Blame Pie: Who is most responsible for Kansas Football’s loss vs UNLV?

15% to blame: Huge defensive lapses

Much like last week, the defense as a whole was substantially better than the offense and helped keep KU in the game thanks to their solid red zone defense and forcing UNLV to kick four field goals (one of which was missed). Sadly, they will have to be in the blame pie again this week due to a few lapses that were big momentum swingers.

The first lapse came on the final play of the 1st half. It looked like disaster was striking for UNLV as they inexplicably let the game clock roll down to under 10 seconds while having the ability to call a timeout earlier. It worked out for them however, as UNLV receiver Jai’Den Thomas found himself wide open for a touchdown as the clock expired.

If the defense does not have a mental lapse there, it is likely that not only would UNLV not have scored a touchdown, but they likely come away with no points at all. That would have allowed Kansas to keep the momentum entering halftime, rather than only being up 4 points.

The other huge mental lapse came in the 4th quarter when UNLV quarterback, Matthew Sluka, coughed up the football as he was scrambling for a first down. With the ball on the turf, not one, not two, but three Jayhawks touched the ball. Rather than jumping on it or sliding in order to secure the football, several defenders tried and failed to scoop the ball up instead.

UNLV came away with the ball and actually gained yardage on the play. This is the same possession that UNLV scored a touchdown on a good 7 minutes later that secured them the victory.