No moment perfectly encapsulates the kind of season KU football has had so far better than Jereme Robinson’s forced fumble against UNLV on Friday.
Robinson stripped Rebels quarterback Matthew Sluka of the ball, and Kansas defensive end Tommy Dunn Jr. attempted to dive on it, but the ball squirted away instead.
Then, safety OJ Burroughs attempted to scoop the ball and knocked it to a UNLV player. The Rebels would later score the game-winning touchdown on the drive.
UNLV defeated KU 23-20 at Children’s Mercy Park .
The play was a true comedy of errors — and yet another sliding-doors moment for the now under-.500 (1-2) Jayhawks.
KU had multiple opportunities to win the game but collapsed in the fourth quarter for the second straight week.
A season that started with Big 12 title aspirations is quickly in danger of ending in disaster. And that begs the question: Is this KU team actually better than last year’s that went 9-4, something many figured to be the case entering the season?
The early returns would suggest it is not — at least so far. And Kansas coach Lance Leipold didn’t downplay KU’s issues postgame.
“I’m not going to sit up here and make excuses,” he said. “That’s not right. ... We have to own that we aren’t playing well enough to win. … It starts with the head coach. I need to do better and our staff needs to do better and we will find a way.”
As for what Robinson saw during the play?
“The quarterback was a little careless with the ball, so I knew it was coming,” he said. “Just trying to take care of my opportunity. (We’ve) just got to be a little better about scooping it and scoring it.”
Forget about the fumble for a second: Friday marked the second straight game that KU let the opposing team dominate time of possession in the fourth quarter. UNLV’s last drive lasted nearly 10 minutes of game time (9:22, to be exact).
Last week, Illinois had two drives combine for more than 12 minutes of game time in the fourth quarter.
On top of that, the Jayhawks had nine penalties for 90 yards. By comparison, UNLV only had three penalties for 25 yards. No penalty was more significant than one on KU’s last drive.
While trailing 23-20, Kansas had a 4th-and-1 attempt with 1:22 left in the game.
KU running back Devin Neal ran the ball for 3 yards to convert the first down, but the officials called a chop block on the Jayhawks. Quarterback Jalon Daniels was sacked on a second try at 4th-and-15 to end the game.
“A personal foul, a pass interference, we had a chance multiple times to pick up a fumble,” Leipold said.
On top of that, Daniels had a horrid day. He finished 12-of-24 passing for 153 yards with no passing touchdowns and two interceptions.
His interceptions eventually led to 10 points by UNLV. Daniels now has six interceptions on the season. He certainly hasn’t looked like himself after only playing three games last season due to a back injury.
“It’s become a fragile situation at the moment that his confidence is in,” Leipold said. “I think we became a little predictable, especially in those backed-up situations.”
The clock is slowly ticking for Kansas to turn its season around if it hopes to compete for the Big 12 title.
The Jayhawks travel to Morgantown to face West Virginia next Saturday. It’ll mark the start of Big 12 play for both sides.
Leipold knows the Jayhawks have work to do in the meantime.
“Penalties, they didn’t help either,” Leipold said. “You look at (it): You’re hurting yourself in some execution areas, turnover areas and penalties. That’s hard. It’s hard to win football games.”
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