2020 Kansas Jayhawks football
Conference	Big 12 Conference
Record	0–9 (0–8 Big 12)
Head coach	Les Miles (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Brent Dearmon (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	D. J. Eliot (2nd season)
Home stadium	David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium
Uniform
Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

The 2020 Kansas Jayhawks football team represented the University of Kansas as a member of Big 12 Conference during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was the Jayhawks 131st season. It was the second and final year under Les Miles. The team play home games at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas.

The Jayhawks began the season 0–4 and struggled statistically through the first four games, losing by an average of 20.5 point, while being outgained on offense on average 451.8 to 261.3 and having a turnover margin of –4. Through games on October 17, they were one of only two winless teams in the country that had played at least four games.

The Jayhawks finished winless for only the third time in school history and the second time since the 2015 season.

Offseason

Starters lost

Overall, the Jayhawks had 25 players run out of eligibility. Below are the starters from 2019 who have run out of eligibility.

Coaching staff changes

*Spent 2019 as defensive coordinator, will maintain that role along the other additional duties as linebackers coach
†Fired during the season

Recruiting

The Jayhawks have 26 commitments for their 2020 recruiting class. Below is the breakdown. In addition to their 26 recruited freshmen, the Jayhawks also have 13 walk-on freshmen. The only positions KU did not have any recruits for were running back, kicker, and punter.

Overall class ranking

Positional breakdown

All information above is as of April 2, 2020

Left team during the season

Big 12 media poll

The 2020 preseason poll was released on July 17, 2020. The Jayhawks were picked last for the 10th consecutive season, receiving 80 out of 90 possible last place votes.^[5]

Schedule

COVID-19 impact

On June 20, 2020, the University of Kansas announced it had tested 86 football players and 110 staff members. Only one player tested positive and no staff members. One player tested positive for the antibody test, indicating the player had it in the past, but no longer had it.^[6] On July 3, the team announced that another 11 players had tested positive and that they would be suspending in-person voluntary workouts.^[7] Kansas was scheduled to play New Hampshire, but the game was canceled following the CAA’s decision to not play football during the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[8] Following the cancellation, KU athletic director Jeff Long said in a statement that they will look into finding an opponent to replace New Hampshire in the opening of the schedule.^[9] On July 25, Kansas announced it had replaced the game with New Hampshire with a game on August 29 against Southern Illinois, but that game was later cancelled.^[10] On July 29, their game against Boston College was also canceled.^[11] On August 3, the Big 12 announced they would play a 10-game schedule that included all conference games and one non-conference game.^[12] On August 12, the Big 12 announced the conference portion of the revised schedule. On August 31, the school announced that they will begin the season without fans in attendance, but did not specify how many games will be played without fans.^[13] On September 24, Long announced a maximum of 10,000 fans would be allowed to attend through the month of October.^[14] On October 8, head coach Les Miles announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19.^[15] Because of his positive test, he did not coach the game against West Virginia.^[16] A few days before the Jayhawks November 21 game against Texas, it was rescheduled for December 14, then it was cancelled altogether on December 10. In total, four of the Jayhawks games were cancelled due to COVID-19.

Season schedule

Every game listed below had a limited or no attendance due to COVID-19.

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 12	9:00 p.m.	Coastal Carolina*	David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FS1	L 23–38	0*
September 26	6:30 p.m.	at Baylor	McLane Stadium Waco, TX	ESPNU	L 14–47	11,667
October 3	2:30 p.m.	No. 17 Oklahoma State	David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	ESPN	L 7–47	9,480
October 17	11:00 a.m.	at West Virginia	Milan Puskar Stadium Morgantown, WV	FOX	L 17–38	10,759
October 24	11:00 a.m.	at No. 20 Kansas State	Bill Snyder Family Stadium Manhattan, KS (Sunflower Showdown)	FS1	L 14–55	10,801
October 31	11:00 a.m.	No. 23 Iowa State	David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FS1	L 22–52	9,652
November 7	2:30 p.m.	at No. 19 Oklahoma	Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium Norman, OK	ESPN	L 9–62	22,700
November 28	7:00 p.m.	TCU	David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FS1	L 23–59	0*
December 5	11:00 a.m.	at Texas Tech	Jones AT&T Stadium Lubbock, TX	FS2	L 13–16	9,877
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 24) released prior to game All times are in Central time

Source:^[17]

*No fans in attendance due to COVID-19^[13]

Roster