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The Kansas Jayhawks will be playing in front of their home fans against the Illinois Fighting Illini at 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday at Kivisto Field at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. The pair come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
You can't lose the contest if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Kansas' strategy against Missouri State on Friday. Kansas took down Missouri State 48-17. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Kansas had established a 17 point advantage.
Kansas' success was spearheaded by the efforts of RB Devin Neal, who rushed for 94 yards and punched in a rushing TD, and QB Jason Bean, who threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns on 28 attempts. Neal's touchdown was no short dash either: it was a 48 yard sprint in the first quarter. On the other side of the line, LB Rich Miller was a menace on defense and made a total of six tackles.
Meanwhile, Illinois gave their fans exactly what they wanted out of a home opener on Saturday. It was a tight contest that could have gone either way, but they made off with a 30-28 victory over Toledo.
Illinois relied on the efforts of WR Pat Bryant, who found the endzone twice on 64 receiving yards, and QB Luke Altmyer, who threw for 211 yards and two touchdowns on 26 attempts, in addition to 69 yards on the ground. Securing the other side of the line was LB Dylan Rosiek, who stumped the offense to the tune of eight tackles.
Looking ahead, Kansas shouldn't be too worried about this matchup, as the experts have them favored by three points. They finished last season with a 7-6 record against the spread.
Kansas ought to be happy about their advantage in the spread: the team was a perfect3-0 when favored last season. Betting on them to win was the most profitable play last year, as bettors who put $100 on that outcome in every game walked away with $796.18. On the other hand, Illinois was 2-2 as the underdog last season.
