The Kansas defense smothers UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka (3) on a play during the first quarter on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas..

Kansas City, Kan. — All of their offense’s issues could have been forgotten if the Jayhawks just fell on a fumble.

Midway through the fourth quarter on Friday night, with Kansas nursing a four-point lead, KU defensive end Jereme Robinson slapped the ball away from UNLV quarterback Matt Sluka from behind. The Jayhawk tackles had a chance to dive on it but only pushed it further back into the defensive backfield, where safety O.J. Burroughs bobbled two additional opportunities to recover.

The ball ended up safely in the grasp of UNLV running back Kylin James.

It was that kind of night for KU. After a stop-and-start drive of more than nine minutes that saw the Rebels benefit from pass interference, suffer from a personal foul and then convert fourth-and-1 on two separate occasions, James scored the go-ahead touchdown in UNLV’s 23-20 victory.

“You got to get off the field somehow,” head coach Lance Leipold said. “There’s plenty to look at it and correct, but like I said, you can start with myself.”

Quarterback Jalon Daniels ran for two touchdowns in the first half, but his pair of interceptions, one of which led to a key touchdown for UNLV late in the second quarter, hamstrung an offense that initially looked to have redeemed itself after struggling at Illinois. The Jayhawks could only manage a lone field goal after halftime, and a fourth-down chop block by Logan Brown stymied their attempt at a game-saving drive.

“You look at it, you’re hurting yourself in some execution areas, your turnover areas, and penalties,” Leipold said, “that’s hard, that’s hard to win football games.”

Sluka threw for just 86 yards but ran for 124, accounting for almost all of UNLV’s offense.

“Today’s college football world, you’re holding people under 300 yards, I think you’re doing a decent job,” Leipold said. “I don’t think we contained the quarterback quite like we had hoped.”

The Jayhawks had started in much more promising fashion. After forcing an early three-and-out, KU gradually made its way downfield, with Luke Grimm picking up a key first down by making defenders miss on a screen pass, and Lawrence Arnold bringing the Jayhawks into the red zone on a reverse. Daniels took it in himself for the opening score, keeping the ball on a speed option and spinning around defenders for an 11-yard touchdown.

UNLV faced a fourth-and-short on its next drive but Sluka plunged ahead for the first down on a quarterback sneak and promptly completed a 31-yard pass to Jaden Bradley. The Rebels’ drive hit a snag, though, with a third-and-3 delay of game penalty, and Sluka’s throw was too high for Ricky White III, forcing a field goal by Caden Chittenden.

The Jayhawks responded with a heavy dose of Devin Neal before another speed-option keeper fooled the Rebels, allowing Daniels to sprint 33 yards to the end zone and make it 14-3.

KU didn’t put up much resistance against UNLV’s next drive, which featured a heavy dose of the quarterback run game, so heavy that the Rebels called for a designed quarterback run on third-and-7 from KU’s 11-yard line and didn’t get close to a first down. Chittenden converted again to cut the lead to one possession.

A 33-yard completion from Daniels to Neal to open the next drive ensured the Jayhawks’ offensive momentum would continue, and Neal ran for 19 more yards soon afterward. But like UNLV, KU didn’t get enough yardage on a third-down quarterback run, and Tabor Allen knocked through a 35-yard field goal with 3:17 to go in the first half.

The Rebels looked to be at risk of going three-and-out again when Sluka juked Dean Miller at the line of scrimmage before zooming down the left sideline for 46 yards. A second-down sack by Jereme Robinson consigned UNLV to another field goal, this time from 50 yards out, on which Chittenden was both short and wide.

The momentum took a massive swing in UNLV’s favor in the final minute before the break. After KU drove past midfield, Daniels threw his fifth interception of the year, which Jalen Catalon returned 46 yards to flip the field.

“The seam was open much earlier than I thought it would be,” Daniels said, “I was going through my progression and as I got to No. 3 which was (Quentin Skinner), the safety read my eyes the whole entire time, and just made a play as I tried to fit the ball in there.”

Sluka threw a short completion to Jacob De Jesus, who got tackled in bounds at the 27-yard line, and even with timeouts remaining, the Rebels let the clock run down incredibly far, leaving them with just one play before that half.

On that play, though, Jai’Den Thomas got open out of the backfield and fielded a lob from Sluka for a game-changing touchdown that made it 17-13 as time expired in the second quarter.

“We go from end of the half, stopping them with time to go that we can go down and get a score and increase the lead, get the ball coming out the second half, just like you draw it up almost,” Leipold said, “and we go from that to a kickoff return and a penalty or something, we’re inside our own end, everything you don’t want, and that’s tough. And I think that’s the way we played most of that second half, unfortunately.”

Daniels got intercepted again early in the third quarter by Jackson Woodard, but even with UNLV starting a drive at the 4-yard line it had to settle for a third field goal, rather than taking the lead as the Jayhawks’ defensive front held up once again.

KU continued to hold up on defense throughout the quarter but was unwilling to take downfield chances on offense, including on third-and-long. When Daniels found Sevion Morrison for 18 yards on third-and-10 from the Jayhawks’ own 2-yard line, it was just the second completion in a span of nearly 20 minutes for the KU offense. He hit Kardell for another first down soon afterward.

That drive, which continued into the fourth quarter, saw the Jayhawks get as far as second-and-1 on UNLV’s 16-yard line before a screen pass to Grimm went seven yards backwards. Daniels and Grimm were out of sync on third down, leading to a second successful field goal for Allen.

After the forced fumble led to nothing and Devin Dye got called for defensive pass interference, UNLV kept plowing forward all the way to a fourth-and-inches on the 2-yard line with five minutes to go. Sluka managed to reach the line to gain, but a personal foul after the play was over pushed the Rebels back to the 16.

UNLV found itself in a tough spot on third-and-12 after Dylan Wudke blew up a reverse, but Sluka was able to get the Rebels close to the goal line for James’ touchdown.

“We’ve got a little feeling towards us right now,” Robinson said. “But it’s OK. Us as older guys, we’ve seen these type of games, we’ve seen these types of losses. We just got to turn the page and figure out how we can be better for next week.”

The Jayhawks will travel to West Virginia to face the Mountaineers at 11 a.m. Central Time on Sept. 21.

How they scored

First quarter

6:22 — Jalon Daniels 11-yard run. Tabor Allen PAT good. Twelve plays, 81 yards, 7:16 TOP. KU 7, UNLV 0.

1:33 — Caden Chittenden 38-yard field goal good. Eleven plays, 55 yards, 4:49 TOP. KU 7, UNLV 3.

Second quarter

12:12 — Daniels 33-yard run. Allen PAT good. Eight plays, 94 yards, 4:10 TOP. KU 14, UNLV 3.

6:19 — Chittenden 27-yard field goal good. Twelve plays, 66 yards, 5:53 TOP. KU 14, UNLV 6.

3:17 — Allen 35-yard field goal good. Seven plays, 58 yards, 3:02 TOP. KU 17, UNLV 6.

0:00 — Jai’Den Thomas 27-yard pass from Matthew Sluka. Chittenden PAT good. Two plays, 33 yards, 0:30 TOP. KU 17, UNLV 13.

Third quarter

9:38 — Chittenden 23-yard field goal good. Four plays, minus-1 yard, 1:22 TOP. KU 17, UNLV 16.

Fourth quarter

11:22 — Allen 41-yard field goal good. Thirteen plays, 75 yards, 5:44 TOP. KU 20, UNLV 16.

1:51 — Kylin James 1-yard run. Chittenden PAT good Fourteen plays, 75 yards, 9:31 TOP. UNLV 23, KU 20.

Box score