Fresno State at Kansas Jayhawks: Five things to know about Bulldogs’ opener

Fresno State and coach Matt Entz open the football season on Saturday at Kansas, playing a Week 0 game for the first time since 2021.

Entz, who led FCS North Dakota State to two national championships in his five seasons, is 60-11 in his career. In his first season with the Bison, he became the first NCAA Division I coach in history to go 16-0 in a season. Kansas coach Lance Leipold also has roots at a lower level of college football, going 109-6 and winning six national championships at NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater before moving up to Buffalo and in 2021 to Kansas.

The Bulldogs this season have a chance to go bowling for a fifth year in a row, something they have not accomplished since playing in seven consecutive bowl games from 1999 to 2005.

The past four bowl games have come under three coaches - Kalen DeBoer, Jeff Tedford and Tim Skipper.

Fresno State at Kansas Jayhawks game details

Kickoff: 3:30 p.m.

Where: David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, Kan.

TV: FOX (Tim Brando, Devin Gardner, Josh Sims)

Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler, Pat Hill, Cameron Worrell)

Line: Kansas -12.5

Five things to know:

1. Coach Matt Entz released a depth chart for the game and true freshman Brayden Walton from Buchanan High, is listed No. 1 at left tackle. Kansas ranked third in the Big 12 last season, averaging 2.3 sacks per game.

2. Fresno State has 23 players on its two-deep that have not yet played in a game for the Bulldogs.

3. Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels is in his sixth season of college football and has played in 37 career games, all for the Jayhawks. Daniels last season played in a career-high 12 games, completing 57% of his passes for 2,454 yards with 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. He also rushed for 439 yards and six scores.

4. The Jayhawks were 5-7 last season. Over the past four seasons they’ve won 22 games, the most over a four-year stretch since 2007 to 2010, when they won 25 games. They’ve been to a bowl game in back-to-back years for only the second time in school history.

5. Kansas has won four season-openers in a row by a combined score of 169-44, or 42.3-11. It also has not played a FBS (football bowl subdivision) opponent in any of those games, beating Lindenwood, Missouri State, Tennessee Tech and South Dakota. The last time the Jayhawks opened with a FBS opponent, in 2020, they lost to Coastal Carolina 38-23.

This story was originally published August 19, 2025 at 7:30 AM.