The Kansas Jayhawks take the field prior to kickoff against West Virginia on Saturday, Sept. 20, 2025 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

When Kansas went to play Cincinnati at the conclusion of the 2023 season, KU coach Lance Leipold spoke to his counterpart Scott Satterfield before the start of the game.

Satterfield, as Leipold recalled, mentioned that the Bearcats had some areas they needed to address in recruiting.

“It’s very obvious they’ve done that,” Leipold said on Monday. “Including the quarterback position, and what they’re able to do, and the start that they’re off to. I think our guys are well aware that after introductions today, that this will be the best team that we’ve played so far.”

That prior matchup, the first in 26 years between the two teams after Cincinnati had joined the Big 12 Conference, went down as a blowout win for the Jayhawks over a UC team that finished 3-9. The Bearcats then opened 5-2 in 2024 but slumped to 5-7 — still a marked improvement for Satterfield’s squad — and now they’re 2-1 to begin 2025, coming off a bye week and headed to Lawrence to face KU at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

“They’re a mature team, play really hard, physical, both sides of the ball,” KU offensive coordinator Jim Zebrowski said. “That program is growing. They’re really good.”

It can be difficult to get a read on Cincinnati because of the drastic disparities in level of play between the Bearcats’ three games thus far — a 20-17 loss to Nebraska, a 34-20 win over Bowling Green and a 70-0 win over FCS Northwestern State — but it’s clear they have an upper-tier quarterback in the league in Brendan Sorsby, who ranks in the top 10 in the Big 12 in both passing and rushing. When he struggled mightily to throw the ball on Nebraska, he still managed to carry the ball 13 times for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Then in the following two games he went a combined 32-for-39 for 586 yards and seven touchdowns through the air.

It helps that he has a revamped receiving corps featuring transfers Cyrus Allen, Jeff Caldwell and Caleb Goodie, who join preseason all-league tight end Joe Royer. It also helps that the Bearcats’ offensive line is the only one in the country that has not yet allowed a sack.

“They got a tremendous quarterback who can run and throw, who’s going to really be a big challenge for us,” KU defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald said. “Their offensive line is very strong. They do a good job of moving and blocking and moving people, which you don’t see a lot in college football nowadays. They got wide receivers who can run, they got some bigger guys who can win some 50-50s. We’re going to have to be ready on all three levels, ready to go.”

Cincinnati’s defense is under the supervision of second-year coordinator Tyson Veidt, a former colleague of McDonald’s at Iowa State. McDonald called him “a tremendous coach” and “a great friend.”

“We speak often — not this week, but we speak often,” he added.

Veidt has brought the 3-3-5 defense popularized by ISU and frequently deployed throughout the Big 12 to Cincinnati. He has a nationally prominent nose tackle, Dontay Corleone, as his anchor in the middle, though it’s not yet clear whether Corleone will be able to play on Saturday as he comes off what is reportedly an ankle injury.

He also has a strong group of linebackers headlined by Jake Golday, who already has 28 tackles (10 solo) and a Big 12 defensive player of the week honor to his name this season.

Even as KU came out of its Big 12 opener against West Virginia with the sort of blowout the Jayhawks have rarely achieved against power-conference foes this century, they didn’t get a top-tier showing out of their offense. Zebrowski compared the performance of quarterback Jalon Daniels, who was an erratic 12-for-24 for 138 yards but still threw for three touchdowns, to that of a pitcher in baseball: “You might not have the greatest stuff, but you have enough stuff to keep us in the game.”

Particularly as KU’s rushing attack still grows into the season (and deals with an injury to Daniel Hishaw Jr. that kept him out of most of the WVU game), the Jayhawks may need even better stuff to earn a second conference win against the Bearcats.

“They’re a well-coached team,” wide receiver Levi Wentz said. “Disciplined, all that. On tape, they show some things that hopefully we can take advantage of, but they’re a well-coached team, they fly around, it’s going to be a fun game.”

Kansas Jayhawks (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) vs. Cincinnati Bearcats (2-1, 0-0 Big 12)

• David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, 11 a.m.

• Broadcast: TNT/truTV/HBO Max

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

• Betting line: KU -4.5; over/under 57.5

• Series history: KU leads 2-1

Keep an eye out

1. Safety squeeze: It’s not yet to the same level as what the Jayhawks experienced last season, but KU is not at full strength at the safety position. Lyrik Rawls is a consistent presence at one spot, but Taylor Davis showed up on the injury report last week and Mason Ellis started in his place (with Syeed Gibbs sliding over to take Ellis’ usual nickel spot). Then KU lost Ellis after just seven snaps — he’s doubtful for this week’s game — and Devin Dye was ejected for targeting late in the game, meaning he will miss the first half against Cincinnati. Jalen Dye stepped into more extensive action. Leipold said KU still has him along with Davis and Gibbs to use this weekend, and “there could be some other mixing and matching and stuff and personnel things.”

2. Containment: There were a lot of rough moments for the KU defense in its 42-31 loss to Missouri on Sept. 6, but the Jayhawks did manage to keep the Tigers’ scrambling quarterback Beau Pribula contained from a rushing standpoint. He recorded just nine carries for six yards, and on one of the few times he escaped the pocket, Blake Herold chased him down to force a fumble that KU returned for a touchdown. That showing was an encouraging sign for a defense that has often struggled to inhibit mobile quarterbacks in recent years. McDonald said the differences between Cincinnati’s offense and Missouri’s make it a distinct challenge to handle Sorsby, one that will require a “total team effort.”

3. Filling in: Zebrowski said he didn’t even notice when young running backs Harry Stewart III, a redshirt freshman, and Johnny Thompson Jr., a redshirt sophomore, filled in for the injured Hishaw at times and gave Leshon Williams a breather on Saturday. He meant that as a compliment: “It’s not going to change how I call things or how we call things.” Even though KU had a considerable lead over WVU, it constituted some of the most meaningful action yet for both backs, who combined to carry the ball 11 times for 44 yards. Williams handled a heavy workload often during his tenure at Iowa, but if Hishaw can’t go (he is doubtful) and Williams has to serve as the primary back again, the Jayhawks will need complementary production from Stewart and Thompson.

Spotlight on…

Enrique Cruz Jr.: The veteran Syracuse transfer has solidified his position as KU’s starting right tackle, and against WVU received a 79.1 grade on Pro Football Focus, which was the best mark of his career and ranked second on KU’s offense. Zebrowski said that offensive line Daryl Agpalsa described Cruz’s play, a boon to a still-developing unit, as “free and fast.”

Inside the numbers

99.8: Sorsby’s quarterback rating in Cincinnati’s victory over Northwestern State, in which he threw for five touchdowns in a single quarter and went 15-for-15. It is the second-best mark in Big 12 history.

47.8: KU punter Finn Lappin’s average yards per punt this season, which is two yards higher than the program’s single-season record, set in 1982 by Bucky Scribner.

10: Daniels’ career total number of games with at least three passing touchdowns, following his showing against WVU; three such games have taken place this season.

Prediction

KU wins 35-30. The Jayhawks’ defense, and particularly its defensive line, will face a drastically more difficult challenge this week. But KU’s offense also has room to do so much better than it performed against WVU. That combination of factors should make for a higher-scoring game, but in front of a sold-out home crowd, KU should have enough juice to pull out a win.