Sunday • August 9 • 2026
KU Fall Sports Preview INSIDE
RB DYLAN EDWARDS KANSAS SOCCER is ready to answer some key questions when season opens on Wednesday against Utah State. C2
New and returning Jayhawks bring more physicality, strong relationships to KANSAS VOLLEYBALL. C3
WR NIK MCMILLAN
ARD QB COLE BALL
A lot of experience returns to the field in MEN’S and WOMEN’S CROSS-COUNTRY. C4
QB ISAIAH MARSHAL L
Jayhawks looking for resurgence
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that KU, back uys believe this that g r u o t a in a sort of h t I also know ther a staff and a teamive, to understated ge tit underdog we’ve put ton be extremely compe a role, can c t year tha g.” D L exceed O P I CE LE N be surprisin A ex p e c L H C A O C S t a t ions. A S KAN
New talent and a new starting quarterback will be on deck when football returns By HENRY GREENSTEIN hgreenstein@ljworld.com
The margin between unprecedented success and undistinguished stagnation has proven very thin for the Kansas football team. Not so long ago, the Jayhawks were riding high coming out of the 2023 season with consecutive bowl appearances for the first time in 15 years. What followed were consecutive near-misses. The disappointment of early 2024 gave way to a late-season surge with three straight victories over ranked teams, only
for the Jayhawks to fall one game short of a bowl at 5-7. They then found their way to that same record in 2025 by reaching five wins on the first day of November and lost three straight to conclude the season, including some of the most agonizing defeats of head coach Lance Leipold’s tenure against Arizona and Utah. “We’ve had some opportunities, probably well documented, some close losses, that easily put us that we could be sitting up here talking about four consec-
utive bowl games and yada yada yada,” Leipold said at Big 12 media days. “But we haven’t done that.” After an offseason guided by a focus on increased depth at key positions — to ease the burden on top players and ideally provide less erratic lategame performances — Leipold and the Jayhawks will hope that his sixth season yields better results. “I also know that our guys believe that we’ve put together a staff and a team this year that can be extremely competitive, to be surprising,” he said. There are reasons to believe
Andy Kotelnicki is back after two years at Penn State, this year’s transfer class includes some of the most dynamic playmakers Leipold has had during his time in Lawrence and the Jayhawks’ multiple defense should take a notable step forward in its second year under coordinator D.K. McDonald. But questions remain at the most important position on the field, where KU will have a new starting quarterback after six straight seasons in which Jalon Daniels started at least three games. Fair or not, the battle between Cole Ballard and Isaiah Marshall, and the performance of whoever wins
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the job, will come to define the 2026 season. The year begins with Friday night home games against FCS Long Island (Sept. 4) and rival Missouri (Sept. 11). While there will be plenty of opportunities for the Jayhawks to bolster their record down the stretch as their schedule eases in the second half of the year, nothing will come easily. KU, which will play with reduced capacity at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium due to ongoing renovations on the east side of the venue, gave up a home game to play the Union Jack Classic against Arizona State in London on Sept. 19. A bye week will follow that game, but then the Jayhawks will play nine straight weeks without a break, including against their remaining eight Big 12 foes (beginning at Utah and at rival Kansas State, which See FOOTBALL, C6