Last Friday, the Kansas Jayhawks did everything you could have asked for in a season opener. All things considered, Kansas handled business through all four quarters and, most importantly, never let LIU into the game, wrapping up the 51-6 blowout by halftime with a 30-0 lead.
Earlier this week, Kansas offensive coordinator and associate head coach Andy Kotelnicki spoke on the performance.
“We're always talking about ball security and explosive plays here, right? So we were able to take care of the ball that way, and be explosive,” opened the former Penn State offensive coordinator.
Against the Sharks, Kansas’ offense tallied a strong 8-13 on third downs, staying on schedule after their first drive of the game, when they missed a fourth down.
Two of the biggest plays of the night came from the arm of redshirt sophomore Isaiah Marshall. Marshall found Buffalo transfer Nik McMillan on a 46-yard pass, which was followed by a Yasin Willis touchdown run two plays later. Just for the Jayhawks’ next offensive drive to be spearheaded by a 47-yard pass to Nahzae Cox, one play before Colorado State transfer Jalen Dupree found the pay dirt himself.
Kotelnicki left Friday night feeling “encouraged”
“What I'm encouraged by, and I said this to the players, is that as we started rotating guys, our standard of excellence didn’t change, right?”
Nearing the middle-end of the third quarter, the Jayhawks had fully employed their second and third strings; running back Micah Johnson capitalized on an 8-yard rushing touchdown and wide receiver Donald Collier found the end zone himself with a 3-yard rushing score.
“We never punted, you know what I mean? So, to go out there and have guys run the game plan in the second half without skipping a beat, keeping it clean, it wasn't messy, showed that our guys were locked in and bought in the process of preparing. And I was proud of them and the staff to get them ready that way.”
Backup quarterback Cole Ballard stepped into his role perfectly, finishing the day with 90 yards, going 4-6 in the air. Johnson finished second on the team in rushing with 52 yards and the aforementioned touchdown; his pace and ability to hit the open holes proved that he was one of the best players from those second and third lines that saw the field.
Up next is a much taller task
While there isn’t much to nitpick from Friday’s opener, the road only gets tougher and it does so quickly with the Missouri Tigers coming to David Booth Kansas Memorial in just a few days. Last season, when the two squared off, it turned into a 42-31 thriller that saw the Jayhawks blink in the fourth quarter as the game eventually slipped away. Marshall, the newly touted starting quarterback, started his 2026 campaign with a strong 246 yards through the air and two touchdowns, while also adding 49 yards on the ground. He will need to be able to put up similar numbers if the Jayhawks want a crown-jewel win over the SEC side.
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