The 2025 regular season for Utah concludes with a pivotal Big 12 matchup with Kansas at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. Looking to keep their conference ti …
The 2025 regular season for Utah concludes with a pivotal Big 12 matchup with Kansas at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
Looking to keep their conference title and College Football Playoff aspirations alive, the Utes (9-2, 6-2 Big 12) face off against a Jayhawks (5-6, 3-5 Big 12) squad that’s striving to become bowl eligible for the third time in the last four seasons.
Here’s some important numbers to know ahead of Friday’s 10 a.m. MT kickoff (ESPN) from Lawrence, Kansas.
Sitting at 3,076 rushing yards on the season, Utah needs 188 more to break the program’s single-season record of 3,263, set in 1984. The Utes are also two rushing touchdowns away from setting a new single-season benchmark and surpassing the 37 rushing touchdowns the 2022 squad recorded.
Utah ranks No. 2 in the Football Bowl Subdivision with 279.6 yards per game — trailing only Navy (308.2) in that category — while averaging 6.2 yards per carry.
“The offensive line is really the driving impetus behind that,” said Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham regarding his team’s potent ground game. “I mean, we got a really good, athletic quarterback that runs the ball well, Wayshawn Parker’s coming into his own. But without an offensive line that can do the things that our guys have done all year, that stuff doesn’t happen.
Parker, a sophomore transfer from Washington State, has made the most of his recent opportunities with four consecutive 100-plus yard games on the ground. One more from the 5-foot-10 back would be the most since Tavion Thomas’ five 100-yard games during the 2021 campaign.
Parker’s 836 rushing yards paces the Utes’ ground attack, which has also been supplemented by productive seasons from Utah’s dual-threat quarterback tandem in Devon Dampier (637) and Byrd Ficklin (496).
Even with a win Friday, Utah would likely need some outside help in order to make the 12-team playoff. ESPN’s playoff predictor grants the Utes a 17% chance of making the playoff going into their Week 14 game.
Those odds increase with a win over the Jayhawks, though an appearance in Arlington, Texas, for the Big 12 title game would give Utah its best hope at punching a ticket to the playoff.
For that to happen, four scenarios would need to play out over the weekend: the Utes need to beat the Jayhawks; Arizona State has to defeat Arizona; BYU must take care of business against UCF; and (probably the least likely outcome of the bunch) West Virginia has to upset Texas Tech.
Those outcomes would set up a rematch between Utah and BYU in the Big 12 championship game.
Only Oregon and NC State have gotten more receiving touchdowns by tight ends than Kansas, which has 8 touchdowns combined between tight ends Boden Groen and DeShawn Hanika.
Utah gave up a touchdown to Kansas State tight end Garrett Oakley during its porous defensive outing last Saturday, a week after allowing NFL draft prospect Michael Trigg to catch 3 passes for 42 yards in the Utes’ 55-28 win over Baylor.
Here’s a look at where Utah and Kansas rank nationally in other key stats heading into Saturday:
Strength of record ranking
Utah: No. 17 (Big 12 rank: No. 3)
Kansas: No. 66 (Big 12 rank: 12)
Offensive efficiency
Utah: 84.9 (No. 7; No. 1 in Big 12)
Kansas: 69.8 (No. 27; No. 5 in Big 12)
Defensive efficiency
Utah: 72.7 (No. 25; T-No. 3 in Big 12)
Kansas: 41.5 (No. 94; No. 14 in Big 12)
Special teams efficiency
Kansas: 63.5 (No. 11; No. 2 in Big 12)
Utah: 44.2 (No. 97; No. 12 in Big 12)
Overall efficiency
Utah: 84.6 (No. 8; No. 3 in Big 12)
Kansas: 59.2 (No. 55; No. 10 in Big 12)
Third down conversion rate
Utah: 52.7% (No. 3; No. 1 in Big 12)
Kansas: 36.8% (No. 97; No. 12 in Big 12)
Third down conversion defense
Utah: 31.2% (No. 14; No. 3 in Big 12)
Kansas State: 40% (No. 78; No. 12 in Big 12)
Scoring rate in red zone
Utah: 92% (No. 17; No. 2 in Big 12)
Kansas: 76.2% (No. 117; No. 15 in Big 12)
Red zone defense
Utah: 87.5% (No. 100; No. 13 in Big 12)
Kansas: 89.2% (No. 112; No. 15 in Big 12)
Average time of possession
Utah: 31:43 (No. 26; No. 3 in Big 12)
Kansas: 30:05 (No. 61; No. 7 in Big 12)
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Source: Utah News