LAWRENCE — Kansas coach Lance Leipold didn’t like a lot of what he saw in his team’s loss to Illinois. But in the 48 hours that’s followed, he’s seen plenty of positive signs.
Playing on a short week, as KU will take on UNLV at 6 p.m. Friday at Children’s Mercy Park, the Jayhawks were back on the practice field Sunday and again Monday morning. And one thing became abundantly clear to the KU coach.
“I won’t have any concerns about effort and attitude,” Leipold said Monday. “I thought today was a solid day effort-wise. I’m proud of the group for where we’re at leadership-wise.
“I trust this team and I trust this staff that we have enough experience and resolve to bounce back. And we talked about it Saturday night of making sure we stay in the moment and are doing what we have to do before it gets away from us. And this UNVL team is a better team than we played last year.”
KU (1-1) only punted twice against the Illini, but three Jalon Daniels interceptions — including a pick-six — and a fumble proved too much to overcome. UNVL (2-0), meanwhile, steamrolled Utah Tech 72-14.
UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka threw three touchdowns to receiver Ricky White and ran for another. Six different Rebels rushed for a touchdown as they gained 503 yards on the ground.
Last year, the two teams played in the Guaranteed Rate bowl with KU winning 49-36 on six touchdown passes by Jason Bean. While Leipold admitted that some players have been pressing a little, Daniels isn’t one of them despite missing nine games last year. Instead, Leipold said he expects his veteran leaders to step up when they are needed.
“I trust these guys,” Leipold said. “The thing about just watching them today is you can the difference of disappointment in the outcome vs. deflection and blame. Teams that don’t have veteran leadership or don’t have a good culture, that’s where you start getting locker room issues and things like that. And right now, there’s nobody more disappointed in the outcome than the people in this building.”
