The more interesting subplot is Leipold. He's in Year 6, and SI framed this fall as make-or-break for him before a snap was played. That was before back-to-back losses dropped Kansas to 0-1 in Big 12 play. Yahoo reported that a firing without cause on December 1 would cost the school about $17.9 million. Buyouts that size get talked about loudly in Lawrence, and a flat home performance against a Conference USA team would get talked about even more.
Kansas has one real problem here, and it's the calendar. Utah on the road and the Sunflower Showdown in Manhattan come right after this game, so Leipold has to balance winning comfortably against keeping his starters healthy for the 2 games that will actually define October. How long the first team stays in once the game is in hand is still unknown, and it matters for anyone watching the scoreboard in the fourth quarter.
For Middle Tennessee, the goal is simple and hard: hang around. Mason built his reputation as a defensive coach, and his Blue Raiders have to take the air out of a Kansas offense that scored 51 on an FCS opponent and then managed 21 and 17 against real defenses. If the Jayhawks come out rusty after 2 weeks off, the first quarter could be closer than anyone in Lawrence wants.
The forecast shouldn't be a factor: 58 degrees, clear skies, 9 mph wind and single-digit rain chances in the early read. Kansas needs to win and win clean, get something going before a brutal 2-week road swing, and give Leipold's doubters one fewer thing to say. Middle Tennessee gets a Big 12 stage and nothing to lose, which is exactly the kind of opponent a team in Kansas's spot tends to struggle to put away.