BYU vs. Kansas Prediction, Odds, Trends and Key Players for College Football Week 4
By Josh Yourish
The BYU Cougars got lucky in their move over to the Big 12. They get to ease their way in a bit. They’re still almost a double-digit underdog against the Kansas Jayhawks, but at least they didn’t get stuck with Texas to open up their conference slate. BYU is 3-0 after beating Arkansas 38-31 last week.
The Jayhawks are also off to a 3-0 start and could be a threat in the Big 12 if Jalon Daniels can stay healthy all year. He led KU to a win over Nevada in Week 3. We’re going to dig deep into this Week 4 matchup, but for a look at the college football landscape at large, check out BetSided's college football betting analyst, Reed Wallach’s, weekly column and preview.
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Now, let’s get into the odds for BYU and Kansas in Lawrence.
BYU vs. Kansas Odds, Spread and Total
Kansas vs. BYU Betting Trends
- Kansas is 1-2 ATS
- The OVER is 1-1-1 in Kansas games
- BYU is 1-2 ATS
- The OVER is 2-1 in BYU games
BYU vs. Kansas How to Watch
- Date: Saturday, September 23
- Time: 12:00 PM EST
- Venue: David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium
- How to Watch (TV): ESPN
- BYU Record: 3-0
- Kansas Record: 3-0
BYU vs. Kansas Key Players to Watch
BYU
Kedon Slovis, QB: This is the third spot for Slovis in his five-year college football odyssey. Things did not go well last season at Pitt, but he seems to have turned it around with BYU. The early returns are strong. He is completing 61.1% of his passes, is averaging 7.3 yards per attempt, and has thrown for 660 total yards. Most importantly, he has six touchdowns to one interception after finishing 2022 with 10 TDs to nine interceptions.
Kansas
Jalon Daniels, QB: Last week, Jalon Daniels decided he didn’t need to be a dual-threat QB to beat Nevada. He went 21/27 passing for 298 yards and finished with negative rushing yards on seven attempts. While it was a bad day on the ground and he’s been sacked four times already this year, it’s good to see Daniels succeed exclusively as a passer.
BYU vs. Kansas Prediction and Pick
Last week, BYU beat Arkansas despite only gaining 4.9 yards per play. I highlighted the quarterbacks in the key players section because that’s likely what this game will come down to. Kansas has a much more dynamic offense because they have the more athletic quarterback, which might just be the deciding factor
Jalon Daniels has been excellent as a passer this season. He’s never been over 70% completions for a season and right now he’s at 75% on 56 attempts. What makes that even more impressive is that his average depth of target is also the deepest of his career at 11.0 yards. Kansas is averaging 10.3 yards every time Daniels drops back to pass, and that’s not even accounting for what he can gain as a scrambler.
The Jayhawks rank 17th in the country in yards per game, averaging 500.7 and 16th in yards per play at 7.4. That’s with a game against Illinois who was one of the best defensive teams in college football in 2022. They aren’t just beating up on bad opponents, this offense is legit.
On the other side, BYU is averaging 311 yards per game and 5.2 yards per play which ranks them 118th and 101st respectively. Kedon Slovis is only completing 61.1% of his passes which is the second lowest of his career, but higher than last season at Pitt. Slovis has an average depth of target of 9.6 and averages 7.3 yards per attempt. That also comes with almost no rushing ability as a scrambler or on designed runs.
BYU is 112th in plays per game, so they’re less dynamic and play at a methodical pace. Their defense is 79th against the pass. The Cougars won’t be able to slow down Kansas and they certainly won’t be able to keep up with Jalon Daniels. Give me the Jayhawks to cover. Kansas is 5-2-1 against the spread at home since the start of the 2022 season.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change