WHERE: David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium

WHEN: 3:00 p.m. Saturday

WATCH IT ON: ESPN+

SERIES HISTORY: Texas Tech leads 20-2. The Red Raiders have won 13 of the last 14 matchups but lost the last game they played in Lawrence back in 2019.

CURRENT FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK ODDS: Texas Tech -16.5, (OVER/UNDER): 67.5

Kansas is 1-4 in 2021, with losses to Coastal Carolina (49-22), Baylor (45-7), Duke (52-33), and Iowa State (59-7). The Jayhawks lone win of the season was in their opening game against South Dakota (17-14).

Head coach Lance Leipold is a six-time Division III National Champion (Wisconsin-Whitewater), five-time conference coach of the year and the fastest coach in NCAA history to reach 100 career wins. He was named the 41st head coach in Kansas Football history on April 30 and is 1-4 through five games for the Jayhawks. Leipold arrives at Kansas after a productive six-year career at Buffalo, going 6-1 in 2020 and finished the season ranked in the AP-Top 25 for the first time in school history.

The Jayhawks take a run first approach under new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki. Kansas has 196 rushing attempts compared to only 127 passing attempts, despite playing from behind for a large portion of this season. Kotelnicki had highly successful rushing offenses at Buffalo, averaging 287.4 rushing yards per game in 2020 and 250.5 in 2019. The Jayhawks are 81st in rushing offense this season, averaging 149 yards per game on the ground.

Kansas is 122nd out of 130 FBS schools in scoring offense this season putting up 17.2 points per game and 115th in total offense at 330.6 yards per game.

The Jayhawks made the switch from a 3-4 base defense to a 4-3 base defense under new defensive coordinator Brian Borland. Borland put together some solid defensive units during his tenure as DC at Buffalo, but that success has yet to translate to a Kansas team that ranks near the bottom in almost every major defensive category.

The Jayhawks are 127th in total defense giving up 493.2 yards per game, and 129th in scoring defense allowing 43.8 points per game. They rank dead last (130th) in tackles for loss per game (2.8) in 2021.

The transfer quarterback from North Texas passed for 1131 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also rushing for 346 yards and five touchdowns in seven starts for the Mean Green in 2020. Bean is more than just a threat to keep the ball and run with it. Through five games for Kansas, Bean leads the Jayhawk offense in rushing yards (291), rushing attempts (60), and is tied in the lead with two rushing touchdowns while averaging 4.8 yards per carry. He’s a feature part of their running attack but can still make you pay throwing the football with 852 yards and five touchdowns through the air.

While the Kansas rushing attack features a crop of runners, Neal has had the most success on the ground leading the team in yards per carry (4.9) and is second to only Bean in attempts (54). Neal, a true freshman out of Lawrence High School in Kansas, was the number one recruit in the state of Kansas and listed as the 24th best running back in the country in 2020 by Rivals. The Jayhawks have five players with at least 15 rushing attempts on the season, but outside of Neal and Bean, the other runners average a measly 2.7 yards per carry. The running backs don’t appear to be a big part of the Kansas passing attack. Neal hasn’t caught a pass this season and the four running backs combined only have five receptions in 2021.

The Super-Senior from Arlington, Texas has made 21 career starts for the Jayhawks since joining the program back in 2017. Johnson was named to the honorable mention All-Big 12 team for his efforts in 2020, starting in eight games at outside linebacker (3-4 defensive end) and was second on the team with 42 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. He is third on the Kansas defense with 30 tackles and even though the Jayhawks have only sacked the quarterback three times in 2021, Johnson has come away with 2.5 of those sacks. Johnson was second on the team with six tackles against the Red Raiders a season ago.

The battle of the running games could be the deciding factor in this matchup. Kansas is 128th in the country in rush defense, and SaRodorick Thompson being back at full force for the Texas Tech offense could spell trouble for a defensive unit that’s allowing 250.4 yards per game on the ground. Facing a defense that averages just over half a sack per game (.6) should provide Henry Colombi plenty of time to throw the ball and pick apart the Kansas secondary. The Red Raiders should have little to no issue taking advantage of struggling Jayhawk defense on Saturday.

KEY OFFENSIVE MATCHUP: RB SaRodorick Thompson vs. the Jayhawk Linebackers

This matchup will ultimately come down to the Texas Tech defense and how effective they can be at slowing down run. Running the football is already the preferred method of attack for the Jayhawk offense and coming off a bye week with plenty of time to watch film on the Red Raider defense, it will no doubt be a focal point for Kansas on Saturday. Rushing yards per game is one of the only major stats where the Jayhawks crack the top 100 (81st). While it appears, the Jayhawks have been ineffective on the ground at 3.8 yards per carry, their quarterback and starting RB (Bean & Neal) have been effective and efficient runners. If the Texas Tech defense can’t fix their issues in a hurry, the running game for Kansas could give them fits this weekend.

KEY DEFENSIVE MATCHUP: The Red Raider Linebackers vs. QB Jason Bean and RB Devin Neal