Kansas Preview

A Big 12 opener that carries much historic context with it ultimately comes down to a meeting between two conference foes looking to remove the bitter taste out of their mouth following recent two-touchdown-plus defeats. Joe Healey provides a thorough analysis of ASU’s opponent Saturday at Wembley Stadium.

2025 Season in Review: 5-7

For the second straight year, Kansas failed to reach bowl eligibility with its 5-7 record in 2025. The Jayhawks started 3-1, with wins over Fresno State and Wagner, then a loss to Missouri, before a victory over West Virginia. Kansas would then, however, drop three of their next four games in conference play, before rebounding with a win over Oklahoma State to bring the Jayhawks to a 5-4 record to begin the month of November. Three straight defeats to close out the regular season prevented Kansas from a postseason berth.

In terms of individual accolades, wide receiver Emmanuel Henderson, Jr. and punter Finn Lappin earned Third-Team All-Big 12 recognition, while Kansas had nine honorable mention all-conference picks.

Kansas had two players selected in the 2026 NFL Draft, OL Enrique Cruz, Jr. (fifth round to San Francisco) and Henderson (sixth round to Seattle).

2026 So Far: 1-1

Kansas opened the season with a 51-6 victory over FCS-level opponent Long Island University before dropping a 38-21 contest to No. 23 Missouri. Both games were played at home for the Jayhawks in Lawrence.

Series History: ASU leads, 1-0

This will be just the second all-time meeting between ASU and Kansas, with the first occurring on Oct. 5, 2024, in Tempe, where the Sun Devils claimed a 35-31 victory.

The fourth quarter saw four lead changes, the last of which was Jordyn Tyson’s three-yard touchdown reception with 16 seconds remaining to give ASU a thrilling victory.

Head Coach: Lance Leipold (sixth season at Kansas)

Kansas’ head coach since 2021, Leipold has compiled a 28-36 record with the Jayhawks. His best season came in 2023 with a 9-4 record, a bowl game victory, and a No. 23 final poll standing. He also took Kansas bowling in 2022, but the 2021 and 2024-25 seasons did not result in bowl eligibility. Prior to coming to Kansas, Leipold spent the previous six seasons at Buffalo; before that, he coached for eight seasons and won six NCAA Division III championships at Wisconsin-Whitewater.

Kansas Offense Preview

Key Returners: OL Calvin Clements, OL Amir Herring, WR Keaton Kubecka, WR Cam Pickett

Key Departures: OL Kobe Baynes, OL Enrique Cruz, Jr., QB Jalon Daniels, OL Bryce Foster, TE Boden Groen, WR Emmanuel Henderson, Jr., RB Daniel Hishaw

Key Newcomers: WR Nahzae Cox (Middle Tennessee Transfer, No. 162 transfer portal WR), RB Dylan Edwards (Kansas State transfer, No. 18 transfer portal RB), WR Nik McMillan (Buffalo transfer, No. 125 transfer portal WR), OT Nick Morrow (California transfer; No. 47 transfer portal OT), RB Yasin Willis (Syracuse transfer; No. 53 transfer portal RB)

To replace multiyear starting quarterback Jalon Daniels, Isaiah Marshall was given the nod as QB1 for 2026.

Last year as a second-year player for the Jayhawks, Marshall appeared in nine games with one start, completing all three pass attempts for 28 yards and rushing 15 times for 160 yards.

In the 2026 season opener, Marshall completed 14-of-19 passes for 246 yards with two touchdowns, while rushing seven times for 49 yards. Last week against Missouri, he completed just 13-of-30 passes for 168 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, to go along with 20 carries for 23 net rushing yards.

At running back, Kansas plans to use a pair of first-year transfers in Yasin Willis and Dylan Edwards.

Willis spent the 2024 and 2025 seasons at Syracuse, appearing in 20 games with six starts, totaling 165 carries for 688 yards and five touchdowns, along with 17 receptions for 68 yards.

A big-bodied back at 6-foot-1, 230 pounds, Willis totaled 129 carries for 558 yards with four touchdowns and caught nine passes for 42 yards in 2025. Willis registered three games with at least 75 rushing yards while with the Orange, including a college career high of 94 yards on 18 carries against Clemson last September.

A well-traveled name from both the Big-12 and Pac-12 Conferences, Edwards is now at his third collegiate stop after beginning his career at Colorado in 2023 before spending the past two seasons at Kansas State.

As a freshman in 2023 for the Buffaloes, Edwards was the team’s leading rusher for the year with 321 yards on 76 carries with a touchdown, along with 36 receptions for 299 yards with four scores. The next season with Kansas State, he carried 74 times for 546 yards and five scores, added 19 receptions for 133 yards and two touchdowns, and scored on a 71-yard punt return.

Last season, however, Edwards suffered an early-season ankle injury and was limited to four games with 34 carries for 205 yards, two touchdowns, and three receptions for 17 yards in his abbreviated 2025 season.

In 2023 for Colorado against ASU, Edwards rushed seven times for 16 yards and caught three passes for 24 yards, and for Kansas State against the Sun Devils in 2024, Edwards rushed three times for five yards.

Similar to the running back position, Kansas used the transfer portal to reload its starting wide receiver group, with Nik McMillan and Nahzae Cox having earned quite a bit of action since joining the program this offseason.

Through two games, McMillan is by far the team’s leading receiver as he’s posted eight receptions for 182 yards with two touchdowns.

McMillan came to Kansas this offseason after spending the 2022-25 seasons with Buffalo. In his four seasons with the Bulls, he totaled 80 receptions for 1,237 yards with five touchdowns.

In 2025, McMillan compiled a career year, catching 62 passes for 981 yards with three touchdowns to lead Buffalo in receiving and earn First-Team All-Mid-American Conference honors. McMillan posted seven 100-yard receiving games last season, including six consecutive triple-digit performances to end the year.

A 125-yard gap separates McMillan from Kansas’ second-leading receiver, as Cox has 57 receiving yards on two receptions with a touchdown.

Cox, a former JUCO transfer who came to Kansas this past offseason from Middle Tennessee, caught 40 passes for 473 yards with five touchdowns for the Blue Raiders in 2025. He had three games with at least 75 receiving yards, including a season-best outing of six catches for 94 yards with a touchdown against Marshall.  

Keaton Kubecka has started both of Kansas’ first two games at wide receiver as well, and he has collected four receptions for 46 yards. Last year for the Jayhawks, Kubecka played in all 12 games and caught 17 passes for 157 yards with a touchdown.

At tight end, Carson Bruhn is in line to earn his third start of the season, and so far this year he’s caught three passes for 55 yards. Last season for Kansas, Bruhn appeared in eight games and caught five passes for 55 yards.

On the offensive line, Kansas enjoyed perfect continuity in 2025, with the same group of five starting all 12 games for the Jayhawks.

However, three of the five starters are now gone from the roster, requiring the staff to replace 60% of the team’s offensive line starts from a year ago.

Returning from last year’s line are left tackle Calvin Clements and left guard Amir Herring, both of whom are expected to start against Arizona State.

Clements entered 2026 having started 25 consecutive games dating back to the end of his true freshman season in 2023, so Saturday figures to be his 28^th straight start after having started the first two games of 2026.

Herring spent 2022 at Michigan before transferring to Kansas. He did not make any game appearances for the Jayhawks in 2023 or 2024 but has started Kansas’ last 14 games as he has started both of the first two games of this season.

Completing the rest of the starting offensive line will be Kasen Carpenter at center, Tavake Tuikolovatu at right guard, and Nick Morrow at right tackle.

Carpenter started two games at Oklahoma State in 2025 after spending the previous two seasons at Tulsa. Tuikolovatu, who earned his first starting experience in college this year, spent 2023-24 at UCLA before transferring to Kansas prior to last season. Morrow, a product of Flagstaff High School, spent 2022-25 at California, earning 16 starts across the 2024-25 seasons.

So far in 2026, the group of Clements, Herring, Carpenter, Tuikolovatu and Morrow has started both games.

Kansas Offense Summary

Marshall brings a dual-threat element to the field, which ASU prepared for last week as well in Texas A&M’s mobile quarterback, Marcel Reed. That said, Marshall showed multiple deficiencies last week when the difficulty setting on the opponent increased dramatically from Long Island University to Missouri.

The Jayhawks will look to bring in several new skill-position players from the transfer portal this offseason, but perhaps the most significant objective for Kansas will be to protect Marshall and put him in situations where he can make intelligent decisions with the football.

Kansas Defense Preview

Key Returners: CB Austin Alexander, DE Leroy Harris III, DT Blake Herold, LB Trey Lathan, CB Jalen Todd

Key Departures: DT Tommy Dunn, Jr., DE Justice Finkley, LB Bengally Kamara, DE Dean Miller, S Lyrik Rawls (transfer to Arizona State)

Key Newcomers: LB Jibreel Al-Amin (Marshall transfer, No. 63 transfer portal LB), LB Daveon “Bam” Crouch (Boston College transfer, No. 91 transfer portal LB), LB Quincy Davis (New Mexico State transfer, No. 89 transfer portal LB), S Corey Gordon (Louisville transfer, No. 141 transfer portal safety), Edge David Santiago (Michigan State transfer, No. 57 transfer portal Edge)

Kansas Special Teams Preview

Along the defensive line, ends Leroy Harris III and David Santiago will be joined by Blake Herold and Marcus Calvin.

Harris was Kansas’ team leader in sacks last season (4.5), while also posting 31 tackles with 6.5 for loss. So far this season, Harris has been disruptive, collecting eight tackles, including four for loss, with two pass breakups, a quarterback hurry, a forced fumble, and a blocked kick. He entered this week tied for 12^th nationally in tackles for loss.

Herold generated 43 tackles for Kansas last year, including 5.0 for loss with 2.0 sacks as well as four pass breakups, four quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, while Calvin had 15 tackles including 1.0 sack, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry for the Jayhawks in 2025.

Through two games this season, Herold has two tackles, while Calvin has three with a pass breakup.

Santiago spent 2023-24 at Air Force and 2025 with Michigan State, posting 24 tackles, including 2.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks, with the Spartans last year. He has had a productive start to his Jayhawk career, as he is currently tied for second on the team in tackles (9) and tackles for loss (2.5), adding a quarterback hurry, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

At linebacker, Trey Lathan will be paired with either Bam Crouch or Quincy Davis, both transfer additions made this offseason.

Lathan is the team’s leading tackler after two games as he’s tallied 12 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, with 1.0 sack and a quarterback hurry so far. Kansas’ leading tackler in 2025, Lathan last year posted 86 tackles including 7.0 for loss with 1.5 sacks as well as five pass breakups, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble.

Davis is tied for second on the team with nine tackles, including one for loss, while Crouch has not yet recorded any statistics. Davis spent 2023-25 at New Mexico State, totaling 43 tackles in 12 games last year. Crouch was with Boston College from 2022-25, recording 77 tackles in 2024 before an injury-shortened 2025 season.

In the secondary, cornerbacks Austin Alexander and Jalen Todd will be joined by Taylor Davis at free safety, either Corey Gordon or Mason Ellis at strong safety, and Elijah Cannon at the “Hawk” position.

Alexander, Todd and Davis return to the KU starting lineup from last season, as Alexander started 11 games, Todd made 10 starts and Davis started 12 games for the Jayhawks in 2025.

Last year, Alexander recorded 46 tackles, including 3.5 for loss, with two pass breakups and a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown, while Todd registered 44 tackles, including 2.0 for loss, with 2.0 sacks, four pass breakups, and one forced fumble. Davis posted 41 tackles with one pass breakup and one interception.

Through two games this year, Alexander has two four-tackle games, Davis has five tackles and a fumble recovery, and Todd has five tackles as well.

Gordon was on the Baylor roster from 2022-24 and was with Louisville last year, tallying 53 tackles, including 3.0 for loss, in 13 games with 12 starts for the Cardinals in 2025. So far as a Jayhawk, Gordon has eight tackles, including one for loss, a pass breakup, and a blocked kick.

Ellis is in his fifth season with the Jayhawk program, which has featured 23 total game appearances prior to this season, including three starts and 25 career tackles. He has four tackles so far in 2026.

Cannon came to Kansas from Mississippi State, where he spent the 2024-25 season and appeared in 14 games, recording 5 total tackles. Through two games of 2026, Cannon has collected two tackles with one pass breakup.

Kansas Defense Summary

In all, Kansas must replace two of its top three tacklers from last year, including its second-leading tackler, Lyrik Rawls (73 tackles), who will line up on the other side of the field from the Jayhawks in Saturday’s game.

The Jayhawks use a mix of returning starters and transfer portal additions to attack the Sun Devil offense, as Texas A&M did a week ago. One area to specifically highlight is the matchup between Kansas’ productive ends, Harris and Santiago, and ASU’s offensive tackles, who have been under significant scrutiny over two games.

Local Ties: OL Anderson Lopp (Phoenix Brophy Prep), DE Garrett Martin (Scottsdale Saguaro HS), OL Nick Morrow (Flagstaff HS) and QB Braylen Rooney (Phoenix Arcadia HS) all attended high school in the state of Arizona.

Kansas Co-Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends coach Matt Lubick was a member of ASU’s coaching staff from 2007-09.

Overall Summary

In what will be one of the most unique settings ever to feature a Sun Devil football game, Arizona State and Kansas will clash Saturday in the Union Jack Classic played at the famed Wembley Stadium in London, England.

This will not, however, be ASU’s first game to be played away from American soil, as the Sun Devils dropped a December 2, 1990 matchup with Houston in the Coca-Cola Classic in Tokyo, Japan, a contest that featured video game caliber statistics as Houston quarterback David Klingler set the NCAA single-game passing record with 716 passing yards in Houston’s 62-45 win.

In Saturday’s game in London, both teams will have to shake off losses to nationally ranked SEC opponents, including a baffling outing for ASU at Texas A&M, a game that simultaneously gave the impression that the Sun Devils can compete blow-for-blow with a top 10 program while also resulting in ASU’s greatest margin of defeat since November 2023.

Both starting quarterbacks in this game had a tough day at the office – especially in the turnover department – last weekend, so it stands to reason that the team that can keep control of the ball better than the other will have quite an advantage.

After playing a low-performing FCS team in the opener and a top-10 SEC opponent in front of more than 107,000 fans in week two, this game likely will provide a more realistic view of the capabilities of the 2026 Sun Devils as opposed to the extreme opposites of their first two opponents.

ASU should have advantages at virtually every position, but what remains to be seen is one, if the long travel to this unique destination will have any physical impact on either team, and two, if the Sun Devils are able to leave last week’s game in Texas and focus solely on the matter at hand in England.

Final Score Prediction (via Speak of the Devils Podcast): Arizona State 34, Kansas 27