Isaiah Marshall set to return for Kansas vs. UCF

The week started in chaos. Kansas put out its first availability report Wednesday night, and the quarterback room was all question marks.

Marshall, Cole Ballard and Chase Jenkins were all listed as questionable. On a long report, that's the line that jumps out. When your starter, your backup and your emergency option are all tagged the same way, nobody outside the building knows who is taking the first snap. Marshall started Kansas' first 7 games before a lower-leg injury knocked him out of last week's trip to TCU. Ballard started in his place, and the Jayhawks lost 22-16 on the road. Ballard has been banged up too, so Wednesday's report was less gamesmanship and more an honest picture of a beat-up position group.

Then Thursday's report flipped things toward Marshall. He and Jenkins both moved up to probable, and the bad news shifted to other parts of the roster.

Linebacker Bam Crouch showed up as questionable for the first time, and receiver and kick returner Bryson Hayes slid to doubtful. Neither one is good news for a defense and a return game that already have enough problems. Still, once your QB1 goes from questionable to probable in 24 hours, you know which direction this is heading. Lance Leipold had stayed noncommittal earlier in the week and called it too early to tell, though he did say Marshall was moving around better than he had a week before.

Friday afternoon the national guys made it as official as it gets before kickoff.

Pete Thamel

@PeteThamel

Sources: Quarterback Isaiah Marshall is expected to start tomorrow for Kansas, which hosts UCF. He last played for Kansas against Baylor on Oct. 24.

Pete Nakos had the same thing for On3 at the same minute: Marshall is expected to return and start against UCF. His last game was Oct. 24 against Baylor. That sends Ballard back to the bench, and Kansas has its starter back right when it needs one. The Jayhawks are 3-5 overall and 1-4 in the Big 12. That's not a season with room for a backup-QB experiment.

UCF arrives at 4-4 and 2-3 in the league, so this one is basically a coin flip between 2 teams trying to stay in the bowl race. Kickoff is Saturday at 2:45 p.m. CT in Lawrence. Watch how freely Marshall moves early. A guy coming off a lower-leg injury who just got cleared isn't always the same runner right away, and if he looks limited, Ballard and Jenkins are both close enough to healthy to get the call.