Kansas ends the 2024 non-conference season at 1-2, the worst in 3 years. Good and bad happened Friday night in KCK on 913 day, let’s talk about it.
Strong start, fades
As Kansas runs out of the “tunnel” in the northwest corner of Children’s Mercy Park, strong looking ‘BlackHawks’ look ready to take on the team from Sin City. Proving they are ready to play after a loss in Illinois the previous weekend, forcing a 3-and-out on the Rebels first drive, holding them to 7 yards in just over a minute. Kansas responded to UNLVs first drive with a 81-yard, 12 play touchdown drive to open the scoring. Back-to-back touchdown drives with back-to-back Jalon Daniels rushing touchdowns, totaling 44 yards for 14 points, a field goal to follow. No more scoring would happen in the home side of the ball till the first third of the 4th quarter, with 3 points. Those would be the final points of the game for the ‘Hawks’
“Run the ball” they did
Totaling 199 yards on the ground from only 3 separate rushers, Neal, Daniels and Arnold. Leading rusher Devin Neal has made a name for himself as one of the most explosive running backs in CFB at the moment as well as being the hometown kid, being from Lawrence. Neal rushed for 120 yards on 23 carries for a 5.2 yards per carry average, making this his most rushed game thus far. 2nd sting running back Daniel Hishaw did not see play tonight, he was also not seen coming off the team bus or warming up.
Can’t fall on the ball
1st and 10 with 10:18 left in the game, a quarterback draw from UNLVs Matthew Sluka gets chased by Jereme Robinson. Crossing the line of scrimmage, Robinson knocks the ball out of Sluka’s hands, forcing a fumble. Two separate KU defenders tried to jump on the ball to give the ball back to Jalon Daniels and the offense, but fail to recover. A game-defining play that may have led Kansas to win the primetime matchup.
Strong D needed a stronger O
A strong Kansas defense played throughout the night, but they lacked offensive production. Totaling 59 tackles and two sacks, Kansas produced defensively, having a few huge plays contributing to UNLV only scoring 23 points. The Kansas offense only scored twice, the two touchdowns by Jalon Daniels. Tabor Allen scored the other 6 points.
Turnover problem
So far in the 2024 season, Jalon Daniels has thrown 6 interceptions, a career high. That’s not just in the first 3 games of the season, that’s the entire season. His previous 4 season, he was only intercepted 12 times combined. Jalon is on track to have 24 interceptions by the end of the season, which would triple his interception career total. It’s clear that some work needs to be done during the week to avoid any more crucial mistakes that are taking wins off the team’s record.
