Wishful Thinking: Can Kansas Keep It Close Against No. 12-Ranked Utah?

The Kansas football team enters this weekend's matchup at No. 12 Utah in a precarious position. Lance Leipold's Jayhawks could drop to 2-3 on the year as conference play gets fully underway before having to travel to Manhattan to take on in-state rival K-State the following week.

Currently, the Utes are a two-touchdown favorite and are on a hot streak, not having lost since Oct. 18, 2025. These two schools last met in the regular-season finale last year, when Utah erased any hopes of Kansas becoming bowl-eligible. It will be the first time the Jayhawks travel to Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.

Under head coach Morgan Scalley, who replaced current Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham, Utah is one of the projected favorites to win the Big 12. With a brutal 9:15 p.m. kickoff time in one of the conference's most electric environments, this certainly isn't a walk in the park for the Jayhawks on Saturday.

But despite how inconsistent Leipold's group has looked through its .500 start, is there a chance they keep it close throughout the evening? Believe it or not, there's reason to believe KU won't be blown out of the water two days from now.

Putting the offense's concerns aside for a moment, D.K. McDonald's unit boasts the nation's eighth-best total defense, allowing just 244.8 yards per contest. That figure is slightly skewed due to the two tune-up games the Jayhawks competed in, but they also held their own versus Missouri and Arizona State.

That's not to say Utah won't put up plenty of points on the board, as superstar quarterback Devon Dampier already diced up Kansas' defense a season ago when he finished with 253 passing yards and three touchdowns in Lawrence. He's a Big 12 Player of the Year candidate, and running back Wayshawn Parker (482 scrimmage yards, nine touchdowns) is one of many dangerous weapons in that offense.

However, it's important to keep in mind that even mediocre KU teams have stayed competitive against highly ranked opponents. Let's not forget that the Jayhawks rattled off three consecutive ranked wins in 2024.

A large reason why KU has struggled in recent years has been the coaching staff's questionable late-game decision-making, not necessarily a lack of talent. Coincidentally, the Jayhawks' last top-15 win was also in the state of Utah when they ruined No. 7 BYU's playoff hopes in a subfreezing outing in Provo.

KU's defense features one of the Big 12's best defensive lines, including Leroy Harris III, who's emerged as a real NFL prospect. If there's one thing this unit has proven across the first month, it is that it can hold its own at the line of scrimmage.

Where Kansas could find itself in trouble this week is against a dominant Utah defense that is surrendering a Big 12-best 10.3 points per game. The Utes have the best point differential in the conference, have forced seven turnovers, and have logged 11 sacks.

Quarterback Isaiah Marshall has grown to be extremely mistake-prone, averaging two turnovers per game in a pair of meetings with Power 4 opponents. His ill-advised throws could prove to be costly for KU down the stretch.

We're not going to go as far as to say that this is a winnable game for the Jayhawks, but it's not crazy to think they can keep it a one-score contest from start to finish. Where things could really go off the rails is if the Jayhawks abandon their run game early and rely on Marshall to do too much through the air.

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