No. 13 Utah (9-2, 6-2) at Kansas (5-6, 3-5)
- launch: Friday, 10am MST
- venue: David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium (Lawrence, Kansas)
- TV: espn
- Live Stream: watch espn
- radio: ESPN 700 AM/92.1 FM
- series: Overall the series is tied at 2-2. The first two meetings between the two schools were won by Kansas in 1950 and 1951, while the Utes won the last two meetings in 1993 and 1996.
- Season: It will be cloudy at kickoff and the temperature will be in the mid 30s, rising to the low 40s by the end of the game.
trend
For Utah: After blowout wins in their first eight wins of the season, the Utes needed a late rally to defeat Kansas State 51–47 last week. That kept alive a small hope that Utah could earn a spot in the Big 12 Championship Game if it can win out and get some help this week.
ESPN’s analytical model gives Utah an 82.9% chance of going on the road and defeating the Jayhawks. If Utah does this, it will give them 10 wins for the first time since the 2022 season.
For Kansas: Unlike the Utes, who have won four in a row, the Jayhawks come into this matchup lacking momentum. Kansas has lost four of its last five games, with three of those losses coming by a margin of 24 points or more.
Despite all this, Kansas still has a chance to become bowl eligible if the Jayhawks win on Black Friday. The Jayhawks did not achieve bowl eligibility last season, although they did play in bowls in 2022 and 2023, a back-to-back set of postseason games that broke a 13-year drought.
what to see
The Jayhawks don’t really excel in any particular area – they rank in the middle in most statistical categories when compared to their fellow Big 12 schools.
Kansas has scored 30 points in a game just once in the last six games, while Utah is the Big 12’s second-highest scoring team with 42 points per contest.
According to the statistics, it looks like it will be a one-sided contest in favor of the spectators.
Perhaps Kansas can take the emotional edge off, given that it’s Senior Day and guys like quarterback Jalon Daniels will be making his final appearance at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
key players
Vashawn Parker, RB: Utah has made a habit of putting up big numbers in the rushing game this season – they are second in the nation with an average of 279.6 rushing yards per game.
Especially over the past several weeks, Parker has played a major role in that effort.
The talented sophomore has 836 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns on the year, putting a 1,000-yard season well within his reach.
Parker is coming off four straight games with 100 or more rushing yards, coincidentally enough for a win.
Kansas has the third-worst defense in the Big 12, giving up 174.2 yards on the ground per game.
When Utah faced two of the worst defenses in the league, Baylor and Colorado, the Utes gained 380 and 422 yards on the ground, respectively.
Parker could feast again against the Jayhawks.
quotable
“(Utah) is a really good football team. They’re solid in all phases, physical football team. They’re in the top two or three in almost every important category in the league. They’ve been offensive, I think they’re tops in the country in margin of victory this season. A lot of playmakers — again, physicality and consistency.
“Coach (Kyle) Whittingham, he’s been impressive his entire time there. We haven’t played this team since we joined the league, so lining up against them will be the challenge we expected.” -Kansas coach Lance Leipold
“Got a road trip to Kansas to end the regular season. (They’re) pretty much like the team we just played, personnel-wise — physical, got some athletic guys. Over the last few games, schematically, there’s been a lot of things that have happened in this game from both sides of the football, things that we’ve seen. We’ve got to be ready.
“It’s a Friday kickoff, so a short week. We have one less day to prepare, as they have, so there’s no advantage one way or another, but looking for an opportunity to win our 10th game in the regular season, which I can’t remember the last time we were able to do that, but it’s been a few years.” -Utah coach Kyle Whittingham
next
- Utah: TBD, postseason
- Kansas: TBD, postseason (if Kansas wins one more game to qualify)
utah schedule
- August 30 – at UCLA, W 43–10
- September 6 – vs. Cal Poly, W 63–9
- September 13 – at Wyoming, W 31-6
- September 20 – vs. Texas Tech, L 34–10
- September 27 – at West Virginia, W 48–14
- October 11 – vs. Arizona State, W 42–10
- October 18 – at BYU, L 24-21
- October 25 – vs. Colorado, W 53-7
- November 1 – vs. Cincinnati, W 45–14
- November 15 – at Baylor, W 55-28
- November 22 – vs. Kansas State, W 51–47
- November 28 – in Kansas
<a href=