KANSAS CITY – A rematch of the Guaranteed Rate Bowl that took place under a year ago in December was the preceding overlay for a game that saw Kansas walk on the turf at Children’s Mercy Park with one word on their minds: Hungry. Kansas, following a loss to Illinois in the previous week, appeared on the field in their all-black ‘BlackHawk’ uniforms, featuring the famous Kansas ‘BattleHawk’ logo on both the helmet and prominently displayed at midfield. On the opposing sideline was the Rebels from the University of Nevada Las Vegas who rocked their all-grays to combat the combination on the far sideline. UNLV, who fell to Kansas to the tune of a 49-36 score back in December, had similar aspirations on their mind. The exception being their mentality – one of revenge.
The second and final match held at the Kansas-side of Kansas City venue was the home for a game between extremely strong teams. Kansas, who sits on the outside looking in on many polls, matched up against a Las Vegas team that has many people looking in their direction as a potential representative for the Group of 5 in the College Football Playoff in this year’s expanded format.
Kansas Football suffered through a week of criticism with fans pleading with new Offensive Coordinator Jeff Grimes to simply run the ball. The prompting was three interceptions from a usually very aware QB Jalon Daniels, but during his trip to Champaign, he was anything but.
Kansas Fans got what they wanted as the offense killed two birds with one stone halfway through the 1st Quarter when Daniels took it himself on an option play into the end zone for the first score. KU both ran the ball, totaling 66 yards of rushing offense in the first quarter, but fans also got to see a prime Jalon Daniels moment as he methodically moved his team down the field.
UNLV on the other hand was able to drive the ball with similar success but struggled to gain any leverage in the trenches. The Kansas defense looked great during the drive with UNLV scratching away and pulling together just enough to set up Caden Chittenden who sailed a 38-yard field goal in for the first score for UNLV.
The combination of Daniels and star running back Devin Neal was the perfect recipe for success on offense when KU regained possession of the football. They drove the ball into Rebel territory before Daniels broke off for a 33-yard touchdown run, his second of the night. The touchdown put Kansas up by a comfortable two scores. The following scoring drives included field goals and an addition of three points for each team.
All was well for KU until a Daniels interception in the closing moments of the first half came at a costly time. Jalen Catalon, the senior safety, interrupted a post route and snagged a ball deep in Rebel territory. The biggest moment came next when Catalon produced an incredible return, complemented by great blocking from his defensive counterparts, bringing the ball to the Kansas thirty-three-yard line. With just a handful of seconds on the clock, the return set up UNLV, who was trailing by eleven at the time of the interception, to get one more score before the break in the action. Matthew Sulka made quick work of the Kansas defense and on 2nd down floated a perfect ball to Jai’Den Thomas on the UNLV sideline over the outstretched hand of a defender. Thomas carried the ball into the end zone as time expired and brought the Rebels back within one score.
Despite a 260-yard offensive performance in the first half, KU led by a slim margin of four as they ran into the locker room.
The second half started just how it ended, with Jalon Daniels throwing a pass to the wrong jersey. Daniel’s sixth interception in three games was brought back to the Kansas four-yard-line. Head Coach Lance Leipold was confused, saying, “This isn’t the Jalon we know”, but made it clear that he is still in complete support of him being their quarterback. “I have faith in Jalon Daniels”. Despite three straight drives without a score for the offense, the defense came out fired up in the second half solidifying an impressive stop with only four yards as their margin. UNLV had to settle for a field goal despite their immaculate starting field position, a kick that brought them within one of Kansas. The field goal was the lone score of the third quarter with both defenses causing incompletions, stopping the run, and forcing punts. Defensive enthusiasts were on the edge of their seats for an underwhelming scoring quarter.
The fourth quarter rang a bell of change for Kansas’ offense after going silent for so many drives. Jalon Daniels found his receiver on the first play of the new quarter to convert a crucial third down and then proceeded to push the ball down the field with complete control. When everything seemed to be trending in the right direction for the offense, the Rebels defense stepped up again and forced Kansas in the negative direction and as a result, only gave up three on the scoreboard.
With the score putting UNLV only four behind Kansas (20-16), Las Vegas knew that time was running out. Las Vegas was able to get the ball within a few yards of the end zone after a long, time-consuming drive. Kansas defense forced a fourth and one and after a QB sneak that sat close to the line to gain the chain gang had to come out and measure. The ultimate decision was a new set of downs for the Rebels. It should have been 1st & goal from the one-yard line, but an unnecessary roughness call on Will Thomas sent UNLV back fifteen yards. UNLV followed it up by bringing the ball back to where they started, the one-yard line for yet another dramatic fourth down. After a timeout, UNLV marched out and handed the ball off to Kylin James who rocketed into the end zone for the go-ahead score. His run, which was right up the gut, was too close to call in the initial moment, showing the margin in the actual play, but review confirmed the call that was made by the officials, a huge lead-changing touchdown with under two minutes on the clock. With the score, UNLV took a 23-20 lead.
The Rebels left the Kansas offense exactly 1 minute and 51 seconds to do any damage they could, not an ideal amount of time. Trailing by a score of three meant all Kansas needed was a field goal to send the game to overtime. The UNLV defense forced a fourth down, but Neal cheered up the crowd from their silence with a 1st-down run. The only issue was a chop block by Kansas that sent the ball back 15 yards setting up a near-impossible 4th and 15. The pressure from the UNLV defense suffocated the pocket and brought down a struggling Jalon Daniels to the turf – a game-sealing sack.
Kansas led in all major offensive categories, with the exception being the most important – the scoreboard. Devin Neal had another great game leading the team in rushing, netting 120 yards. Daniels completed half of his passes with a stat line of 12/24 resulting in 153 Yards, but no touchdowns and two interceptions. Postgame Jalon Daniels had nothing but compliments for the UNLV defense saying, “they played really well”. Cornell Wheeler had a simple solution: “Get better”.
On the UNLV side, Matthew Sluka did not play much better completing only 7 of his 18 passes for 86 yards and a passing score at the end of the first half. With his legs it was a different story. Sluka rushed the ball eighteen times for 113 yards with the highlight play being a 46-yard long run. He was the main offense for the Rebels on a defensive showcase evening, with numbers that were not attractive, but it was enough to score the necessary twenty-three for the win.
UNLV’s 23-20 win brought their record to a comfortable 3-0 while KU’s dropped to a disappointing 1-2. Kansas now has a week to clear their heads of a rough seven days to prepare for BIG12 play against West Virginia next week while UNLV continues their pursuit to become the first Group of 5 team to make it to the College Football Playoff.
