The Kansas football program’s loss at Illinois in Week 2, though tough to take, was not incredibly surprising given the fact that it came on the road at a Big Ten opponent.
A 3-point loss to UNLV at home in Week 3, though, was surprising, and it left the Jayhawks hanging their heads and searching for answers as they prepare to head into Big 12 play in Week 4.
Despite the loss, the Jayhawks did plenty of good things in controlling most of the game. All of that and more will be celebrated in this week’s Monday Morning Wheaties.
You’ve seen the tomahawks on the back of the Florida State helmets, the buckeye tree leaves on the Ohio State helmets and the paw prints on the back of the Clemson helmets.
Each Monday, we take one last look back at the week that was and hand out different amounts of the iconic breakfast cereal to the Jayhawks’ top performers.
So, be sure to come get your Monday Morning Wheaties and feel free to hit up the comments section — subscribers only for now — with any players you feel we might’ve missed.
Picture on the box
• Senior defensive end Jereme Robinson – Robinson’s strong start to the season continued on Friday night with arguably his best game as a Jayhawk. It’s not just the numbers that stand out. But they’re damn good. He finished with 5 tackles, which ranked fifth on the team in the loss, 4 solo tackles, 1.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss and 2 QB hurries. Beyond those numbers, though, his constant pursuit and pressure jumps out at anyone watching, with his motor revved high from start to finish. Robinson is a smart and instinctive player and so far this season, his instincts have been more right than wrong. Never was that more clear than in the Jayhawks’ tough loss to UNLV.
A full bowl
• Senior cornerback Mello Dotson – Dotson’s abilities as a quality cover corner continue to shine through. He was beat by a step or two early in the game but recovered in time to break up the pass and nearly intercepted it with one hand. That’s just the half of it, though. I can’t remember seeing Dotson play this physical at any point in his career. He shows no fear in sticking his nose in there to bring down ball carriers and is tackling at the best and most efficient rate of his career. He finished this one with 6 tackles — all solo stops — and 1 tackle for loss to go along with the impressive PBU.
• D-Linemen Tommy Dunn Jr. & Caleb Taylor – Yes. Again. The Rebels had next to no luck running the ball on Friday night and that was especially evident up the middle, where Dunn and Taylor were physical, athletic and tough all night long. They both routinely shed blockers to take on ball carriers one-on-one, and they teamed together, with other Jayhawks as well, to create impenetrable walls at the line of scrimmage or a step or two into the UNLV backfield. Had they been able to get just one more stop — on the fourth down UNLV TD run that proved to be the game-winner and capped off a nearly 10-minute long drive — they would’ve received a lot more love than they did. Both players are off to great starts, though, and are a big reason why this Kansas defense looks like the best version yet under Lance Leipold and Brian Borland.
• Senior running back Devin Neal – In so many ways, it’s be-coming clearer and clearer that Neal is this team’s best all-around player. He’s a monster as a running back, showed off his ability in the passing game, and carried the load on the ground to the tune of 23 carries, on a night when UNLV showed it was not afraid to let KU QB Jalon Daniels beat them through the air. Neal’s game is at an all-time high right now. He’s decisive, shifty, powerful, tough and able to use his vision downfield to set up all of it along the way. At times, it looks like he’s playing at a different speed than everyone else or even in video game mode. Neal’s living up to his end of the bargain when it comes to the reason he came back for one more year.
Nighttime snack
• Senior kicker Tabor Allen – His 41-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to put the Jayhawks up 20-16 was flat-out clutch. And he drilled it. Not bad for a kicker who had yet to be in that situation during his college career. Allen also made a 35-yard field goal try earlier in the game look exactly the way it should’ve looked — easy. He’s now 3-for-3 on the season and 10-of-11 on extra points. Clearly, he was the right man for this job and his execution should not be overlooked because of the team’s 1-2 start.
• Sophomore safety Mason Ellis – Known as one of the fastest players on the entire roster, Ellis showed off his speed on a key special teams play in the second half, sprinting down the field untouched and making a terrific open-field tackle to limit the return and keep UNLV from having better starting field po-sition on the drive. It’s plays like that that get noticed by coaches and players alike. And if you make enough of them, they can snowball into some serious momentum.
• Senior linebacker JB Brown – Led the team in tackles with 8 (7 solo) and continues to show more fire and tenacity each week. While that has led to big hits and Brown flying around the field, it also has extended to a little extracurricular activity, which shows his comfort and confidence in addition to a desire to never back down. Through three games, Brown sits tied for second on the Kansas defense with 16 tackles, 14 of them coming as unassisted stops.
Drink the milk
• Junior quarterback Jalon Daniels – I know this is a little counterintuitive, given all the criticism he took during and after his second consecutive rough outing. But it’s worth remembering that, for all the ways he struggled as a passer in this one, he was pretty good with his legs. Daniels finished with 65 yards rushing on 11 carries, including touchdown runs of 11 and 33 yards. He didn’t always make the right reads when a run play was called, but he did make the right reads on those two option TD runs. If he hadn’t, would KU have even scored a touchdown? It’s tough times for JD6 right now, but he’s still capable of delivering and did it on the ground in this one.
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