photo by: Henry Greenstein/Journal-World

Kansas quarterbacks Chase Jenkins, left, and Isaiah Marshall line up behind their offensive line during practice on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Osterley, Isleworth, England.

ISLEWORTH, England — When the Kansas football team headed out to practice on Wednesday afternoon in the suburban London district of Osterley, some 4,400 miles from Lawrence, they might not have seen anything particularly familiar — outside of the sign touting a Mr. Dineen as head teacher at the Sikh school across the parking lot.

But as parents were streaming in to pick their kids up from that Nishkam School, the Jayhawks were taking the field at Grasshoppers Rugby Football Club for a light walkthrough-style afternoon practice, precious few hours removed from their arrival in England.

They tried to make it feel as normal as possible. Even if it was odd for Australian punter Matt Gill to see American football hashmarks on a rugby pitch.

“Me and my teammate Jalen Todd said, ‘It kind of feels like home,'” quarterback Isaiah Marshall said later on Wednesday at the team hotel. “Just the weather, it was kind of chilly, kind of cloudy, so it was kind of like how it was back in Detroit just a little bit. So it was normal to me, it wasn’t any big difference or nothing like that.”

Head coach Lance Leipold said he was happy with the trip across the Atlantic, which went essentially according to plan.

“I think our guys were able to get a little rest on the plane,” Leipold said. “We’ll probably see tomorrow the after-effects a little bit there, but things were pretty smooth … (At) practice, some light stuff to kind of get the blood flowing a little bit. So far, it’s been really good.”

Here’s more on what came out over the course of what was effectively KU’s media day ahead of Saturday’s Union Jack Classic, set for 11 a.m. Central against Arizona State at Wembley Stadium in London.

EXTRA TIME

ASU coach Kenny Dillingham had made some headlines in his own London press conference on Tuesday when he discussed the fact that KU had gotten to play on Friday at home, while ASU played on Saturday on the road at Texas A&M.

He was asked directly if he thought the Jayhawks had an advantage based on its extra preparation time and told reporters, “Yeah, I mean, for sure, from that perspective, them having — usually you don’t play on different days, when you play an international game and stuff like that, usually both teams play on similar days, just because the day early, you can have your normal practice schedule moved up.”

The Sun Devils went directly to London after facing A&M. Dillingham added that if they had played on Friday they might have gone home in between.

In any case, Leipold sort of laughed off the topic on Wednesday, noting that Dillingham had texted him when KU moved its Missouri game to Friday in the first place.

“When you really break it down, I think the game ended like close to 11 p.m. and they kicked off at 11 a.m., so I don’t know if it’s exactly as much as we want to make it out (to be),” Leipold said. “And I think they have the advantage maybe to come here and get acclimated, I don’t know.”

He said he doesn’t think either travel arrangement, ASU’s quick turnaround or KU’s move to get in at midweek, provides a real advantage.

“I do understand, again, their dilemma of going back two time zones and then trying to go back again after being in Texas,” Leipold said. “But looks like they’ve adapted really well and (are) getting a lot of work done here from what I’ve been able to see.”

PUBLIC RECORD

The KU football team found itself tangentially involved in an Indiana five-year eligibility lawsuit against the NCAA when former Central Connecticut State defensive tackle Clifton Thompson joined as a plaintiff on Monday and in doing so said that if he became eligible he might play for Cal or KU.

The Jayhawks could use another body on the interior defensive line given Tre’von McAlpine’s season-ending injury from the offseason — they’ve been giving a few snaps to true freshman Nakwaine Carter — but the question is whether they would really consider bringing someone on midway through the season.

Leipold didn’t discuss Thompson specifically in Wednesday’s press conference but spoke about the issues at hand. He said that in modern college football, you can’t completely rule out such a possibility.

“Right now, I guess in this new era of what we’re doing, depending on the circumstance, you’ll never say never anymore,” he said. “There’s a lot of hoops to go through, there’s a lot of reasons, and we have to feel confident that there’s something that isn’t going to be reversed back in a countersuit and all those things.”

‘A BIG HUMAN BEING’

Coming out of fall camp, the offensive line didn’t seem to shake out in a particularly favorable fashion for Texas transfer Connor Stroh, with Tavake Tuikolovatu clinching the starting job at right guard and De’Andre Harper making his presence felt thanks to his versatility across both guard and tackle.

But as Harper has slid back out to tackle early in the season to rotate with Cal transfer Nick Morrow, Stroh has suddenly become a rather prominent part of KU’s line. Against Missouri, he outsnapped Tuikolovatu, both right tackles and even left guard Amir Herring, according to Pro Football Focus. He played 34 snaps at left guard and 19 at right guard.

Stroh is “a big human being,” as associate head coach Andy Kotelnicki put it on Wednesday — in fact, 6-foot-7 and 350 pounds makes him the biggest on the team. But he has had a lot more going for him lately.

“He’s moving well, like he’s been physical,” Kotelnicki said. “Last game, I was so proud and excited for him, and I know coach (Daryl) Agpalsa and coach (Bill) Queisert, our offensive line coaches, the way he strained and played physical, tried to be nasty, was what we’re looking for.

“And that’s what it is. If you want to play more, demonstrate and be so good at what you’re doing that when you have your opportunities that we can’t not play you.”

Kotelnicki also mentioned wide receiver Tate Nagy — at the other end of the spectrum in terms of size — as another player who is doing the same thing to keep himself on the field.

READY IF NEEDED

The shoulder injury suffered by KU backup quarterback Cole Ballard on a trick play in the Jayhawks’ loss to Missouri put them in a potentially precarious situation with regard to their depth at an important position — although significantly less so given that they chose to go out and get Rice transfer Chase Jenkins in the offseason.

Jenkins was not completely healthy until about a week into fall camp after dealing with injuries in the spring and summer, Leipold said. But now that he’s getting more work, he apparently looks capable.

“We feel confident that if called upon, that he can run our offense and lead our team,” Leipold said.

He may not be called on at all, of course, even if Kotelnicki still wants to deploy multiple quarterbacks. Leipold noted that Ballard’s status is still up in the air. (During the brief portion of practice open to reporters on Wednesday, Ballard took part in some elements but also talked to offensive analyst John DeFillippo off to the side during one drill when the rest of his teammates were running.)

Jenkins ran an option offense at Rice, where he threw for 1,025 yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions and ran for 531 yards and five touchdowns in 2025.