photo by: AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

Kansas defensive end Jereme Robinson (90) celebrates with Dean Miller, Robinson's recovery of an Illinois fumble during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Champaign, Ill.

Sunday was a challenging day for the Kansas football team.

The Jayhawks didn’t get back to campus until 2 a.m. following Saturday night’s disappointing road loss at Illinois, and then they had to meet up for practice later that day.

With a short week of practice ahead of Friday’s game against UNLV, head coach Lance Leipold opted to shift his team’s lone off day of the week to Saturday — the day after the Rebels come to town.

That meant a Sunday practice in which players, even as they put in a strong effort and maintained positive attitudes, were “still highly disappointed and tired and bodies not feeling good,” Leipold said.

By Monday, though, the Jayhawks were on track and moved forward with what Leipold called a “solid day.”

“You want to learn the lessons that are available from (the loss),” offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes said, “but you have to turn the page and move forward a little bit more quickly than you normally would, and after a loss sometimes that’s a good thing.”

Working with unusually structured weeks is not new to Leipold, after he spent years in the MAC, which is infamous for weeknight games — as Kansas State coach Chris Klieman pointed out to him in a text message on Monday. (Klieman also has a Friday night game this week against Arizona.)

This will, however, be the first time the Jayhawks play on a short week since September 2019.

“Our coaching staff’s done a great job of taking care of us and getting us ready for this UNLV game, so I think we’ll go out and be ready to attack,” right tackle Logan Brown said.

The disrupted week precedes a significant game against a highly motivated foe. UNLV had already knocked off one Big 12 foe on the road in Houston as it cruised to a 27-7 victory, before it dominated Utah Tech 72-14.

“They’ve been dominant in two games, and maybe didn’t need to show some things that we’ll have to be ready for,” Grimes said. “There’s still a bit of an unknown there, just like there was last week.”

In addition, the Rebels are “playing extremely confident and feel they should be a top 25 team,” Leipold said.

“This can be a statement game (for them), just like last week was for Illinois,” he added. “You saw what they felt that was. And that’s something we talked about, is that things have drastically changed here. People are going to prepare and feel that if they can get a win against us, it’s going to be more than just the usual ‘we took care of business’ and moving on.”

Between Holy Cross transfer dual-threat quarterback Matt Sluka, dynamic wide receivers Ricky White and Jacob De Jesus and an eclectic stable of running backs, the Rebels certainly have a lot of talent for sought-after offensive coordinator Brennan Marion to deploy in his eclectic “Go-Go offense.”

“You better keep your eye on your work, and not just get caught staring in the backfield, or you’re going to be in trouble,” defensive coordinator Brian Borland said.

The defense features familiar names like linebacker Jackson Woodard and defensive back Jalen Catalon. Grimes said the front plays with a certain “recklessness” that can challenge KU’s offensive linemen.

For UNLV, which lost to KU in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl last December, a win would serve as revenge and a resume-boosting step toward a potential Group of Five playoff berth, if the Rebels can take care of business in the Mountain West later on.

For KU, it would be a step back in the right direction for the offense and a chance to make another statement for the defense, which had posted one of its best performances of the Leipold era against Illinois.

Kansas Jayhawks (1-1) vs. UNLV Rebels (2-0)

• Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, Kansas, 6 p.m.

• Broadcast: ESPN

• Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KKSW FM 105.9)

• Betting line: KU -9; over/under 58.5

• Series history: KU leads 2-1

What to watch for

Hawk intrigue: Through two games of the season, the KU defense has gone heavy on its 4-2-5 look, with safety Marvin Grant replacing the traditional “Hawk” linebacker spot and O.J. Burroughs and either Jalen Dye or Mason Ellis playing safety behind him. That has largely obviated the need for an actual Hawk linebacker, but Jayson Gilliom still played 20 snaps on defense at the position at Illinois. However, he suffered what Leipold called a leg injury, which the Jayhawks planned to evaluate as the short week proceeded. Expect Alex Raich to see more action if Gilliom is absent on Friday.

One change: Leipold still hasn’t followed through on his lighthearted threat to add the word “or” to the depth chart during the season, but he did make a meaningful change by replacing Kenean Caldwell with Blake Herold as the backup to D.J. Withers at one of KU’s defensive tackle spots. Herold outsnapped Caldwell 17-10 at Illinois, although Leipold took care to mention that even with the change, Caldwell had one of his better performances during his time in the program. “That’s a group Jim Panagos rotates, yet wants to make sure it’s competitive enough who gets in at what time, especially early in the game,” Leipold said.

Settling down: He didn’t want to get into specifics about whom he spoke to, but Leipold mentioned on Monday that he talked to “a couple guys that are pressing a little bit” about the importance of letting the game come to them rather than trying excessively hard to make things happen. That description could have applied to a few Jayhawks, particularly on the offensive side of the ball, over the course of the first two weeks, so if they take the reminder to heart KU might be able to regain something like its usual form.

Spotlight on…

Marvin Grant: The KU safety, now playing closer to the line of scrimmage for most of the game, said he felt like the Illinois game was one of his best since he arrived in Lawrence, and it’s hard to disagree with him. He had nine tackles, including a sack, and a pass breakup, as he was all over the field spearheading the Jayhawks’ strong defensive effort in the loss. Borland said of Grant that he has some areas in which to become more consistent, but “he does everything at a high rate of speed, so he might make an error, but it gets covered up by just playing really fast.” The Jayhawks will need that same speed on display to disrupt a high-octane UNLV offense.

Inside the numbers

977: Yards of total offense KU and UNLV combined for in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, a game in which offense, penalties and turnovers ruled the day at the expense of straightforward defense.

15: Luke Grimm’s number of catches through two games in 2024, which is just below half of the 33 he hauled in all of last season.

12: The number of different Rebels who carried the ball against Utah Tech.

Prediction

KU wins 38-28. The Jayhawks will be the more physical team on the offensive and defensive lines, but unlike at Illinois they’ll be able to turn that into a positive result. Devin Neal will outperform his somewhat lackluster Guaranteed Rate Bowl showing, as will Jalon Daniels outdo his first two games of the 2024 season, and together they’ll be able to outpace a UNLV offense that can be threatening in its own right.