photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas wide receiver Bobby Hartzog Jr (5) is brought down by two South Dakota State defenders during the second quarter on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015 at Memorial Stadium.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas wide receiver Bobby Hartzog Jr (5) is brought down by two South Dakota State defenders during the second quarter on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015 at Memorial Stadium.

Trailing 31-7 with an eternity remaining in the second quarter of Saturday’s 41-38 loss to South Dakota State, the Kansas University football team regrouped, restarted and waged a comeback that pulled them within three points twice during the second half.

Big deal, right? I mean, this was South Dakota State. It was at home. And losing is downright embarrassing.

That’s certainly the national perception and one that many KU fans share.

No matter how you want to paint this one, there were definitely too many mistakes and plenty of areas to point to that are in need of drastic improvement.

The defense struggled early and missed far too many tackles. The offense, though much improved from recent seasons, still has room to grow. And whether it was penalties or missed assignments, KU still had far too many moments when it hurt itself and helped South Dakota State maintain the upper hand.

Nobody expected much from the Jayhawks this season anyway, but now, after Saturday’s loss, it’s even more clear just what we can expect and what areas Kansas needs to work on most.

With that said, let’s jump right into the first “Day After” of the new season.

Quick takeaway

A loss is a loss and when it comes to an FCS opponent at home, it hurts a little more than most other losses. Nobody will deny that. And nobody will argue the fact that the Jayhawks should not feel good about Saturday’s loss to the Jackrabbits. But the vibe coming out of the locker room following Saturday’s setback was different than most any vibe I’ve felt coming from the program during the past five rough seasons. These guys — players and coaches — seem to understand clearly how difficult the task in front of them is. More importantly, they’re not feeling sorry for themselves and seem more than willing to put in the work and battle through the rough times together. Together is the key there. And even though today it seems like a long time before this program turns the corner, there’s an argument to be made that, in some ways, it already has.

Three reasons to smile

1 – The Kansas offense threw up 38 points an 576 yards of total offense. Anyone that says that’s a disappointment is crazy. Yeah, it might have come against an FCS foe but at least it came. And it’s been a long time since anyone has seen anything like that in Memorial Stadium. Although he was responsible for three of the game’s most gut-wrenching plays, junior quarterback Montell Cozart backed up all of the talk about him being a different player this season and looked both more accurate and efficient throwing the ball and more willing and able running the ball. Plenty of room to improve, but Rob Likens and the offense definitely got off to a good start with KU’s version of the Air Raid offense.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas running back Ke'aun Kinner (22) sprints around South Dakota State defensive back Jimmie Forsythe (25) on a long run in the third quarter on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015 at Memorial Stadium.

2 – Call them out for losing the game but give these guys credit for fighting back and not folding at the first sign of trouble. Plenty of KU players and teams in the recent past have done just that in situations like the one the Jayhawks faced on Saturday and I’m not sure there was a single coach or player who doubted that they could get back in that game, which they did. That’s a great characteristic to have when facing any rebuilding project, but especially one as big as the one facing the Jayhawks.

3 – Nearly two dozen players who had no college football experience heading into Week 1 now have at least a taste of college football. That can only help going forward and given the fact that so many of those young dudes actually made a real impact vs. the Jackrabbits, that experience should have a solid affect on their confidence for the weeks ahead, as well.

Three reasons to sigh

1 – SDSU quarterback Zach Lujan played well enough to deliver a victory for his team, but KU’s defensive backs definitely helped him out at times. There were at least half a dozen throws that featured fantastic coverage from the KU DBs but when the ball arrived they struggled to get their heads around in time to make a play. I’ll definitely ask about the issue this week, as I’m very curious to see if the coaches thought it was as big of a problem as I did.

photo by: Nick Krug

South Dakota State tight end Dallas Goedert (86) pulls in a deep pass over Kansas safety Greg Allen (22) to put the Jackrabbits within scoring position late in the fourth quarter on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015 at Memorial Stadium.

2 – Missed tackles, missed tackles, missed tackles. There were a ton of them in the first quarter and a half and, I have to admit that surprised the heck out of me. It’s one thing to be lacking numbers or depth, it’s another thing to be missing in the area of fundamentals. It was just the first week and things were much better during the next two-plus quarters. So we’ll reserve final judgement and see how things look in the next week or two. But this has to be a huge area of emphasis during the early days of Memphis week and I’m sure it will be.

photo by: Nick Krug

Kansas head coach David Beaty, left, calls for the ball to be spiked following Cozart's fumble as time runs out on Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015 at Memorial Stadium.

3 – First-year KU coach David Beaty owned up to them in the postgame press conference and did not make any excuses or apologies for the way things played out, but I thought there were a couple of questionable calls that, had they decided to go the other direction with them, might have helped KU pull out the victory. The first came before halftime when KU not only chose to pass on a 42-yard field goal try that, if made, would’ve cut the lead to two scores (31-17) heading into the locker room. Even if going for it was the right call there, it was just fourth-and-three and a deep pass to the end zone might not have been the best play call. Another memorable instance came in the second half, when KU trailed 34-28 and had third-and-goal inside the 5 yard line. Same thing here: Not only did they not go for the touchdown on fourth down, but the play call on third down was not ideal, as Cozart was asked to run an option play to the short side of the field. Cozart’s not a great option QB to begin with and the play went nowhere. KU settled for the field goal, which did pull the Jayhawks to within three, but going for it on fourth-and-goal might have been a better call. Hindsight, as they say, is 20-20 so it was good to see Beaty call say he’d like to have a couple of those back. But the calls themselves could speak to the inexperience of this coaching staff. Just something to watch in future weeks.

One for the road

The Jayhawks’ loss to the Jackrabbits on Saturday:

• Dropped KU’s all-time record to 579-599-58

• Pushed the Jayhawks to 71-48-7 all-time in season openers.

• The loss marked just the fourth non-conference home loss in 31 tries dating back to the 2003 season.

• KU’s 576 yards of total offense are the most since racking up 615 yards on Florida International in 2007. The Jayhawks posted 576 yards of total offense against UTEP in 2009.

Next up

KU will play host to Memphis at 6 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Memphis, which enters as a double-digit favorite, kicked off its season last week with a 63-7 victory over Missouri State.