photo by: AP Photo/Darryl Webb

Kansas Jayhawks quarterback Jalon Daniels (6) hands off to his running back Daniel Hishaw Jr. (9) against the Arizona State Sun Devils during a NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Tempe, Ariz.

If David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is brand new when the Kansas football season begins, it might not feel that way a few weeks in — simply because the Jayhawks get to use it so much in the early stages of their year.

As KU attempts to meld its 22 transfers (so far) with a small but significant group of returning players from the first chapter of the Lance Leipold era, it will get to ease into its schedule with four home matchups in its first five games of the season, not to mention one of its three total bye weeks along the way.

Still, that doesn’t mean the Jayhawks can underestimate anyone they play — an early-season schedule that looked so favorable in 2024 turned out to be disastrous — and certainly the initial road matchup at Missouri on Sept. 6 will be a stiff test.

Here are some additional details on what to expect from the first half of KU’s schedule. Check back soon for a look at the second half.

photo by: AP Photo/Doug McSchooler

Fresno State defensive back Al’zillion Hamilton (3) during an NCAA football game on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in West Lafayette, Ind.

Fresno State (Aug. 23, David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Lawrence)

Last year’s record: 6-7 (4-3 Mountain West Conference)

Last meeting: Never. It’s an unprecedented matchup in a few ways, too, as it takes place a week before most teams start their schedules and is therefore the earliest season opener in KU history. The Kansas Board of Regents in December approved a change in the university’s academic calendar to move the start of classes a week earlier from Aug. 25 to Aug. 18, in part because of the football schedule, as the Journal-World reported.

One guy you should know: After withdrawing from the transfer portal, cornerback Al’zillion Hamilton becomes one of the Bulldogs’ top returning players. An all-conference honorable mention during his redshirt junior season in 2024, Hamilton tallied 52 tackles, two interceptions and 13 pass breakups. He has stuck around in Fresno amid coaching turnover from Kalen DeBoer to Jeff Tedford to now Matt Entz with a couple of interim coaches along the way.

What’s new: With the coaching change to Entz, the former North Dakota State head man who was most recently a USC assistant, Fresno State has brought in a slew of transfers. One with some immediate name recognition is quarterback E.J. Warner, son of Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt, a senior who previously played at Temple and Rice with a career 58 touchdowns and 37 interceptions, and could be the favorite to start.

Wagner (Aug. 29, David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Lawrence)

Last year’s record: 4-8 (2-4 Northeast Conference)

Last meeting: Never. This Friday night matchup came together at a fairly late stage — last July — after KU was originally supposed to play a different FCS school, Stephen F. Austin. Wagner, from Staten Island, New York, has never beaten an FBS opponent.

One guy you should know: Quarterback Jordan Barton joins the Seahawks as a transfer from Sacramento State, where he saw extremely limited action in one season. The prior year, though, he led Riverside City College to a California Community College Athletic Association championship by throwing for 35 touchdowns and rushing for seven more. In all, it’s been a winding career path for Barton, who also began his career at Riverside, briefly went to UT Permian Basin and then returned to the JUCO ranks.

What’s new: Practically everyone who received any sort of all-conference honor for Wagner last year either graduated or entered the portal, so head coach Tom Masella had a lot of work to do to replenish his roster. Along with Barton, other key transfers include Eli Hiscock (South Florida) and Connor Tuk (Garden City Community College, started his career at Army).

photo by: AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper

Missouri wide receiver Marquis Johnson (2) tries to evade the grasp of Massachusetts linebacker Gerrell Johnson (22) during the first half of an NCAA football game on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Amherst, Mass.

Missouri (Sept. 6, Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium, Columbia, Missouri)

Last year’s record: 10-3 (5-3 Southeastern Conference)

Last meeting: The long-awaited rekindling of the Border Showdown rivalry is 14 years in the making after the Tigers left the Big 12 following the 2011 season. Missouri won five of the final six matchups, most of which took place at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, including a 24-10 result in 2011. This game will be the first football Border Showdown played on campus since MU beat KU 42-17 in Columbia in 2006. The Tigers lead the all-time series 56-55-9.

One guy you should know: With top wide receivers Luther Burden III and Theo Wease Jr. headed to the pros, rising junior Marquis Johnson may be one of the next players in line to help compensate for some of the lost production. (Mississippi State transfer Kevin Coleman Jr. is another.) In two seasons with the Tigers, Johnson has totaled 735 receiving yards and four touchdowns, including most recently seven catches for 122 yards and a score in the Music City Bowl against Iowa.

What’s new: Beau Pribula served as a gadget player during his tenure at Penn State, but that might understate the significance of the backup quarterback’s role. In his last two years with the Nittany Lions, he carried the ball 94 times for 571 yards and 10 touchdowns and also threw for nine touchdowns and one interception. Now he’ll be the favorite for a starting job all his own at Missouri.

photo by: AP Photo/LM Otero

West Virginia running back Jahiem White (1) runs from Memphis linebacker Elijah Herring (31) during the first half of the Frisco Bowl NCAA college football game Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Frisco, Texas.

West Virginia (Sept. 20, David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Lawrence)

Last year’s record: 6-7 (5-4 Big 12)

Last meeting: Not so long ago, and likely a painful memory for KU fans. After a lengthy weather delay in Morgantown, West Virginia, the Jayhawks extended their lead to 28-17 with five minutes and 39 seconds to go on a rushing touchdown by Luke Grimm before allowing back-to-back touchdown drives, moving the ball a total of 32 yards in two offensive series and losing 32-28.

One guy you should know: The Mountaineers bring back their leading rusher Jahiem White, who carried the ball 149 times for 845 yards and seven touchdowns as a sophomore in 2024.

What’s new: What’s old is new again, with former WVU head coach Rich Rodriguez returning to Morgantown to replace Neal Brown. Rodriguez presided over several of the best seasons in WVU history in the mid-2000s, leading the program to heights it has rarely attained since, before ill-fated stints as head coach at Michigan and Arizona, as an assistant at Ole Miss, Hawaii and Louisiana-Monroe and most recently in charge again at Jacksonville State.

photo by: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall

Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby throws a pass during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Iowa State, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Ames, Iowa.

Cincinnati (Sept. 27, David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Lawrence)

Last year’s record: 5-7 (3-6 Big 12)

Last meeting: In the Bearcats’ inaugural season in the Big 12, the 2023 campaign, KU went to Cincinnati and pulled off one of its most dominant conference victories in recent memory, trouncing the Bearcats 49-16 behind Jason Bean’s 340 total yards and four touchdowns.

One guy you should know: Quarterback Brendan Sorsby is returning to Cincinnati for a second season after starting his career at Indiana, a move that received some additional attention as a sign of the times in college athletics when ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Sorsby had “agreed to a new deal to stay at the school.” Even in a lackluster season for the Bearcats, Sorsby threw for 18 touchdowns to just seven interceptions and ran for nine more.

What’s new: Besides reeling in a couple wideouts to whom KU had been linked in the transfer portal, Cincinnati bolstered its backfield with a familiar name in tailback Tawee Walker. Walker is now at his fourth school after playing for Palomar College at the JUCO level, followed by Oklahoma and Wisconsin. In OU’s loss to KU in 2023, Walker ran for what was then a career-high 146 yards; as a more consistent contributor at Wisconsin in 2024 he finished the year with 864 in total.

photo by: AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

Central Florida offensive lineman Paul Rubelt (69) sets up to block against Colorado during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Orlando, Fla.

UCF (Oct. 4, FBC Mortgage Stadium, Orlando, Florida)

Last year’s record: 4-8 (2-7 Big 12)

Last meeting: It was another rout of a first-time Big 12 member in 2023, as KU blew out UCF 51-22 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, thanks to domination at the line of scrimmage that led to 399 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

One guy you should know: Most of the Knights’ offensive line will be new in 2025, but UCF retains Paul Rubelt, its 12-game starter at right tackle last season who stands 6-foot-10 and is from Frankfurt-Oder, Germany.

What’s new: What’s old is new again (again) with Scott Frost, a national-champion head coach — depending on whom you ask — back in Orlando. In two memorable years, Frost took over a winless program and first made it to a bowl game and then went undefeated in 2017, with UCF claiming a national title by virtue of its first-place position in something called the Colley Matrix. Frost promptly left for a tumultuous and ultimately unsuccessful tenure at Nebraska before returning to UCF in December, saying “When you’re climbing the ladder of success in life, sometimes they forget to tell you to stop when you’re happy.”