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The Jayhawks served notice Saturday by dominating Fresno State 31-7 Saturday in their renovated stadium in Lawrence.

After Fresno State tied the game 7-7 with its scoring only drive, the Jayhawks controlled the rest of that Week 0 contest. ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ will have a short work week to prepare for their scheduled demolition of Wagner, then they focus on their rivalry game against Missouri in Boone County.

"It's important that we get off to a good start,� KU coach Lance Leipold told reporters. “It's important that we play well at home. It's important that we give our fans something to be excited about and come back again and watch. Last year, we didn't do that and it was tough for people, probably, to come back and stay coming back. So all that's important.�

Last season the Jayhawks lost five straight games after accepting a season-opening 48-3 blood donation from Lindenwood. Then Kansas pulled it together to win four more games, including its upsets of No. 17 Iowa State and No. 16 Colorado in the Big 12.

That late surge sent the Jayhawks into this season with raised expectations. Standout quarterback Jalon Daniels showed why while completing 18-of-20 passes for 176 yards and three touchdowns against Fresno State.

Daniels added 47 yards rushing on eight carries, including one that went for 23 yards.

“I thought he had great leadership,� Leipold said. “He was in command. He didn't get rattled. He made people miss and still made throws. He was solid in the run game when we needed him to do some things. I thought his accuracy was very good, just everything we wanted. He just seemed really confident in what's going on. That's what you need out of an experienced quarterback.�

Kansas opened its season with plenty of buzz in its remodeled venue. Football is becoming a thing again while operating in the shadow of Allen Fieldhouse.

“I tried to look before kickoff. It was so impressive,� Leipold said. “Probably the earliest I've seen the student section fill up at a time . . . Coming out of a real tunnel kind of felt like a real Power Four football team. To see the crowd and see how full it was, I did kind of look up. Even during warm-ups, I thought that there were a lot of people [who] were in seats maybe earlier than in the past.�

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering how the Cardinals can ever regain the long hours of their life lost to tedious rain delays:

• Should the Cardinals start worrying about all that talented young pitching the Pittsburgh Pirates are accumulating?
• Will the Tampa Bay Rays get a real major league stadium in our lifetime?
• After getting dumped by the Atlanta Braves, too, should Erick Fedde to return to Korea?

THE GRIDIRON CHRONICLES

Here is what folks have been writing about college football:

Paul Myerberg, USA Today: “Honestly, the Wildcats didn’t have to go all the way to Dublin to lose Farmageddon – they’d been doing that just fine stateside for the past seven years. That’s one reason why the season-opening loss feels familiar for Kansas State. A year ago, the Wildcats opened the year as the league’s co-favorites alongside Utah but dropped four games, three in November. While the Big 12 abolished the preseason poll after Arizona State’s worst-to-first finish in 2024, KSU was by consensus seen as one of the favorites for the conference crown and bid to the College Football Playoff. The good news is there’s three months to go. Maybe Kansas State’s really, really good and was undone by two turnovers, too many penalties and an inability to get one key stop late in the fourth quarter. Maybe Iowa State’s the best team in the Bowl Subdivision. Who knows? There’s no way to know for sure. But what’s certain is that this win matters for the Cyclones and the loss puts the Wildcats in an early bind.�

Andy Staples, : “We last saw the Cyclones chowing down on an anthropomorphized breakfast pastry after beating Miami in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. Before that, we watched them play for the Big 12 title. If Saturday is any indication, we may see Iowa State play for the Big 12 title again this season. The biggest question was how [quarterback Rocco] Becht and offensive coordinator Taylor Mouser would handle the loss of receivers Jaylin Noel and Jayden Higgins, who combined to catch 167 passes for 2,377 yards and 17 touchdowns last season. The answer is the Cyclones may not be as explosive in the pass game, but between [Carson] Hansen, Abu Sama III and Becht (when he needs to run), Iowa State can grind out wins.”

Pete Fiutak, College Football News: “Central Arkansas has way too many parts to fill, and this isn't the defense to go against to figure it all out. Missouri needs to use this game to figure out how to get into the backfield on a regular basis, and it shouldn't have a problem against the Bear offensive front. Missouri has averaged close to 59 points in its last eight games against FCS teams. It won't roll that easily - like it did in the 51-0 opener to start last season - but it'll come out looking to prove a point right away. The program is paying to come up with an easy win so the new skill guys can get up to speed. That won't be a problem.�

Brad Crawford, : “Expectations are other-worldly for Penn State this season, perhaps at their highest levels since the 1980s when Joe Paterno won both of the program's national championships over a five-year stretch. James Franklin's roster is the best he's ever had in Happy Valley. He's averaging 9.6 wins per season since the 2016 campaign with five top-10 finishes during that stretch. If Penn State snaps an eight-game losing skid to the Buckeyes, there's a great chance the Nittany Lions get to Indianapolis without a loss.”

Antonio Morales, The Athletic: “It’s difficult to discuss USC without doing so through the lens of what the football program is in theory. The history, the national championships, the Heisman Trophy winners, the Los Angeles market, the access to local talent, the weather, the resources. It’s hard not to think of what the program could be. Never mind that over the past 45 years — except for an exhilarating seven-year stretch under Pete Carroll — this potential has largely failed to match reality on the field. This holds even as USC enters its fourth season under Lincoln Riley, who arrived in Los Angeles with the expectation of returning the proud program to national prominence. For the better part of a decade, USC’s recruiting could’ve been framed the same way. The Trojans have all the ingredients to be elite — and were for a long period — but have squandered that potential due to a lack of alignment, a lack of a plan and ineffective coaching, among other factors. Over the past seven years, the Trojans have had as many recruiting classes rank in the top 10 (two) as they’ve had finish outside the top 50 (two). Riley has signed just one top-10 class in his tenure. But now, armed with a top-down commitment to organizational alignment, a general manager with a tangible roster-building plan and a newfound aggression in the name, image and likeness space, USC has dominated offseason headlines and roared back to a familiar spot — the top five of the national recruiting rankings.�

MEGAPHONE

“There's no owner, there's no owner's son, there's no cap, everything that goes with the marketing and everything else, which I'm all for that. But it's way less of what it was at that level. Generic NFL teams, you have the owner, president, general manager, personnel director, college director, pro director, cap guy, some other consultant, then head coach. I'd say when we had our best years in New England, we had fewer people and more of a direct vision. And as that expanded, it became harder to be successful.�

North Carolina coach Bill Belichick, throwing some shade at New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft while describing college coaching.