photo by: AP Photo/Tyler Tate

Kansas running back Dylan Edwards (1) runs the ball and stiff arms Utah safety Nate Ritchie (6) from making the tackle during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in Salt Lake City.

Kansas coach Lance Leipold tries to treat each game week the same way while also imparting the importance of the Jayhawks’ rivalry matchups.

As he acknowledged on Monday in the lead-up to the latest Sunflower Showdown, that has sometimes become a topic of conversation among KU fans as the Jayhawks haven’t gotten good results in those games.

“I’ve tried to balance that through the years,” Leipold said. “I think that gets more attention than what the statement really means. We know what this game is. I think sometimes we take it as ‘he doesn’t care about the game,’ or ‘the program doesn’t care about the game.’ We know what the game is, you know? I mean, we’re not stupid.”

Leipold said that building a winning football program requires week-by-week consistency, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand how much the Kansas State game means to fans.

“There’s a lot of bragging rights and pride and things that go back and forth, and that’s in all the sports across our athletic department,” Leipold said. “And for that, I don’t want to minimize it. We understand it’ll be a great environment, and we need to go play well.”

The Wildcats will host the Jayhawks at Bill Snyder Family Stadium at 11 a.m. on Saturday in what will be the latest opportunity for KU to end its ignominious losing streak against K-State, and also for Leipold to beat a rival (he is 0-5 against KSU and 0-2 against Missouri).

The Sunflower Showdown streak is now up to 17 games after KU’s 42-17 home loss to the least successful KSU team in years in 2025. Unlike the heartbreaking results each of the two prior years, it was not close, and Leipold called it “a major step backwards.”

“I don’t know if I would describe it as pressure,” KU tackle Calvin Clements, a Lawrence native, said of the streak, “but I mean, it’s a little extra motivation. I grew up never really seeing this rivalry won.”

The outcome of this game is pivotal for each team this season as both the Jayhawks and Wildcats have started out 0-2 in league play.

“It’s going to be a huge challenge, and obviously we’re well aware of the situation and rivalry and our lack of success in a long time there, and the importance of this football game for a lot of reasons, and probably at the front, each of us are going to look for their first conference win and it’ll be important,” Leipold said.

In K-State’s case, the Wildcats’ impressive 3-0 start in their first year under head coach Collin Klein gave way to a pair of disappointing losses to Cincinnati and Houston. Each team gashed KSU on the ground, and the Wildcats currently rank 96th in the nation against the run.

They also allowed Houston tight end Patrick Overmyer to catch four touchdown passes, although the pass defense, featuring players like cornerbacks Kaleb Patterson, Zashon Rich and JoJo Scott, has been solid. K-State’s best defensive position might be end, where Oklahoma State transfer Wendell Gregory, last year’s Big 12 defensive freshman of the year, has 8.5 tackles for loss and a team-best 18 pressures (according to Pro Football Focus). But in all it hasn’t been the most impressive debut just yet for former KU defensive backs coach and current K-State defensive coordinator Jordan Peterson.

On the other side of the ball, the Wildcats once again feature quarterback Avery Johnson, who is off to an efficient start with the best completion percentage (63.8%) of his career and has thrown for 1,092 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions while rushing for 330 yards and three touchdowns.

“It all runs through No. 2,” KU defensive coordinator D.K. McDonald said. “He’s special. He’s probably one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the nation, definitely in our conference.”

Johnson leads KSU in rushing, but the Wildcats have a respectable running-back duo of Rodney Fields Jr. and Joe Jackson. K-State hasn’t gotten an exceptional amount of production out of any individual pass catcher, though; none has more than 201 yards or two touchdowns on the year, with Jaron Tibbs leading the way.

KU will attempt to return to its prior defensive form as it comes off a difficult loss at Utah in which it hung with one of the nation’s top teams after effectively spotting the Utes a two-touchdown lead early.

“You can remember for a lot of years I said it can’t be much of a rivalry unless we hold our end of the bargain up, and we haven’t done that yet, and we’re well aware of that, and we’ve got to find a way to get it done on Saturday,” Leipold said.

KANSAS JAYHAWKS (2-3, 0-2 BIG 12) VS. KANSAS STATE WILDCATS (3-2, 0-2 BIG 12)

• Bill Snyder Family Stadium, Manhattan, 11 a.m.

• Broadcast: FS1

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

• Betting line: KSU -4.5; over/under 55.5

• Series history: KU leads 65-53-5 according to KU; KU leads 64-54-5 according to KSU

KEEP AN EYE OUT

1. Color change: One of the storylines of this year’s Sunflower Showdown was always going to be the return of running back Dylan Edwards to K-State. The former Wildcat, a Derby native, transferred to KU this past offseason after an up-and-down stint in Manhattan in which he showed flashes of brilliance. Edwards will be one of the most significant Jayhawks in Saturday’s game as KU tries to take advantage of what has been a porous KSU run defense, after he was limited to nine carries for 22 yards and three catches for 29 yards against Utah.

2. Presto: As KU looks to get off to much stronger starts going forward on offense, given that it has struggled early on that side of the ball in each of its three games against power-conference opponents, Leipold said that the Jayhawks will look to “mold the game” in a way that caters to the strengths of quarterback Isaiah Marshall. One way to do that might be to ratchet up the tempo, as Marshall has had some of his greatest success in high-urgency no-huddle situations when KU has fallen behind; perhaps KU can find ways to transfer that to other parts of the game. As Clements put it this week, every player is different, and “I think maybe that’s one of his things.”

3. Caught in the middle: It wasn’t entirely by choice as the Jayhawks weren’t able to play usual nose tackle Eamon Smalls quite as much as they wanted, but KU gave midseason addition Clifton Thompson, a former Central Connecticut State standout who earned eligibility in a lawsuit, his first playing time last Saturday. Leipold said there might be more to come. McDonald mentioned that Thompson has shown himself to be a smart player and has demonstrated his work ethic by running on an underwater treadmill at night to help get in shape. The defensive coordinator said of the 350-pounder, “When they try to double-team him, he’s almost like an immovable object.”

SPOTLIGHT ON…

Calvin Clements: The left tackle came in for some criticism last season as he adapted to his first extended action as a starter, but as a captain this year, the redshirt junior has played with more confidence, to hear him tell it, and silenced any doubts about his ability to play at the Big 12 level. He is KU’s highest-graded offensive lineman on PFF among regular contributors and has done particularly well the last couple weeks. Leipold said the game has slowed down for him, and associate head coach Andy Kotelnicki mentioned that Clements’ work ethic resembles those of offensive linemen he’s seen get drafted into the NFL. This’ll be a tough week for Clements as he tries to pave the way for Marshall, Edwards and the rest against Gregory and the K-State defensive ends, but he also has a chance to lead his hometown team to a memorable victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

140: K-State’s total number of non-offensive touchdowns since 1999, a category in which it continues to lead the nation.

92.5: The season-long PFF grade of KU’s Leroy Harris III and David Santiago, which is the best among all defensive ends nationally who have played at least 200 snaps this season.

14: Marshall’s total number of “Big Time Throws” according to PFF, “with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window,” which is second in the nation.

PREDICTION

K-State wins 24-22. Much like last season — albeit to a lesser extent — a large portion of the public seems to think this is the year KU can bring the streak to an end. While these teams are as close in quality as ever, and it’s harder to know what to expect of the Wildcats under Klein than it was under Chris Klieman, it’s just impossible to believe the Jayhawks can do it until they actually do it. And their offense hasn’t shown much to suggest it can play a complete four-quarter game away from home. The stage is set for another high-stakes Big 12 contest decided in the margins, but perhaps not one that goes KU’s way.