Head coach: Lance Leipold, 4th season (17-21; 163-60 career)

2023 season: 9-4, 5-4 Big 12; beat UNLV in Guaranteed Rate Bowl

Series with CU: Buffs lead 42-25-3

The game

Who: Colorado Buffaloes at Kansas Jayhawks

When: Saturday, Nov. 23, time TBA

Where: GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

5 Guys to watch

WR Lawrence Arnold: A top receiver for the Jayhawks the past two years, he was All-Big 12 honorable mention last year when he caught 44 passes for 782 yards and six touchdowns. Also caught 44 passes in 2022 and has 121 receptions for 1,859 yards and 13 touchdowns in his career.

CB Cobee Bryant: First-team All-Big 12 in 2022 and 2023, he’s one of the better corners in the country. Bryant had 32 tackles, four interceptions and five pass breakups last year, while adding five tackles for loss.

QB Jalon Daniels: Extremely talented when healthy, he’s made 21 career starts but has also missed 14 of 26 games the past two seasons. He’s thrown for 4,297 yards, 31 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions in his career, while rushing for 600 yards and 13 touchdowns.

CB Mello Dotson: Along with Bryant, he was named preseason All-Big 12 by the media. He earned honorable mention honors last season after posting 48 tackles, four interceptions and 11 pass breakups. His 15 total passes defended tied for second in the conference. He also had three tackles for loss.

RB Devin Neal: Earned second-team All-Big 12 honors last year after rushing for 1,280 yards and 16 touchdowns. A two-time 1,000-yard rusher, he’s racked up 3,077 yards and 33 touchdowns in three seasons with the Jayhawks, while also catching 53 career passes.

Good to know

• CU and Kansas played every year from 1948-2010 as conference rivals in the Big Seven (1948-57), Big Eight (1958-1995) and Big 12 (1996-2010). The Jayhawks have won four of the past five meetings, including a 52-45 victory in the most recent matchup, on Nov. 6, 2010.

• David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence in undergoing a $448 million renovation, so the Jayhawks won’t play home games there this season. Instead, KU’s two nonconference games will be played at Children’s Mercy Park (home of the MLS team Sporting Kansas City), while the other four will be at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium (home of the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs).

• Jeff Grimes was hired in the offseason as the new offensive coordinator. A former Colorado assistant (2007-08), Grimes was the OC at Baylor from 2021-23 and at BYU from 2018-20.

• Brian Borland returns for his fourth season as the defensive coordinator. He has worked with Leipold since 2007 as his DC at Wisconsin-Whitewater (2007-14), Buffalo (2015-20) and Kansas.

• Punter Damon Greaves is back. He averaged just 39.0 yards per punt, but only two of his 32 punts were returned, for a net of minus-6 yards.

• Junior Owen Piepergerdes takes over as the starting kicker. He’s 15-for-15 in his career on extra points and 1-for-2 on field goals.

Portal movement

The Jayhawks lost 13 players to the transfer portal, but the only significant departure was Ar’maj Reed-Adams (Texas A&M), a 12-game starter last year on the offensive line (11 at guard, one at tackle). Defensive lineman Gage Keys (Auburn), receiver Tanaka Scott (North Alabama) and offensive lineman Spencer Lovell (Nevada) were also contributors. The most important addition of the offseason is former Texas A&M center Bryce Foster, who started all 28 games in which he played in three seasons (including 12 last year), while earning freshman All-American honors in 2021. Three other linemen were added for depth: Shane Bumgardner (Tiffin), Amir Herring (Michigan) and Darrell Simmons (Iowa State). Bumgardner was named the top center in Division II last year. Defensive lineman Javier Derritt (North Dakota State), edge Dylan Wudke (Youngstown State) and safety Devin Dye (Utah State) should be contributors on defense.