Kaden Warner | @profkjwarner
LAWRENCE – The Kansas Jayhawks enter this week unranked and with a check in the loss column after losing 23-17 on the road to Illinois last Saturday. It is a new week though, and Kansas will move past the loss to prepare for a rematch of the 2023 Guaranteed Rate Bowl against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).
Just a day after Christmas in 2023 the Jayhawks gave a late gift to their fans with their 49-36 victory over UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. Kansas currently leads the all-time series between the two programs 2-1 where they won in 2023 and 2003 but lost the inaugural matchup in 2002.
Last year Kansas was without Jalon Daniels and relied on the since-graduated Jason Bean to lead the charge. Bean helped the team to nearly 600 yards of total offense, passing for over two-thirds of the yards gained. Meanwhile, on the ground, Devin Neal, a current senior, paved the path with 71 of the 142 rushing yards.
This year the quarterback position will tell a different story. The Jayhawks will take the field with Jalon Daniels under center, who, through the first two games this season, has thrown four interceptions to three touchdowns and has a 35.8 quarterback rating from ESPN.
Daniels will be facing the UNLV Rebels for the first time in his career while many of his teammates will be preparing for their Friday opponents for the second time in their Kansas careers.
The receiving corps in this matchup last year found the endzone six times. Out of those six receiving-touchdowns, they were scored by only two men: seniors Lawrence Arnold and Luke Grimm.
They split the work evenly, with Grimm reeling in 160 receiving-yards and Arnold reeling in 132 receiving-yards and each bringing in three touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, Kansas allowed just 386 yards of total offense in the contest and held the Rebels to less than 100 rushing-yards. The now-graduated Kenny Logan Jr. was able to wreak havoc defensively where he led the team with eight solo tackles. Marvin Grant was up next on the list with five solo tackles.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN with Kansas favored to win by 7.5 points. Of course, if you can’t watch live then you can listen to the KJHK broadcast on 90.7 FM or kjhk.org, with Eli Greenwald and Ryan Karpman on the call.
Photo: Michael D’Arcy, KJHK Sports Photo