Kansas wide receiver Levi Wentz (10) and Kansas running back Leshon Williams (4) celebrate following the Jayhawks’ 38-21 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Photo by Nick Krug

It’s no mystery to the Kansas football team what it could achieve with one more victory.

“We’re not all blind,” running back Leshon Williams said. “We all hear the noise. We know what we got to do. But we’re going to just take it one game at a time and try to go 1-0.”

As early as this Saturday, KU could clinch bowl eligibility and therefore a trip to a third postseason game under head coach Lance Leipold, after falling one win short of doing so in 2024.

“They know what a sixth win will do, and we’ve got to do everything we can to try to make that happen this weekend against a really good football team on the road, and it’s going to be a challenge,” Leipold said. “Again, the ones that have been here really understand it, what we’ve continued to strive through here. I think our newcomers understood what they were walking into and things like that.”

KU’s opponent on Saturday afternoon finds itself in a similar position. The Arizona Wildcats, who will welcome the Jayhawks at 2:30 p.m. Central time on Saturday, and whom the Jayhawks will face for the first time as Big 12 rivals, are vastly improved after a 4-8 campaign in year one under Brent Brennan. Now, they too have five wins, and are riding high after shaking off close losses to some of the league’s best teams with a 52-17 demolition of Colorado last weekend.

“Coach Brennan’s done a great job in his second year of establishing his culture and expectations,” Leipold said. “You can see the improvement of their team. That’s a team that other than their trip to Ames (a 39-14 loss at Iowa State on Sept. 27), they probably feel they should be sitting maybe with one loss all year.”

Arizona’s defense has positioned itself as one of the top units in the league. The Wildcats allow just 155.3 passing yards per game, led by players like safeties Dalton Johnson and Genesis Smith and cornerbacks Jay’Vion Cole, Michael Dansby, Ayden Garnes and Treydan Stukes, and are tied for sixth in the nation with 18 turnovers forced on the year. On the whole, they’ve gone from 105th in total defense in 2024 to 15th in 2025 entering this week’s contest.

“Fast in the back end, they rush the passer exceptionally well with either four guys or they bring pressure and they’re bringing it,” KU offensive coordinator Jim Zebrowski said. “And their cornerbacks are outstanding, really good coverage skills, and they’re probably one of the more, if not most, multiple teams in the back end.”

The offense runs through Noah Fifita, whom KU defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald called “a special quarterback, one of the best in the league.”

“It’s a guy I’m pretty familiar with, played him in high school out in Southern California,” defensive end Dean Miller said. “So definitely a fan of his game and I could respect what he’s doing with his offense.”

Fifita has a sharp 21 touchdowns to four interceptions on the year and is completing 65.4% of his passes. Against Colorado, he tossed four touchdowns on just 11 completions, one each to Kris Hutson, Gio Richardson, Tre Spivey and Javin Whatley. Spivey, a Kansas State transfer, has scored touchdowns seven of the 12 times he’s touched the ball this year. Whatley is the leading receiver with 33 catches for 404 yards and four touchdowns.

“The one guy who’s kind of unsung on their offense that not a lot of people talk about is the running back,” McDonald said of Ismail Mahdi, who is averaging 6.6 yards per carry. “I think he’s really good, really explosive. He’s not a big guy, but man, he can run and he can make some explosive plays.”

Whoever wins at Arizona Stadium will be able to pencil in a trip to the postseason; whoever loses will still have multiple chances remaining to get there, but it won’t become any easier as Arizona visits Cincinnati and KU enters yet another bye week and then travels to Iowa State.

Arizona Wildcats (5-3, 2-3 Big 12) vs. Kansas Jayhawks (5-4, 3-3 Big 12)

• Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona, 2:30 p.m. Central time

• Broadcast: ESPN2

• Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KKSW FM 105.9 / KMXN FM 92.9)

• Betting line: Arizona -4.5; over/under 56.5

• Series history: KU leads 3-2-1

Keep an eye out

1. Extra help: The implementation of backup tackle Nolan Gorczyca as an additional offensive lineman was a popular topic of discussion in the days following KU’s 38-21 victory over Oklahoma State — a game in which the Jayhawks ran the ball very well, particularly late in the day as they started to wear down the Cowboys. It helps account for KU’s significantly reduced depth at tight end, and Leipold said the team will likely continue to use it. Left tackle Calvin Clements said communication in these circumstances is easy when it’s with a player like Gorczyca who has been around his whole collegiate career.

2. The streak continues: Kicker Laith Marjan is still perfect on the year and has now etched his name in the record books with a 12th straight made field goal, the most ever in a row by a KU kicker. He’ll now attempt to take the show back on the road to sunny Tucson and keep his excellent season going in a game that could be decided on the margins.

3. Déjà vu: Losing players due to targeting penalties is nothing new for KU this year, as linebackers Bangally Kamara and Jon Jon Kamara and safety Devin Dye have all had to sit out at various points this year. The latest suspension applies to cornerback Syeed Gibbs, who got flagged for a high hit on a strip-sack of OSU quarterback Banks Bowen late in last week’s game and will have to sit out the first half at Arizona. That’s poor timing because Gibbs was playing well in his first significant action at outside corner all season (he had previously worked at nickel back) and could potentially have been in line to take some snaps off the likes of Austin Alexander or D.J. Graham II.

Spotlight on…

Calvin Clements: The Lawrence native has taken his lumps this season as he’s gone through his first full year as KU’s starting left tackle, but Leipold said the OSU game was his best performance, at least in a while (and Pro Football Focus agreed, awarding him an 80.9 grade, his best of the season). Clements said this week he’s experienced an up-and-down season with “flashes on both sides” and characterized OSU as a “technique game” in which he focused on the basics. If he can stick with those fundamentals on Saturday, it could go a long way toward setting up Jalon Daniels for success.

Inside the numbers

68.2: The percentage of fourth downs KU is allowing opponents to convert, which is tied for the second-worst rate in the Big 12.

67: The Arizona program record for career touchdown passes, shared by Nick Foles and Willie Tuitama, which Fifita could potentially equal or surpass this week, as he has 65 to this point.

60: Number of years since KU and Arizona last faced off — the game in Lawrence in 1965 resulted in a 23-15 victory for the Wildcats.

Prediction

Arizona wins 34-27. The Wildcats have the personnel on offense to take advantage of what continues to be a deficient pass defense for the Jayhawks. On the opposite side, Arizona’s own secondary can take some of the air out of KU’s frequently dynamic passing attack. It’s not a good matchup for the Jayhawks even notwithstanding the Wildcats’ home-field advantage, and it doesn’t amount to the right set of circumstances for KU to claim bowl eligibility.