LAWRENCE — Coming off the first loss of the season, Kansas safety Marvin Grant said Friday’s rematch against UNLV isn’t a revenge game or even a bounce-back game.
He said it’s an opportunity to get a step closer to where the Jayhawks want to be at season’s end.
“We got goals for this year, so we just got to get the win and keep pushing forward,” Grant said.
While listed as a safety, KU fans can expect to see Grant once again playing a hybrid position where he also lines up in the box with the linebackers or on the line of scrimmage when the Jayhawks take on UNLV at 6 p.m. Friday at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan.
Last week against Illinois, the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Grant had perhaps his best game as a Jayhawk. He had nine tackles, a sack and one pass breakup against the Illini.
“I feel like it’s been real good for me, smooth for me,” Grant said of playing the hybrid position. “It feels natural for me. Me being involved with the linebackers my whole life, its easy with the run fits and me playing safety.
“Everybody knows I’m a physical safety, and me being right there I get to be in the box, and I’m still in coverage, which helps me get my hands on them because I’m longer.”
Facing UNLV’s dual-threat quarterback Matt Sluka, Grant could likely be lined up in the box much of Friday’s game. He said Sluka gives the Rebels an added dimension they didn’t have when they played in the bowl game last year.
“I think it opens up some more options for them,” Grant said. “But we worry about us and keep sticking to our goals and our gameplan.”
Last year Grant played in 13 games and had 52 tackles for the Jayhawks (1-1). KU defensive coordinator Brian Borland said Grant is one of the most aggressive players on the team, but added there were a couple plays against Illinois that he’d like to have back.
“He made some good plays,” Borland said. “If you ask him, he’ll say he needs to be more consistent in what he’s doing also. He had a couple assignment errors that were uncharacteristic of him and things that he knows, and we should know. But he does everything at a high rate of speed.
“So he might make an error, but it gets covered up by just playing really fast. And the quarterback doesn’t have time to maybe react and see something because he doesn’t have time to do it. So if you make mistakes, you do it going 100 mph. And Marvin’s been a pretty consistent player, and I know he’s a high-effort guy and our most physical player back there. So we certainly count on him for a lot of things.”
