Three observations from KU's loss to UNLV

Kansas fell to 1-2 on the season on Friday night with a 23-20 loss to UNLV at Children's Mercy Park. After a good start, the KU offense struggled to get going. It was another game full of head-scratching and confusing mistakes, but there were some bright spots as well.

Here are three observations from the game…

KU's offense slowed down and quickly melted away

At the beginning of the game, Kansas' offense looked pretty good. The Jayhawks opened the game with two consecutive touchdown drives and consumed a lot of time. Jalon Daniels made his passes and Devin Neal did a great job in the running game. But things quickly changed and got much worse for the Jayhawks.

A good drive, but an inability to convert on third down gave the Jayhawks a field goal that put them ahead 17-6. The following drives were as follows: interception, punt, interception, punt and punt. In each of these drives combined they had a total of 13 yards of offense.

The second and third quarters were just plain awful. Bad decisions, poorly thrown passes and Daniels combined with a somewhat stagnant Devin Neal put KU on the defensive. The Jayhawks didn't manage a first down until the last play of the third quarter and didn't score another point until the fourth.

There was even more chaos on the game's final drive. The Jayhawks failed to convert a third and two attempt and rushed to make their next play. They again came up short, this time being pushed back 15 yards due to a chop block penalty.

We have seen this a few times at KU. Last week, KU was unable to achieve anything against Illinois and that cost them the game. This week was no different.

Daniels struggled to finish the first half well and started the second half poorly

Last week, KU made some puzzling mistakes. One of the biggest came on Kansas' second-to-last drive of the first half. The Jayhawks had stopped the Illini on two of four first-half drives and Kansas led 10-6. Due in part to a missed block on a screen pass, Jalon Daniels threw a pick-six and his second interception of the game.

As the first half ended tonight, the Jayhawks were on the 45-yard line with just over a minute left on the clock. Daniels had an opportunity to throw a nice pass to Quentin Skinner, but after a moment's hesitation, he threw the ball into the hands of UNLV defensive back Jalen Catalon.

Catalon ran the ball to Kansas' 33-yard line. After a six-yard gain, the clock ran out for the Rebels. With six seconds left, Sluka grabbed the ball and threw a pass to RB Jai'Den Thomas. Cobee Bryant took a risk and tried to take the ball, but missed. The risk gave Thomas space and an easy touchdown. UNLV reduced the lead to just four points.

Kansas could have finished both first halves against Illinois and UNLV on high notes. But unfortunate mistakes put the Jayhawks in a much worse position in the second half. And when the Jayhawks entered the second half, there wasn't much to cheer about.

KU punted, intercepted and punted on its first three drives of the second half. Both punts were preceded by incomplete passes by Daniels on third down. Daniels' second interception punted the punts in time.

Daniels has had a very rocky start to the season and he will need to pull himself together to get the Jayhawks to where they believe they can go.

Kansas' defense played very well until the fourth quarter

For most of the game, KU's defense was solid. The Jayhawks held UNLV to 2-13 on third down and had some great moments. UNLV only scored two touchdowns and kicked three field goals. The unfortunate problem was that they just couldn't get off the field in the fourth quarter.

KU's defense spent nine and a half minutes on the field trying to keep UNLV's offense at bay. They stopped the Rebels on several third down attempts, but UNLV scored on fourth down each time and eventually scored the game-winning touchdown.

One play stands out from the drive. Sluka dropped the ball in the middle of the field and half a dozen KU players got their hands on the loose ball. However, none of the players could hold onto the ball and it landed right back in the hands of the Rebels.

If the KU defense had recovered this fumble, the evening could have ended very differently.

On the positive side, KU's defense was pretty impressive on Friday night. Linebacker JB Brown And Cornell Wheeler made some good plays and the defensive line was able to keep the UNLV attack in check for the most part. Jeremy Robinson got one and a half sacks and three and a half TFLs.

Overall, the Jayhawks defense was great for the most part, but being stuck on the field for nine minutes hurt a lot.