Kickoff: 6 p.m. CT- ESPN

Broadcast Team: Anish Shroff, Andre Ware, Paul Carcaterra

Vegas Line: Kansas -7

Weather: 78 degrees at kickoff with 6-10 mph winds. No chance of precipitation.

The Kansas Jayhawks return to Children’s Mercy Park to host the UNLV Rebels in a rematch of the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl on Friday night in Kansas City, Kansas.

Kansas will wear its Blackhawk uniforms for Friday night’s game vs. UNLV. Fans in attendance are encouraged to wear black, and the first 10,000 fans will receive a Kansas Football Blackhawk t-shirt.

Friday night’s matchup vs. UNLV will be Kansas’ final game played at Children’s Mercy Park this season, as Kansas will transition to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium to host TCU (Sept. 28), Houston (Oct. 19), Iowa State (Nov. 9) and Colorado (Nov. 23) later this season.

Kansas comes into this week’s matchup following a 23-17 loss at the hands of Illinois in Champaign on Saturday, Sept. 7, in a game that Kansas outgained the Illini 327 yards of offense compared to 271 yards.

The Jayhawks lost the turnover battle, 4-to-1, while the defense held strong holding the Illini to 79 rushing yards. Kansas senior running back Devin Neal crossed the century mark in rushing for the 14th time of his career, carrying the football 14 times for 101 yards.

Senior safety Marvin Grant led the defensive charge with nine tackles, while Cornell Wheeler added eight tackles and 3.0 tackles-for-loss.

UNLV makes its first trip to the state of Kansas since 2003, as the Rebels are 2-0 following a 72-14 victory over Utah Tech on Saturday, Sept. 7.

UNLV was led by wide receiver Ricky White III, who compiled three receiving touchdowns and 111 yards on five receptions, while UNLV totaled 504 rushing yards for only the third time in school history, while six different players rushed for a touchdown.

The Rebels finished the game with a school record 695 total yards of offense. Friday night’s meeting between the Jayhawks and the Rebels will be the fourth all-time, and the first since Dec. 26, 2023, in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, in which Kansas was victorious, 49- 36. The Guaranteed Rate Bowl win was Kansas’ first bowl victory since 2008,

Against Utah Tech, UNLV finished 8-of-8 in the red zone, including five touchdowns. Overall, the Rebels are 10- of-12 in scoring this fall when entering the red zone ...

The Rebels listed a school-record 111 players on the Week One roster and 53 of them were not on the team a year ago. That’s actually down from 55 new faces last season. The numbers include incoming high school and JC signees, walk-ons and portal additions ...

Against Utah Tech, UNLV scored its second-most points in a half in building a 44-7 halftime lead ...

With the starters pulled after halftime, an eye-popping 89 different Rebels saw action in the game with 27 of them being credited with at least one tackle on defense ...

UNLV broke the 500-yard rushing mark for only the third time in school history (504) while six different players rushed for a touchdown. The 2023 Rebels finished second in the nation with a school-record 39 rushing touchdowns. On Saturday, no less than a dozen different Rebels carried the ball at least once, led by true freshman Greg Burrell out of Las Vegas, whose 101 yards on 11 carries included a TD and marked the most rush yards by a UNLV player in a game under second-year head coach Barry Odom ...

Jet Thomas, who set the school record with 12 rushing touchdowns by a freshman last fall, started things off vs. Utah Tech with a 27-yard scoring burst ...

The Jayhawks have to wash their hands of the Illinois game and treat this as a new start. There is no doubt in my mind, the Jayhawks were the better team against Illinois. They won at the line of scrimmage and had the skill players to match.

Losing the turnover battle has to stop and it has to stop this week. It is not characteristic for KU to lose the TO numbers to Lindenwood and Illinois in back-to-back games.

There were running lanes last week and the OL did a good job. I expect to see that executed in the game plan this week for UNLV and the running backs get a good dose of carries. I also expect to Jalon Daniels in the run game to keep the UNLV defense honest.

UNLV does pose some potential issues to watch. They run a different offense than what Kansas saw in the bowl game last year. With Sluka it can be more a zone read, QB run game option instead of last season where they threw the ball more.

Defensively UNLV brings a lot of pressure and often. Watching their front seven on defense, the Jayhawks should be able to have success in the run game. The Rebels secondary is solid with returning starters and experience. With all the blitzing they do, there will be openings in their defense.

This is shaping up to be a big game for both teams. For KU they need to get back on track because a road game in Morgantown won't be easy. For UNLV it is a chance to knock off a second Big 12 opponent to start the season.

I don't want to let last week's game cloud my judgement of the Jayhawks. That's easy to do. They are still a good football team with a lot of experienced players. I'm going with the home team to get back to their winning ways.

Kansas 31

UNLV 24

Kansas is in need of a bounce-back game after suffering its first loss against Illinois last week.

There were some good things to take away: the Jayhawks ran the ball well and outside of the game's last drive were solid on defense. UNLV, like Illinois, is better than it was last season and is looking for revenge. The Rebels are going to come into the game hungry, especially on defense, where they’ve built some momentum through the first two games and want to prove they can stop the Kansas offense.

The Jayhawks are going to need a better performance out of Jalon Daniels. He, at times missed reads and did not throw the deep ball effectively. A good game from Daniels paired with more rushing volume from Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw should lead Kansas to the impressive offensive performance that it is used to.

UNLV can also pose problems for the Kansas defense. Quarterback Matthew Sluka transferred from Holy Cross and has been the team’s leading rusher so far. Kansas limited Luke Altmyer to 25 yards gained on the ground, but dual-threat QBs have given the Jayhawks trouble in the past.

UNLV also returns Ricky White III, a 2023 Third-Team All-American who should set up a fun matchup with Kansas’ secondary. This game has the makings of a shootout, similar to the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl. If Kansas can find a way to run its offense effectively and take care of the ball, the Jayhawks are still the better team and should win. I say the Jayhawks win a close one.

Kansas 41

UNLV 34

Head Coach Lance Leipold’s squad looks to rebound after losing their first game of the season last Saturday, falling to Illinois 23-17. KU is 1-1, while the Rebels are 2-0 and have outscored opponents 99-21.

The Jayhawks offense faltered against the Illini. Turnovers were the story as Jalon Daniels threw three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. JD6 looked rusty, lacking the deep ball accuracy he showed in 2022 and in limited action in 2022.

Devin Neal was the lone bright spot for new offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, averaging 7.2 yards per carry on just 14 attempts.

UNLV’s Matthew Sluka leads a Rebel offense averaging over 500 yards through the first two games. The senior QB has completed 46.7% of his throws, totaling five TDs passes. He is also the squad’s leading rusher, averaging 6.4 ypc. Senior receiver Ricky White III is Sluka’s favorite target, with 7 receptions for 122 yards and three TDs. UNLV has impressed on the defensive side of the ball, yielding 270 yards per game and forcing three turnovers.

This is an uneasy spot for Kansas. The Jayhawks were the better team last Saturday but managed to lose to Illinois. UNLV went on the road and dominated Houston in week one. The Rebels opportunistic defense totaled 10 tackles for loss, six sacks and two turnovers on the day, giving up just 247 yards to the Cougars. Barry Odom’s squad is well coached and schemed-up. They will have a good game plan for the Jayhawks.

KU prevails, but it won’t be easy.

Kansas 24

UNLV 21