KU Jayhawks football vs. South Dakota Coyotes: 5 things to know about season opener
The Kansas Jayhawks open the Lance Leipold era against FCS school South Dakota on Friday.
Here are details and five things to know about the game.
THE DETAILS
Kickoff: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Booth Memorial Stadium, Lawrence, Kansas
TV: ESPN+
Radio: WHB (810 AM) in Kansas City, KFH (1240 AM) in Wichita
The line: None set.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
Friday night lights. KU football opening its season on a Friday is a rare occurrence; the last time the Jayhawks opened their season on that day of the week was in 1944 when they defeated Washburn, 44-0. KU will also play its second game of the season — at Coastal Carolina — on a Friday as well.
Coyote returns. South Dakota starting running back Travis Theis will returning home, as the redshirt freshman starred at Pratt High School from 2015-18 before deciding to play for the Coyotes. Theis, who is 5-foot-11 and 215 pounds, rushed 37 times for 151 yards with two touchdowns in South Dakota’s abbreviated spring football season.
Fast starter. Leipold has mostly been successful in season openers, recording a 12-2 record on them in his career, which includes a 4-2 mark at Buffalo. KU, meanwhile, is 6-3 in its last nine openers, with two of those losses — South Dakota State in 2015 and Nicholls in 2018 — coming against FCS foes.
Celebrating a milestone. This year marks the 100th season of football at KU’s Booth Memorial Stadium, which is the seventh-oldest stadium in the nation. The first football game played at Booth Memorial Stadium was Oct. 3, 1921, when KU defeated Kansas State, 21-7, in front of a crowd of 5,160.
A struggle in the spring. South Dakota completed just four games during its pushed-back 2020 season that was shifted to this spring, ending with a 1-3 record. The Coyotes opened with a 27-20 road victory over FCS’s seventh-ranked team Illinois State on Feb. 27 before falling at No. 4 North Dakota (21-10), at home vs. Missouri State (27-24) and at Youngstown State (28-10).
