Stephen Leonard
Ohio State Writer
With a $450 million upgrade to the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium or “The Booth” as the locals call it, optimism is running high for the Jayhawks. A new look and beautiful stadium should not be the only reason for confidence in 2025. With fifth-year head coach Lance Leipold, they are riding a high, winning 22 games in the last 4 years. Bowl wins have become a regular occurrence, winning back-to-back bowl games for just the second time in program history in 2022 (AutoZone Liberty Bowl) and 2023 (Guaranteed Rate Bowl). However, last year was the exception, starting off 1-5 to open the 2024 season. Jayhawks are looking for a bounce back year and have renewed optimism after Leipold and the Jayhawks rattled out four wins out of the last six games to end the season on a high note. Looking to spoil the optimism that comes with a strong finish and revamped stadium, the Bulldogs of Fresno State have a spark of their own.
First year head coach Matt Entz has plenty of experience winning at a high level. Prior to a one year stent at USC as an assistant head coach for defense and linebackers coach, Entz was busy winning national titles at the FCS level. In five seasons with the North Dakota State Bison, Entz was 2-1 in NCAA Division I FCS National Championships games.
Both programs are looking to capitalize off the prior success of their head coaches. Kansas needs to sustain the momentum gained from finishing the 2024 season strong and break in the upgraded stadium, keeping energy pumping in “The Booth”. On the flip side, for Entz and the Bulldogs, there is no better way to start a head coaching job than knocking off a power four team on their own turf, especially fresh off a $450 million upgrade. The coaches can coach, but it all starts with the Jimmies and Joes.
Offensively, it will be a tail of two quarterbacks and much like the coaches, each school is looking to expand on previous successes. For Fresno State that comes from Sr. QB E.J. Warner, the son of legendary Super Bowl-winning QB Kurt Warner. He is the leader in passing yards in the FBS. E.J. Warner was record-setting at his two previous stops in Temple (2023), recording the most TD passes (24) in a single season, and in 2024, his 64.3% completion percentage ranks second in Rice football history.
Veteran QB’s are leading both teams with Kansas trotting out their man, 6th year Sr. QB Jalon Daniels. Daniels has thrown for 6,751 career passing yards and 45 TD’s, both are second in school history for a career. In 2024, Daniels also added 439 yards and 6 TD’s rushing. He is experienced and dynamic with the ball in his hands.
Both head coaches started their careers on the opposite side of the ball. Entz is defensive-minded as he was the defensive coordinator with North Dakota State before taking the head job at Fresno State. Leipold is a former QB and previously the QB coach at Wisconsin-Whitewater. Entz and the Bulldogs will have to stop Jalon Daniels both in the air and on the ground, and Leipold has to find a way to start off strong, shutting down E.J. Warner while defending the newly remodeled turf. Both teams come into the game with veteran QB’s, and in college football QB play largely determines the outcome of every game. In this game, it will be no different; watch for whoever has a stronger game behind center to come away with the W.
These two teams have only met once on the gridiron, in 1990
TJ Chapman
Lead Columnist, Editor
Broadcast Information The 2025 college football season kicks off with “Farm O’ Geddon” in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland. The Classic will be a clash of Big 12 foes, Matt Campbell’s Iowa State against Chris Klieman’s Kansas State. This is the first time since 2003 that Big 12 opponents have faced […]
Antonio Rossetti
UCF Author
The 2017 UCF Knights under head coach Scott Frost captured the attention of the college football world, going undefeated in the regular season, winning the American Athletic title and the Peach Bowl over Auburn. Frost went 19-7 in his two seasons there, including a 13-0 perfect season. The 2017 Knights claimed a National title after […]
