Kansas football: Game-by-game predictions for the Jayhawks 2023 season

Game 6 vs. UCF Knights

Kansas football returns home with a 4-1 record before a home date with the UCF Golden Knights. The Golden Knights are one of the four new members of the Big 12 conference in 2023, so like BYU, there will be an adjustment period to playing bigger and better teams weekly. UCF has definitely had a relevant football program nationally for the last decade, and they’ve had their coaches poached by Power 5 programs pretty often — Scott Frost and Josh Huepel.

UCF is now coached by former Auburn head coach Guz Malzahn. Malzahn is a very successful coach who won a national title with the aforementioned Auburn Tigers. UCF went 9-5 (6-2) last season and was 2nd in the AAC last season behind Tulane. UCF lost to Duke 30-13 in the Military Bowl — Kansas beat Duke last season.

UCF brings back their starting QB, John Rhys Plumlee, along with a lot of their defense. They should be able to hold their own in the Big 12 this season. It will be interesting to see how healthy UCF is by the time they play on the road against Kansas.

I predict this game to be another high-scoring game where both offenses are tough to stop. The difference in this game will be whether or not the Jayhawk’s defense is able to get a key stop when it matters, and the Jayhawks were not able to do that consistently down the stretch last year, which prevented the team from winning close games.

My Prediction:

Kansas wins 41-38 over UCF

Kansas Football Record: 5-1