No. 13 Utah (9-2, 6-2) at Kansas (5-6, 3-5)
- Kickoff: Friday, 10 a.m. MST
- Venue: David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium (Lawrence, Kansas)
- TV: ESPN
- Livestream: Watch ESPN
- Radio: ESPN 700 AM/92.1 FM
- Series: The overall series is tied 2-2. Kansas won the first two meetings between the two schools, in 1950 and 1951, while the Utes won the last two meetings, in 1993 and 1996.
- Weather: Cloudy with temperatures in the mid 30s at kickoff, rising to the low 40s by end of game.
The trends
For Utah: After winning in blowout fashion in their first eight victories of the season, the Utes needed a late rally to beat Kansas State 51-47 last week. That kept alive the small hope that Utah can earn a spot in the Big 12 championship game, if it can win and get some help this week.
ESPN’s analytic model gives Utah an 82.9% chance of going on the road and beating the Jayhawks. If Utah does that, it will give them 10 wins for the first time since the 2022 season.
For Kansas: Unlike the Utes, who have won four straight, the Jayhawks come into this matchup lacking momentum. Kansas has lost four of its past five games, with three of those losses coming by 24 points or more.
Despite all this, Kansas still has a chance to become bowl eligible if the Jayhawks win on Black Friday. The Jayhawks didn’t attain bowl eligibility last season, though they played in bowls in 2022 and 2023, a back-to-back set of postseason games that broke a 13-year drought.
What to watch for
The Jayhawks don’t really excel in any particular area — they rank in the middle of most statistical categories when sized up against their fellow Big 12 schools.
Kansas has eclipsed 30 points in a game just once over the past six games, while Utah is the Big 12’s second-highest-scoring team at 42 points per contest.
By the numbers, this looks like it will be a lopsided matchup, in favor of the visitors.
Perhaps Kansas can gain an emotional edge, given that it is Senior Day and guys like quarterback Jalon Daniels will be making their final appearance at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
Utah running back Wayshawn Parker (1) runs through a gap during the second half of an NCAA football game against the Kansas State Wildcats held at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News
Key player
Wayshawn Parker, RB: Utah has made a habit of putting up big numbers in the rushing game this season — they are second in the country, averaging 279.6 rushing yards per game.
In the past several weeks in particular, Parker has played a major role in that effort.
The talented sophomore has 836 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns on the year, with a 1,000-yard season well within reach.
Parker is on a run of four straight games with 100 or more rushing yards, all coincidentally enough in victories.
Kansas is the third-worst rushing defense in the Big 12, giving up 174.2 yards on the ground per game.
When Utah faced the two worst rushing defenses in the league, Baylor and Colorado, the Utes gained 380 and 422 yards, respectively, on the ground.
Parker could feast again against the Jayhawks.
Quotable
“(Utah is) a really good football team. They’re solid in all phases, physical football team. They’re top two or three in the league in almost every important category. They’ve been explosive on offense, I think they’re tops in the country in win differential this season. A lot of playmakers — again, the physicality and consistency.
“Coach (Kyle) Whittingham, his whole time there has been impressive. We haven’t played this team since they joined the league, so to line up against them will be the challenge that we anticipated.” — Kansas coach Lance Leipold
“Got a road trip to Kansas to finish off the regular season. (They’re) a lot like the team we just played, personnel-wise — physical, got some athletic guys. From the last few games, there’s a lot of carryover in this game from both sides of the football schematically, things that we’ve seen. We have to be ready.
“It’s a Friday kickoff, so a short week. We have one day less to prepare, as do they, so there’s no advantage one way or the other there, but looking for an opportunity to win a 10th game in the regular season, which I can’t remember the last time we were able to do that, but it’s been a few years.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham
Next up
- Utah: TBD, postseason
- Kansas: TBD, postseason (if Kansas wins one more game to qualify)
Utah schedule
- Aug. 30 — at UCLA, W 43-10
- Sept. 6 — vs. Cal Poly, W 63-9
- Sept. 13 — at Wyoming, W 31-6
- Sept. 20 — vs. Texas Tech, L 34-10
- Sept. 27 — at West Virginia, W 48-14
- Oct. 11 — vs. Arizona State, W 42-10
- Oct. 18 — at BYU, L 24-21
- Oct. 25 — vs. Colorado, W 53-7
- Nov. 1 — vs. Cincinnati, W 45-14
- Nov. 15 — at Baylor, W 55-28
- Nov. 22 — vs. Kansas State, W 51-47
- Nov. 28 — at Kansas
