A (semi) Statistical Recap Of Liu

Last year after Kansas beat Wagner 46-7, failing to cover a 45.5-point spread, I noted that Lance Leipold apparently wasn’t interested in some of those 60-point FCS massacres we see elsewhere and suggested that the best way to become a millionaire would be to take the underdog and the points when Wagner’s conference-mate LIU came to Lawrence in 2026.

Well…

KU was favored by 41.5 points.

The Jayhawks won by 45.

Reason number 347 why you shouldn’t take betting advice from me.

Kansas opened the 2026 season Friday night with a 51-6 win over Long Island, and while it took them a little while to get going, this eventually looked pretty much exactly like what you’d hope an FBS-vs-FCS game would look like. KU led just 6-0 after the first quarter, then scored 24 points in the second quarter and took a 30-0 lead into halftime.

And once we get to the numbers, well, there really isn’t much ambiguity here. Kansas outgained LIU 613-146. The 613 yards by the KU offense were the second-most of the Leipold era, while the 146 yards allowed by the defense were the second-fewest.

KU ran 76 offensive plays and averaged 8.1 yards per play, while LIU ran 53 plays and averaged 2.8. The Jayhawks gained 277 yards on the ground at 5.4 yards per carry. LIU gained 35 yards on 33 attempts — 1.1 yards per carry.

Kansas had 29 first downs. LIU had 11.

KU converted 8-of-13 third downs. The Sharks converted 2-of-13.

Kansas reached the red zone eight times and scored all eight times.

The Jayhawks never punted.

But even those final numbers make the game look slightly more competitive than it actually was. At halftime, Kansas had 378 yards of offense compared to LIU’s 43.

Kansas had 138 rushing yards at the break. LIU had negative five.

The Jayhawks were averaging 9.2 yards per play to LIU’s 1.5 and had 17 first downs to the Sharks’ four.

This means that LIU gained 103 of its 146 total yards after halftime, at which point Kansas led 30-0 and was likely increasingly interested in avoiding injury while getting everybody on the roster some playing time.

I saw a lot of things I liked – we’ll get to that. The weird thing is that I’m still not sure we learned much about the Kansas secondary. LIU QB Stanzani spent plenty of the first half running away from Kansas defenders, but when LIU did give him time, there were several occasions when he had an open receiver and simply missed him.

While Kansas still gets credit for holding LIU to 111 passing yards, there’s a difference between “the coverage was excellent” and “the quarterback threw the ball three feet over the open guy’s head.”

I’ll go out on a limb and say that the rest of the schedule will be somewhat less accommodating.

The Good

There’s a new Marshall in town. Gone is JD6, but Isaiah stepped up and answered a lot of questions Friday night. Full disclosure, there were plenty of candidates here, but come on. This was THE question. Kansas knew it had running backs. Kansas knew it had receivers. There were reasons to feel pretty good about the defense. But replacing Jalon Daniels?

Marshall finished his first career start 14-of-19 for 246 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions while adding another 49 yards on seven carries. He wasn’t sacked. That’s 295 yards of offense on 26 pass attempts/rushes.

And after an admittedly shaky beginning, he started pushing the ball downfield. Marshall hit Nik McMillan for 46 yards, Nahzae Cox for 47, and then hit McMillan again, this time for a TD, just before halftime.

He wasn’t perfect. There was at least one first-quarter throw that LIU probably should have intercepted, and KU’s first few possessions weren’t exactly inspiring confidence.

But if your biggest question entering Friday night was whether Isaiah Marshall could actually run this offense when the quarterbacks were wearing different-colored jerseys and people were allowed to hit him, this was about as encouraging an answer as you could reasonably expect from Game One.

Honorable Mention: Leroy Harris III

Marshall gets the headline here, but I don’t want Leroy Harris III’s night getting buried somewhere in the defensive statistics. Harris made four tackles, all TFL, but I’m not sure that really tells the tale of his evening. Harris was a disruptor all night long, and Kansas may really have something here.

Consider: Last season, Kansas listed Harris at 6-5, 230 pounds.

This year? 270 lbs.

Harris apparently spent the offseason adding 40 pounds to a frame that was already productive as a sophomore. At 230 lbs, Harris played defensive end for Kansas last season and led the team with 4.5 sacks while recording 6.5 tackles for loss along with eight pass breakups. He earned honorable mention All-Big 12 recognition despite starting only the season opener.

Now KU apparently has a 270-pound defensive end who moves like a 230-pound linebacker. And in his first game at the new weight, Harris recorded four tackles for loss — 61.5% of his entire 2025 total.

Now, this was against LIU. That’s an important qualifier. But if Harris really did add 40 pounds without losing the quickness that made him disruptive last season, that’s considerably more interesting than simply beating up an FCS offensive tackle.

We’ll find out soon enough whether that translates against better offensive lines.

The Bad

¯\(ツ)/¯

I mean, what do you want me to put here? Kansas won 51-6, gained 613 yards, allowed 146, rushed for 277, held LIU to 35, converted 62% of its third downs, held the Sharks to 15%, scored on all eight red-zone trips, and never punted.

Okay, the offense looked a little clunky early. That’s about all I’ve got. KU turned the ball over on downs on its first possession, and its next scoring drive took 16 plays and 76 yards before ending with a 32-yard field goal. At that point, with 9:46 left in the second quarter, Kansas led an FCS team 9-0.

There may have been some grumbling.

Then Kansas scored touchdowns on each of its next three possessions and led 30-0 at halftime.

So, sure, the opening 20 minutes weren’t perfect, but I’m not prepared to call them bad.

The Ugly

The injury bug bit KU early in this one when LB Bam Crouch went down on LIU’s fourth offensive play and had to be helped from the field. As of this writing, we don’t know the severity of the injury, so I’m not going to diagnose the guy from my couch. Lance Leipold said after the game that the injury was in the shoulder area, and added that KU hoped to have “a little bit more of an idea Monday.”

So, the severity is still unknown but any extended absence would be significant. And if it’s serious, this isn’t just a case of Kansas losing some random starter whose name you learned last week when the depth chart came out.

Crouch transferred to Kansas this offseason after spending four years at Boston College, where he appeared in 40 games. He became a full-time starter in 2024 and finished that season with 77 tackles, two sacks, and two forced fumbles. BC named him a team captain entering 2025, but an injury limited him to four games. That ultimately allowed him to redshirt and use his final season of eligibility at Kansas.

During fall camp, Crouch emerged as the favorite to start at WILL linebacker next to Trey Lathan. Linebackers coach Chris Simpson called him the most consistent player at the position, and both Crouch and the coaching staff talked about the value of having two experienced linebackers together — particularly when it came to communication.

In other words, Kansas brought in a fifth-year senior with extensive Power Four experience specifically to help stabilize a defense replacing a lot of familiar faces. Losing him four plays into the season would be… less than ideal.

Jibreel Al-Amin and Malachi Curvey were among the other players competing at the position during camp, so Kansas does have options. But there’s a difference between having options and replacing a guy who started an entire ACC season and was voted a team captain at his previous school.

In terms of ugly on the field, there was a fourth-quarter turnover on a punt return, but the box score makes that look considerably worse than it was. LIU hit a low, line-drive punt that was so short it struck a Kansas blocker in the back while he was running downfield looking for somebody to block for the returner.

Technically, that’s a muffed punt. Practically, that’s just a football doing football things. I’m not putting that on the return unit.

The Stats

Isaiah Marshall was 14-of-19 passing for 246 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. He also rushed seven times for 49 yards.

Cole Ballard took over midway through the third quarter and went 4-of-6 for 90 yards, including a 48-yard completion to Bryson Hayes on a very nicely thrown ball. Ballard also ran once for 14 yards.

Props to the offensive line! Neither KU quarterback was sacked.

Yasin Willis led Kansas with 72 yards on 11 carries, averaging 6.5 yards per attempt, with two touchdowns.

Micah Johnson had 11 carries for 52 yards and a touchdown.

Jalen Dupree carried nine times for 35 yards and a touchdown.

Dylan Edwards had six carries for 32 yards and also caught four passes for 34 yards.

Donald Collier added 18 yards and a touchdown on three carries.

All told, Kansas had five rushing touchdowns scored by four different players.

Nik McMillan had himself a debut: six receptions, 130 yards, and a touchdown. His longest reception went for 46 yards.

Bryson Hayes caught two passes for 56 yards, including the 48-yarder from Ballard.

Nahzae Cox had one reception for 47 yards.

Tate Nagy caught three passes for 40 yards and a touchdown, although the touchdown probably should count as about half a reception after Marshall’s bullet pass bounced off an LIU defender and directly into his hands. You can be good and you can be lucky, but it’s always better to be both.

Quincy Davis led Kansas with five tackles.

Leroy Harris III recorded four tackles, all four for loss, and added a quarterback hurry.

David Santiago had four tackles, 1.5 TFL, a quarterback hurry, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

Trey Lathan had three tackles, a sack, a TFL, and a quarterback hurry.

The Kansas defense finished with 11 tackles for loss and three sacks while holding LIU to 146 total yards.

Martin Connington hit his only field-goal attempt, from 32 yards, and went 6-for-6 on PATs.

Punter Matt Gill hit zero punts for zero yards. Feels like a good stat line for your punter.