Kansas didn’t need long to start sorting out its most dangerous pieces in the season opener against Long Island. The Jayhawks led by only six after the first quarter, but once the defense settled in and the offense found a rhythm, the game moved out of reach well before halftime. By the time the backups started filtering in over the final 30 minutes, a few players had already made their case for bigger roles in 2026.
Tate Nagy was one of the clearest winners. With Cam Pickett sidelined by injury, Nagy got his chance in the slot and made it count. He finished with three catches, topping his entire reception total from his true freshman season, and one of them was the kind of moment a player remembers: Isaiah Marshall’s final throw of the night was tipped and somehow landed in Nagy’s hands in the end zone for his first collegiate touchdown.
That wasn’t the only time he flashed. Nagy also turned a third-and-19 into a conversion by making several defenders miss and just sneaking past the line to gain.
The shiftiness that makes him such a dangerous punt returner showed up there, too. He added five punt returns for 48 yards and ripped off a few impressive runs.
With Brandon Schmelzle muffing the first kick he fielded late in the second half, Nagy strengthened his grip on the lead return job while also proving he can help on offense.
On the defensive side, the debut of Simeon Santiago lived up to the praise he’s been getting. Defensive coordinator D.K.
McDonald said Santiago had the best fall camp of anyone on the defense, and the opener backed that up. He tied for the team lead with four solo tackles and added a tackle for loss and a forced fumble.
The standout play came on a second-half rushing attempt, when Santiago simply overpowered the ball carrier to jar it loose and then recover the fumble himself. It was a pure strength play, the kind that explains why the coaching staff has talked about him the way it has. He also posted the top Pro Football Focus grade among the group at 94.9, and he made a strong argument to keep earning reps at weak-side defensive end.
At running back, it was Leshon Williams who handled the bulk of the first-team work, not Dylan Edwards. Williams nearly doubled Edwards in carries, 11 to six, and scored the first two touchdowns of the Kansas season.
The two are co-starters on the depth chart, which fits the different things they bring. Williams is the power runner, the one built to hammer through traffic for short gains.
Edwards is the open-field threat and the pass-catching option. Both should have their moments in 2026, but Williams may end up with a larger workload than expected.
Leroy Harris also looked every bit like a problem for opposing offenses. After breaking out last season with a team-best 4.5 sacks, the former FCS All-American picked up where he left off as a junior, leading Kansas with a career-high 4.0 tackles for loss.
He was disruptive all night in the backfield, especially in the first half, and the broadcast noted he added 20 pounds of muscle over the offseason. At 6-foot-5 and 275 pounds, he looked the part of a major edge presence and should be one of the Big 12’s top pass rushers.
Then there was Isaiah McMillan, who gave Kansas exactly the kind of receiver debut that changes how people talk about a team’s passing game. The Buffalo transfer was electric in one half of work, finishing with six catches for 130 yards and a touchdown while accounting for more than half of Isaiah Marshall’s passing yards.
He stacked up highlight after highlight and finished as the Jayhawks’ highest-rated player on Pro Football Focus with a 96.1 grade. If this is the baseline, McMillan looks like a legitimate WR1 threat in the Big 12 and a strong All-Big 12 candidate by season’s end.
In Other News...
Lance Leipold Had One Big Issue With Kansas' Blowout Win
Kansas had little trouble putting away Long Island in a 51-6 win, and for most of the afternoon the only real question was how lopsided it would get. The Jayhawks rolled up 613 yards on offense, got strong work from backs Yasin Willis, Micah Johnson and Jalen Dupree, and saw Isaiah Marshall settle in by completing 14 of 19 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns. On the other side, the defense smothered the Sharks, holding them to 146 yards and just 11 first downs in a game that looked over early and only grew more one-sided.
The lone sour note came late in the fourth quarter, when redshirt-sophomore safety Khijohnn Cummings-Coleman was sent off after a targeting ruling on a hit that Lance Leipold clearly believed merited a closer look. For a team that otherwise checked just about every box in a runaway nonconference win, the call stood out enough to leave the Kansas coach frustrated as the Jayhawks turned their attention to the next week. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Looked Ready But One Border War Concern Is Already Brewing
Kansas opened the season exactly the way a veteran team would hope, rolling past Long Island 51-6 and never even needing to punt. Lance Leipold said the Jayhawks had to adjust their pregame routine because of the heat, but once the game started, the operation looked crisp enough to suggest a group that already knows what it wants to be.
Still, the opener was not entirely clean, and the first hint of concern came on defense. A linebacker went down early with a shoulder injury, and the secondary also had to absorb a targeting ejection that could matter more in a much bigger setting to come. For a team that immediately turns its attention to Missouri, the early-season injury and discipline questions are the sort of details that can linger long after a lopsided win. [Read more 🡒]
Kansas Offense Just Created A New Question Before Missouri
Kansas handled Long Island University exactly the way a heavily favored team should, rolling to a 51-6 win and getting the kind of low-stress September result that lets a staff sort through depth and rhythm. The bigger offensive note was the return of coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, and Kansas had enough moving parts to leave with a better feel for its backfield rotation, steady production from several running backs and a more complete picture of how the passing game might look as the season moves forward.
Isaiah Marshall also got his first-ever start and immediately gave the offense something to think about heading into Missouri week, including an early connection with Nik McMillan that stood out in a game with plenty of scoring. On the other side of the ball, Leroy Harris III was disruptive throughout the afternoon with multiple tackles for loss, giving Kansas a defensive edge to match the offensive depth it uncovered, even if the bigger questions now are how all of it carries into a far more demanding rivalry test. [Read more 🡒]