For the second straight week, the Kansas defense played well, but could just not find a way to get off the field in the fourth quarter. Illinois killed the clock with a 6:46 drive to maintain its lead and secure the win last week.
On Friday against UNLV, the Rebels went on an 18-play drive that lasted 9:22, resulting in them scoring the winning touchdown.
Kansas had opportunities to get off the field. Overall, the defense looked good and kept the team in the game for the first three quarters. But it was the final drive that factored in UNLV's come-from-behind win.
Here’s how it happened:
The game could have gone in a completely different direction as Kansas forced a near-turnover on the second play of the drive. Pressure forced Matthew Sluka to roll out, where he overthrew his intended receiver. OJ Burroughs made an impressive play on the ball but his feet were barely on the lines, on what looked to be a possible interception.
The officials reviewed the play and ruled it did not go the Jayhawks way.
This forced a third-and-nine, the first opportunity for Kansas to get off the field. Sluka, who was UNLV’s leading rusher, ran a QB draw. He found space in the defense where there was little to no spy or linebacker help and picked up 21 yards and the first down.
“He got loose on us some pretty good times,” Cornell Wheeler said postgame. “We just tried to contain as much as possible. That was our biggest thing. Made some good contains, some plays not. He was definitely a great player today.”
The defense should have turned the Rebels over on the very next play. Jereme Robinson got to Sluka from behind as he tried to scramble and knocked the ball free. Multiple Jayhawks had a chance to recover the fumble but they couldn’t. Burroughs opted to try and scoop it and run, but bobbled, resulting in UNLV retaining possession.
“I knew the quarterback, he was a little careless with the ball, so I knew it was coming,” Robinson said. “Just trying to take care of my opportunity. We just got to be a little better about scooping it and scoring it.”
With 8:06 remaining in the game, Sluka made another play with his legs on a second-and-10 to move the chains. Kansas’ defensive linemen had a chance to stop him at the line of scrimmage, but Sluka avoided them. With the linebackers dropping into coverage, there was space in the second level, where Sluka rushed for 10 yards to the Kansas 29.
A costly mistake set up UNLV in prime scoring position. On second down, Sluka was pressured and threw up a prayer to the end zone. The ball was severely underthrown, borderline uncatchable, but Devin Dye shoved Casey Cain and was flagged for pass interference. The penalty placed the ball at the Kansas 11 with 7:05 to play.
The Jayhawks were able to contain two runs on first and second down, making it third-and-three from the four-yard line with 5:39 remaining. Cornell Wheeler stopped Kylin James short, creating a 4th-and-one chance for the Rebels.
Sluka was able to pick up the first down on the tush push, but an unnecessary roughness penalty after the play backed up UNLV 15 yards. While this gave the Jayhawks a better chance of holding the Rebels to a field goal, it also kept the drive alive, in turn keeping the clock moving. There also seemed to be confusion with the officials about the down and distance, but it was a first-and-10 instead of a first-and-goal.
“They [the refs] explained it,” Lance Leipold said. “Even though it’s a dead ball foul, it starts at a first-and-ten, not a first-and-goal.”
UNLV picked up a first down, setting up a first-and-goal from the three with 4:18 to play. Kansas moved the Rebels backward on first and second down. James was stuffed for a loss of two by Tommy Dunn on first down, and then Dylan Wudke dropped Jacob De Jesus in the open field for a loss of seven.
On third-and-goal from the 12, Wudke and Robinson both narrowly missed sacks. Sluka escaped and gained 11 yards on the ground, giving UNLV another fourth-and-one opportunity late in the game. With 2:00 on the clock, James got into the end zone to put UNLV ahead 23-20.
“He [Sluka] definitely made a play on us in the red zone that led to that touchdown, so we just got to figure out what we can do, how we can tackle it better, knock him down on the ground,” Robinson said.
The Jayhawks still had a chance to drive down the field and win the game, getting the ball down three with 1:51 left. However, the offense could not get a drive going.
The UNLV offense did their job scoring and utilizing the clock on its final drive. The Rebels got the ball into Kansas territory at the 9:24 mark and kept the ball all the way until the two-minute timeout.
The Kansas defense limited UNLV to just 2-13 on third downs on the game, but the Rebels were 3-3 on fourth downs when it counted. In the end, the Jayhawks just could not get a crucial stop after playing well for much of the game.
