The Jayhawks pack it in tight as they prepare to rush onto the field before kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015 at Memorial Stadium.

In sports, as in politics, it seems that a race is always on to see who can weigh in with the most stridency and volume and then not listen at all to the next one who takes a turn verbally whacking the pinata four letters at a time.

In the wake of Kansas University’s 41-38 loss to South Dakota that ended with a final punch gut-punch of an embarrassing play, the race was on to shout the loudest.

Certainly, there was plenty about which to vent: penalized 75 yards, lost the turnover-margin battle, 2-0, defeated by an opponent that had been 0-7 against FBS schools, poor tackling, poor pass rush for a half, a poor secondary throughout.

But once the anger dust settled, a few exciting signs remained. Not enough to make KU the favorite in any game for the rest of the season, but enough to believe the Jayhawks could compete in a few and play entertaining football in the process. Upsets do happen, although it’s a stretch to believe Kansas could pull off more than one in the next 11 games.

On the entertaining side, Rob Likens’ quick-hit offense triggered by unpolished yet improved Montell Cozart resulted in 10 receivers catching a pass. That creates plenty of work for the Memphis defensive staff. Sure, Kansas will face faster defenses than South Dakota’s every week.

Still, KU appears a little better equipped at wide receiver than feared. Tre’ Parmalee knows how to get open and even when interfered with aggressively comes down with the ball. Darious Crawley brings speed and savvy. Tight end Kent Taylor not only is a big target, he’s fast enough to free himself from linebackers.

Ke’aun Kinner and De’Andre Mann are legitimate Big 12 running backs. Tougher tests await the offensive line, which passed the first one with a solid effort.

If Kansas can score 21 points in 15-minutes-and-change as it did Saturday, there is reason to have faith it can put up enough points to keep the team in the game.

That’s a good thing because the defense looked so small in the front, the middle and the back and so raw in the back that offenses will expect to put up big numbers against the Jayhawks. The fact that South Dakota State was able to put up 213 yards in the first quarter showed that talent is even more the issue for the Kansas defense than trying to work with its own fast-paced offense with so little depth on defense.

The bad and the ugly carried the day, but there was some good.

— Tom Keegan can be seen on WIBW-TV Sunday nights on The Drive.