Kansas is headed into Saturday morning with the stakes plain to see: if the Jayhawks want to stay on track for bowl eligibility, this one has to be treated like a must-win. Waiting on the other side is Arizona State, and the matchup comes with a little history attached as the two programs meet in London at Wembley Stadium for the inaugural Union Jack Classic.
It’s a landmark setting for college football. Wembley, long known for major soccer events and some of the world’s biggest music acts, will host a college game there for the first time.
Kansas and Arizona State have met only once before, and that came in October 2024 when KU traveled to Tempe. The Jayhawks pushed hard but left with a 35-31 loss.
That Sun Devils team looked very different from the one KU will see now, with quarterback Sam Leavitt, running back Cam Skattebo and wide receiver Jordyn Tyson all part of the attack then. Leavitt is now with LSU, Skattebo is with the New York Giants and Tyson is with the New Orleans Saints.
Arizona State arrives at 1-1 after a blowout win to open the year and a tougher showing the next week. The Sun Devils opened by crushing Morgan State 70-7, piling up 681 total yards - 432 through the air and 249 on the ground.
A week later, they ran into No. 9 Texas A&M and fell 48-20 in College Station, though they were still hanging around through three quarters before the Aggies pulled away.
The quarterback leading ASU now is junior Cutter Boley, a Kentucky transfer who has been sharp through two games. He threw for 387 yards and six touchdowns in the opener, then followed that with 254 yards and two more scores in the loss to Texas A&M.
Arizona State’s biggest weapon on offense has been senior receiver Reed Harris. He already has 15 catches for 326 yards and four touchdowns, and 189 of those yards plus two scores came against the Aggies. His 326 receiving yards rank fourth in college football, and his eight receptions of more than 20 yards lead the nation.
Up front and off the edge, the Sun Devils have also built a defensive line that looks like the strength of the team. Senior lineman C.J.
Fite is the anchor, with edge rushers Emar'rion Winston, a Baylor transfer, and Jalen Thompson, who came over from Michigan State, helping drive the pressure. Arizona State has generated a quarterback pressure rate of 38.3% per play while blitzing only 13 times so far this season, and that ability to get heat without sending extra bodies makes the group especially dangerous.
Kenny Dillingham is in his third year leading the program. An ASU alum, he took over in 2023 as the youngest head coach in the Power 5 conferences at the time, at 32. Before that, he served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Auburn in 2019, Florida State from 2020-21 and Oregon in 2022.
Dillingham has gone 23-18 overall at Arizona State and is 20-9 in Big 12 play since the Sun Devils joined the conference in 2024. He won Big 12 Coach of the Year after steering ASU to the 2024 Big 12 Championship in its first season in the league. In December 2025, he signed a contract extension that made him the second highest paid head coach in the Big 12 at approximately $7.4 million per year.
In Other News...
Kansas Faces A Bigger Test Than Fans Wanted After Missouri
Kansas came out of the Missouri loss with more than a sour taste, as the coaching staff spent part of the week sorting through what went wrong and what needs to look cleaner going forward. A big piece of that conversation centered on Isaiah Marshall, whose development remains a priority, along with the broader need for the offense and the team as a whole to show more consistency as the schedule tightens up.
Arizona State is next, and the early read from the Kansas side is that this is no ordinary bounce-back spot. The staff pointed to the Sun Devils talent, a strong coaching setup and a few players who can tilt the game quickly, which makes the margin for error feel small before kickoff even arrives. A prediction was already laid down on the game, and it leans toward Arizona State, which only adds to the sense that Kansas is heading into a tougher test than many fans probably wanted right after the Missouri game. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Faces A Depth Test Ahead Of Crucial Arizona State Game
Kansas heads into its matchup with Arizona State already dealing with a thin margin for error, and the injury report only adds to the uncertainty. Linebacker Bam Crouch, wide receiver Cam Pickett and tight end Carson Bruhn are all listed as questionable, leaving the Jayhawks to sort through depth issues on both sides of the ball as they prepare for a crucial conference game.
The quarterback situation is even more precarious, with Cole Ballard doubtful because of a shoulder injury. If he cannot go, freshman Chase Jenkins would likely be next in line, a scenario that would put even more pressure on Kansas to manage the game cleanly while navigating an offense already short on healthy options. [Read more 🡒]
Scott Satterfield Enters A Week Bearcats Fans Know Can Turn Fast
Scott Satterfield is in the kind of week that can change the mood around a program fast, and he is hardly alone in that spotlight. Around the Big 12, head coaches are being measured against rising expectations and thin margins, with Joey McGuire at Texas Tech, Lance Leipold at Kansas and Kalani Sitake at BYU all drawing attention for the pressure surrounding their next steps.
For Cincinnati, the issue is not just the record in front of them but how quickly a promising stretch can turn into a tense one when the schedule tightens and the noise builds. Satterfield knows the league does not wait long for a coach to feel the heat, and with a major matchup on deck, the Bearcats are again entering a stretch where the conversation around the program could shift in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]