the big surprises in that secondary was the performance of backup cornerback Syeed Gibbs. Austin Alexander got pulled after six snaps in favor of Gibbs, who excelled in his place for much of the rest of the game. McDonald framed this as riding the hot hand rather than sitting Alexander specifically. In any case, there’s now some doubt about the health of Gibbs because he exited that game with an injury. If he’s good to go, he’ll have the chance to stake his claim for continued playing time; if he isn’t, Alexander will have the opportunity to prove his worth anew.
2. Better balance: As KU looks ahead to the Big 12 gantlet, it needs to keep its players fresh. Middle linebacker and captain Trey Lathan is leading the Jayhawks in snaps again, which isn’t a surprise, but he’s barely been able to come off the field in the first few games despite KU’s much-improved depth at his position in the offseason. That’s because Bam Crouch got hurt four plays into the opener, forcing Quincy Davis to replace him on the weak side instead of serving as Lathan’s backup in the middle. Davis has acquitted himself quite well, but with Crouch set to come back this weekend, now Davis can slot into what might be a more natural role and help Lathan produce at his best as the season continues.
3. Day by day: KU continues to go without one of its top receivers from last season. Cam Pickett has played just six snaps this season and did not appear in London after being listed as a game-time decision. The former Ball State transfer’s undisclosed injury seems to be of the sort that varies in severity from one day to the next, with Leipold saying this week, “Cam’s got one of those situations where you have good days and you have not-good days.” He expressed optimism that Pickett is headed in the right direction, “but like I said, we could step into tomorrow and I get a different report, unfortunately.” There were no public availability reports this week since it’s not a Big 12 Conference game, but needless to say, the uneven KU offense needs all the playmakers it can get at the moment, although Tate Nagy has impressed in Pickett’s absence.
SPOTLIGHT ON…
Dylan Edwards: The Kansas State transfer received 18 carries in KU’s loss to ASU, tied for the second-highest total of his career. His workload going forward may look a bit more like that than what he was garnering before, given that Yasin Willis could be out for the season. On the flip side, Jalen Dupree is back healthy to help share the burden, but the Jayhawks will certainly attempt to get the ball in the hands of one of their most dynamic players even more than they were previously. Saturday’s game provides an opportunity for Edwards to get accustomed to what the rest of his season could be — and perhaps to reach the end zone for the first time since Oct. 4, 2025.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
473: Receiving yards at MTSU last season for now-KU wideout Nahzae Cox.
19: Prior to Tate Nagy’s performance against ASU, it had been this many years since a Jayhawk caught a touchdown and returned a punt for a touchdown in the same game (Raimond Pendleton, 2007).
5: Number of times KU went three-and-out against ASU.
PREDICTION
KU wins 35-10. The Jayhawks will take this opportunity to get back on track and set the tone for the rest of the season. The defense will once again give the offense its fair share of opportunities, as it has throughout the year, and against somewhat lesser opposition the offense will be able to take better advantage.
