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2023 Kansas

9–⁠4 (5–⁠4 Big 12), coached by Lance Leipold, finished No. 23 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Kansas in 2023, game by game: won vs. Missouri State 48–17; won vs. Illinois 34–23; won at Nevada 31–24; won vs. BYU 38–27; lost at No. 3 Texas 14–40; won vs. UCF 51–22; lost at Oklahoma State 32–39; won vs. No. 6 Oklahoma 38–33; won at Iowa State 28–21; lost vs. Texas Tech 13–16; lost vs. No. 23 Kansas State 27–31; won at Cincinnati 49–16; won vs. UNLV 49–36+33−26Won 48–17 vs. Missouri State+31Missouri StateWon 34–23 vs. Illinois+11IllinoisWon 31–24 at Nevada+7NevadaWon 38–27 vs. BYU+11BYULost 14–40 at No. 3 Texas-26No. 3 TexasWon 51–22 vs. UCF+29UCFLost 32–39 at Oklahoma State-7Oklahoma StateWon 38–33 vs. No. 6 Oklahoma+5No. 6 OklahomaWon 28–21 at Iowa State+7Iowa StateLost 13–16 vs. Texas Tech-3Texas TechLost 27–31 vs. No. 23 Kansas State-4No. 23 Kansas StateWon 49–16 at Cincinnati+33CincinnatiWon 49–36 vs. UNLV+13UNLV
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsMissouri StateW 48–⁠1775%
Sep 8vsIllinoisW 34–⁠2347%
Sep 16atNevadaW 31–⁠2465%
Sep 23vsBYUW 38–⁠2746%
Sep 30at3TexasL 14–⁠4024%
Oct 7vsUCFW 51–⁠2252%
Oct 14atOklahoma StateL 32–⁠3946%
Oct 28vs6OklahomaW 38–⁠3336%
Nov 4atIowa StateW 28–⁠2138%
Nov 11vsTexas TechL 13–⁠1663%
Nov 18vs23Kansas StateL 27–⁠3140%
Nov 25atCincinnatiW 49–⁠1654%
Dec 26Bowls & playoffvsUNLVGuaranteed Rate BowlW 49–⁠3660%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat UNLV 49–⁠36 in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl; No. 23 in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Big 12.

In program history: The 13th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 131 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 24
  2. Wk 7: 23
  3. Wk 10: 22
  4. Wk 11: 19
  5. Final: 23
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠4 tied for 7th in Big 12
AP final
No. 23 peak No. 19
Points
452–⁠345
Coach
Lance Leipold
Elo
1612 +155 this season
SP+ rating
9.9 No. 25 of 133; offense No. 17, defense No. 61, special teams No. 58
SRS
10.9 No. 20 of 133 in FBS
Returning
100% of last season’s EPA, No. 1 of 131
Recruiting class
No. 73 roster talent No. 62 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Andy Kotelnicki and Jim Zebrowski
Defensive coordinator
Brian Borland
Captains
Jalon Daniels, Mike Novitsky, Mason Fairchild and Rich Miller }}
Offense
Multiple pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense4th of 133
  • Defense87th of 133
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted5th of 133
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted71st of 133
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.3148%1.454th of 133
Defense0.1446%1.2387th of 133
Opponent-adjusted0.28 off
0.12 def		49% off
43% def		—5th off
71st def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense4.4own 2815% allowed
Defense4.2own 3017% caused

CORE rating 17.8, 12th of 133 (offense 18.6, defense 0.8).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsJason Bean QB2,130 yds
Passing touchdownsJason Bean QB18 TD
Rushing yardsDevin Neal RB1,280 yds
Rushing touchdownsDevin Neal RB16 TD
Receiving yardsLawrence Arnold WR782 yds
Receiving touchdownsLawrence Arnold WR6 TD
TacklesKenny Logan Jr. S86 tkl
SacksAustin Booker DL8 sacks
InterceptionsJacobee Bryant CB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2023 class

Jaden Hamm TE★★★No. 614
Calvin Clements OT★★★No. 650
Jameel Croft Jr. S★★★No. 874
Surahz Buncom ATH★★★No. 882
Jacoby Davis CB★★★No. 882

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2023 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.862
Receivers33.00.866
Offensive line13.00.878
Defensive line33.00.850
Linebackers13.00.843
Defensive backs33.00.863
Athletes and specialists13.00.868
Whole class133.00.861

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2024

The 2024 draft
Rd 3Dominick Puni OTSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 5Austin Booker DEChicago Bears

Roster 119

The 2023 roster

119 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2023 line; 59 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 12

The 2023 portal
Dylan Brooks DE★★★from Auburn
Damarius McGhee CB★★★from LSU
J.B. Brown LB★★★from Bowling Green
Logan Brown OT★★★from Wisconsin
Dylan McDuffie RB★★★from Georgia Tech
Austin Booker DE★★★from Minnesota
Devin Phillips DL★★★from Colorado State
Gage Keys DL★★★from Minnesota
Patrick Joyner Jr. DE★★★from Utah State
Spencer Lovell OT★★★from California
Charlie Weinrich K★★from Nebraska
Seth Keller Kfrom Texas State

Transfers out 14

Kelan Robinson WR★★★to East Carolina
Cam’Ron Dabney CB★★★to Northern Illinois
D’Marion Alexander DE★★★to Illinois State
Edwin White S★★★to North Alabama
Eriq Gilyard LB★★★to UConn
Ethan Vasko QB★★★to Coastal Carolina
Gavin Potter LB★★★to Arkansas State
Jarrett Paul S★★★to App State
Ky Thomas RB★★★to Kent State
Steven McBride WR★★★to Hawai’i
DeAndre Thomas Jr. RB★★to Emporia State
Hunter Barlow OL★★to Stony Brook

And 2 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-Big 12

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2023 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2023 Big 12 standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas8–⁠112–⁠23
Oklahoma7–⁠210–⁠315
Oklahoma State7–⁠210–⁠416
West Virginia6–⁠39–⁠4
Kansas State6–⁠39–⁠418
Iowa State6–⁠37–⁠6
Kansas5–⁠49–⁠423
Texas Tech5–⁠47–⁠6
UCF3–⁠66–⁠7
TCU3–⁠65–⁠7
BYU2–⁠75–⁠7
Houston2–⁠74–⁠8
Baylor2–⁠73–⁠9
Cincinnati1–⁠83–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.