Often times, turnovers decide which team wins a football game. And in this football game between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Illinois Illini, things weren’t any different as KU fell to the Fighting Illini, 23-17.
A tough start for the Jayhawks
The game’s opening drive ended with a Jalon Daniels interception, and that would be the start of an unfortunate trend for the Jayhawk offense. Illinois turned that takeaway into a field goal, which was the only score of the first quarter.
Xavier Scott making his mark early in this game for @IlliniFootball 😤#B1GFootball on @FS1 📺 pic.twitter.com/86a3kmxDaG
— Big Ten Football (@B1Gfootball) September 7, 2024
The Jayhawks took 10 plays and tied the game at three after just a couple minutes into the second quarter. And, a fumble recovery in Illinois territory looked like the break Kansas needed. However, the Jayhawks were once again stopped, this time on fourth down.
After an Illinois three and out, the Jayhawks finally found paydirt. Kansas needed just seven plays to go 81 yards, ending with a Daniels touchdown pass to Luke Grimm.
Jalon Daniels hits Luke Grimm for a three-yard TD and takes a 10-3 lead. #kufball pic.twitter.com/vDLQPuQVh8
— JayhawkSlant (@JayhawkSlant) September 8, 2024
The Illini would get another field goal with 2:27 left in the half. After losing two yards on their first two plays of the ensuing drive, the Jayhawks tried to run a screen on third and 13. However, Illinois defensive back Xavier Scott read it the whole way, jumped the pass, and took it back 33 yards to give Illinois a 13-10 lead at halftime. It was Scott’s second interception of the game.
Another look at the Xavier Scott pick six pic.twitter.com/KlsQHCjyZo
— Illinois Football Focus (@IlliniFB) September 8, 2024
Jayhawks woes continue in the second half
The second half started about as well as it could have for Kansas. A three and out led to an 81-yard touchdown drive for the Jayhawks, capped off by a Lawrence Arnold 13-yard catch.
Jalon Daniels connects with Lawrence Arnold for a TD and KU takes the lead back.
Illinois defense looks tired and their offense hasn't done much. #kufball pic.twitter.com/i140EtGi84
— JayhawkSlant (@JayhawkSlant) September 8, 2024
Another three and out gave the Kansas offense the ball back near midfield. Unfortunately, Daniels pushed his luck and threw his third interception of the night. The Kansas defense bailed him out once again, however, and the Jayhawks got the ball back to start the fourth quarter.
It was the Illini that forced the next three and out, and they took advantage of it.
An 80-yard drive gave Illinois a 20-17 lead near the midway point of the fourth quarter. Yet another three and out by Kansas gave the ball right back to Illinois, and they were able to milk nearly seven minutes off the clock before kicking a field goal.
Trailing by six with under a minute to play, the Jayhawks would need a miracle. Spoiler alert, they wouldn’t get it.
The Jayhawks’ first play stayed inbounds, running almost half the remaining time off the clock. A few plays later, Kansas gained just 21 yards and used up all but four seconds of the game clock. Daniels wasn’t able to get a desperation hail mary off, as he was stripped from behind.
Takeaways from the Jayhawks tough loss
The rushing attack was once again great for the Jayhawks, making it interesting that Kansas only gave their running backs 21 carries.
Devin Neal gained 101 yards on 14 carries, while Daniel Hishaw turned seven carries into 39 yards. That’s good for 6.67 yards per carry between the two of them. Yet for some reason, the duo had just two carries in the fourth quarter. Even more odd is that the Jayhawks had multiple instances of short-yardage down and distances.
Through the air, Daniels just wasn’t on his A-game for most of the night. Illinois scored 10 of their 23 points either directly from, or the possession following, a Daniels interception. His third and final interception was at the Illinois six-yard line, likely taking points off the board for the Jayhawks.
Defensively, Kansas looked very impressive. Up until the final Illinois drive (where they ran 15 plays and used up almost the rest of the game clock), the defense had allowed just 13 points less than 230 total yards.
Safety Marvin Grant led the team with nine tackles, while also adding a sack and a pass defensed. Meanwhile, nine different Jayhawks had at least a half tackle for loss, highlighted by Cornell Wheeler (3). While losing is never good, the solution to the problem is pretty simple. Kansas must run the ball more and play a little bit more conservatively on offense.
