Notes and numbers from KU's 31-7 season-opening win over Fresno State that came in front of a sold-out David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium crowd on Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025.
Series History: Kansas leads the all-time series, 1-0.
Kansas Captains: Jalon Daniels, Bryce Foster, Justice Finkley, DJ Withers.
Coin Toss: Fresno State won the toss and deferred to the second half. Kansas received the opening kickoff.
Team Notes
• Moved Kansas to 612-686-58 all-time, including 23-28 in the Lance Leipold era. Leipold’s career record improved to 169-67 overall.
• Gave Kansas the series advantage over Fresno State in the first meeting between the two teams.
• Improved Kansas to 16-5-1 against the Mountain West Conference all-time, including the first win since defeating UNLV in the 2024 Guaranteed Rate Bowl
on Dec. 26, 2023, 49-36.
• Gave Kansas its earliest win in a season in program history.
• Made Kansas 7-4 in games played in August all-time.
• Made Kansas 75-54-7 in season openers all-time, including 5-0 under head coach Lance Leipold. Leipold became the first Kansas coach since AR Kennedy (1904-10) to go 5-0 in season openers over his first five seasons.
• Made Kansas 1-0 for the fifth-straight season, marking the first time since 2005-09 that Kansas started 1-0 in five-straight seasons.
• Moved head coach Lance Leipold to 17-2 in season openers all-time, including 9-2 at the Division I level.
• Kansas’ three takeaways (two interceptions, one forced fumble) by the Kansas defense were the most in a season opener since 2016 vs. Rhode Island (3).
• Kansas has at least one interception in the season opener in each of the last four seasons.
• Kansas sold out its first home opener since Sept. 5, 2009 vs. Northern Colorado. Kansas has now sold out at least one game in each of its last four seasons, including its 10th sellout over that span.
Offensive Notes
• Jalon Daniels finished the game 18-of-20 passing for 176 yards and three touchdowns. His 90.0 percent completion percentage was a career high. Daniels
finished the first half completing 13-of-15 passing for 145 yards and 2 touchdowns, which were both to Cam Pickett.
• Jalon Daniels’ three passing touchdowns were the most for a Kansas quarterback in a season opener since Peyton Bender had four passing touchdowns on Sept. 2, 2017 vs. SEMO.
• Kansas had 10 different receivers record a reception from Daniels in the game, led by Pickett with six receptions for 77 yards and two touchdowns. The only other players with more than one reception were Emmanuel Henderson Jr. (3 rec, 24 yds) and Deshawn Hannika (2 rec, 17 yds).
• Pickett scored the first touchdown in the new David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Jalon Daniels. The touchdown was Pickett’s first of his Kansas career. Pickett scored his second touchdown of the game on a 13-yard pass from Daniels in the second quarter. The pair of touchdowns gave Pickett his third and fourth of his career.
• Pickett’s pair of receiving touchdowns marked the first time since 2023 when Mason Fairchild and Quentin Skinner each had two touchdowns.
• On Kansas’ second possession, the Jayhawks converted on a 4th-and-1, as senior running back Leshon Williams converted the 4th down and took it 19-yards for a Kansas score.
• In the third quarter, redshirt sophomore Keaton Kubecka scored his first-career touchdown on a 12-yard strike from Jalon Daniels. The reception was Kubecka’s first of his career.
Defensive Notes
• In the second quarter, redshirt senior Devin Dye had his fourth-career interception including his second as a Jayhawk. It was his first interception since
Oct. 5, 2024 at Arizona State.
• Redshirt senior Bangally Kamara recorded his first-career sack and forced fumble as a Jayhawk on a 14-yard sack in the third quarter. The fumble was recovered by Kenean Caldwell, his first-career fumble recovery. The sack was Kamara’s fifth of his career and first since Nov. 16, 2023 vs. Boston College, while at Pitt. It was his second-career forced fumble.
• In the third quarter, Lyrik Rawls recorded his third-career interception, first as a Jayhawk and first since Oct. 19, 2024 at BYU.
• Kansas finished with three takeaways in the game with two interceptions and one forced fumble. The three takeaways is the most by KU’s defense in a
season opener since 2016 vs. Rhode Island.
Special Teams Notes
• Kansas redshirt senior Laith Marjan connected on his first-career field goal as a Jayhawk, a 47-yard field goal before halftime to give Kansas a 24-7 lead
at the break. The 47-yard field goal matched the longest field goal Kansas had in 2024.
• In the fourth quarter, punter Finn Lappin recorded a punt of 61 yards, which was the longest punt by the Jayhawks since Kyle Thompson on Oct. 17, 2020
at West Virginia (62 yards).
• Lappin averaged 53.7 yards on three punts, with all three of his attempts going for more than 50 yards and two of them being downed inside the Fresno
State 20-yard line.
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