Isaiah Marshall will have big shoes to fill as he replaces Jalon Daniels as the Kansas Jayhawks’ starting quarterback.
Marshall is slated to make his first career start when the Jayhawks host Long Island University in their season opener on Friday night in Lawrence, Kan.
The redshirt sophomore from Southfield, Mich., won a camp battle against junior Cole Ballard to take the place of Daniels, who ended his six-year career second behind Todd Reesing (2006-09) in passing yards, touchdowns and completions. Daniels is a rookie with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Isaiah gives us some exciting speed,” Kansas coach Lance Leipold said on the school’s official radio show “Hawk Talk” last week.
Marshall played in nine games last season (one start) and rushed 15 times for 160 yards. He also completed all three pass attempts for 28 yards.
The Jayhawks are looking to get back to a bowl game after finishing 5-7 each of the last two seasons. They are 27-35 in the first five years of Leipold’s tenure.
Leipold can lean on a familiar face to steer Marshall’s development, as former offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki has returned to the program after two seasons at Penn State.
Kotelnicki, who was Kansas’s offensive coordinator from 2021 to 2023, will now serve as associate head coach under Leipold. The Jayhawks were second in the Big 12 in scoring offense (35.6 points per game) under his stewardship in 2022.
LIU opened its season with a 42-21 loss to North Dakota on Aug. 27 in Grand Forks, N.D.
The Sharks went 6-6 in 2025, and the FCS program made history with its first win against an FBS opponent in beating Eastern Michigan 28-23 on Sept. 6.
LIU will enter Friday’s game as a heavy underdog in its first meeting with Kansas, but coach Ron Cooper holds up the team’s milestone win in Ypsilanti, Mich., as an example of how it can perform when giving its best.
“We’ll always have a chance to win if we play hard,” Cooper said.
Senior linebacker Rafael Fasolino, who was selected to the Preseason All-Northeast Conference team, led the Sharks with 10 tackles and an interception in the loss last week. Luca Stanzani completed 12 of 16 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown.
