A 15-year drought without a bowl win got one step closer to becoming history when Kansas drew its date with UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix on Dec. 26. It was Tempe that served as the backdrop for the Jayhawks’ last bowl victory, a 42-21 rout over Minnesota in the 2008 Insight Bowl.
Year 3 of the Lance Leipold era brought an 8-4 (5-4 Big 12 Conference) regular-season finish that would look far shinier with a ninth win over the Rebels 9-4 (6-3 Mountain West Conference), who enter fresh off a 44-20 defeat at the hands of Boise State in the Mountain West championship.
UNLV, led by first-year head coach Barry Odom, has its share of history on the line too, making its first bowl appearance since 2013 and first win since 2000.
In a single season, Odom led the Rebels to victories over MWC foes Fresno State (31-24), Wyoming (34-14) and Air Force (31-27) to beef up its case for the conference title game. A former Missouri head coach and Arkansas assistant, Odom nearly met Leipold and the Jayhawks at last year’s Liberty Bowl in Memphis, opting to accept the UNLV job ahead of the meeting.
There are still plenty of what-ifs surrounding the Rebels as kickoff nears. Here’s a look at three big questions surrounding UNLV ahead of Dec. 26.
How much can the Rebels capitalize on KU’s OC situation?
Some offseason turbulence found KU earlier than expected when Penn State tabbed offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki for the same role in the Big Ten earlier this month.
The Nittany Lions and head coach James Franklin, after finishing third in the Big Ten Conference’s East division (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten), made the decision to move on from Mike Yurcich back in November before conducting a nationwide search, which included Kotelnicki.
Pulling away one of Leipold’s main assistants, Penn State leaves KU without its full-time signal caller of the past three seasons entering the UNLV matchup. Instead, quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski, promoted to co-offensive coordinator prior to the hire of former Baylor offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, will be calling the shots in the bowl game.
Leipold hired Grimes almost immediately following Kotelnicki’s departure, consulting with much of his staff, the majority of which followed Leipold to Lawrence from Buffalo, before making the move on the former Baylor and BYU assistant.
The bowl game may end up hinting at what Zebrowski’s role will look like with the Jayhawks next season, depending on just how involved he remains with planning the KU offense after the bowl game concludes.
What’s the plan for UNLV starting quarterback Jayden Maiava?
A source informed On3 early this month that UNLV starting quarterback Jayden Maiava was on the move from Las Vegas after his true freshman season. However, it seems Maiava currently remains on the Rebels’ active roster, according to reporting by the Las Vegas Sun.
Maiava, the Mountain West freshman of the year, is a key piece of the magic that helped the Rebels put together such a dramatic turnaround from UNLV’s five-win campaign a year ago.
The Honolulu native even caught the attention of Leipold, who praised Maiava’s “outstanding year” in the driver’s seat at UNLV during a media availability on Dec. 9.
“They do a great job on offense,” Leipold said. “Schematically, there’s some principles that are a little bit (similar). They use option game like we do, they’ve got a stable of backs that can make people miss. They’ve got an excellent receiver, a very good tight end that they use.”
Maiava, who has thrown for 2,794 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, claimed the starting job beginning in Week 4 after relieving injured junior Doug Brumfield in a gritty 40-37 home win over Vanderbilt. Maiava also contributed 261 yards and three touchdowns on the ground this season at quarterback.
If Maiava goes down, Odom could turn to Brumfield to orchestrate the offense. Main receiver target Ricky White, collecting 1,386 yards this season, will be available alongside leading rushers Vincent Davis Jr. (722 total yards, six touchdowns) and Jai’Den Thomas (503 yards, 12 touchdowns) when the Rebels load up for Phoenix.
Can KU’s multifaceted rushing attack outweigh UNLV’s defense?
On the other side of the coin, UNLV’s defense, averaging 35.5 points per game and 6.1 yards per play, enters the bowl season floating around the middle of the table in the Mountain West.
The main attraction is junior linebacker Jackson Woodard, who finished the regular season with 113 total tackles (52 solo), 2.5 sacks, eight tackles for loss and an interception. Starting tackles Darius Johnson and Tatuo Martinson are healthy and expected to play.
Woodard, who transferred to UNLV from Arkansas last offseason, has played against the Leipold brand of KU football before.
“They’re a very good opponent like I said,” Woodard said after the announcement of the bowl matchup. “They’re going to be a different team. We’re obviously a completely different team.”
The Rebels coughed up a season-high 44 points to Boise State in the Mountain West title game, with more than half of those points finding their way onto the scoreboard before halftime. If KU starts fast out of the backfield, it might be an uphill climb from there on out.
The Devin Neal-Daniel Hishaw Jr. duo has racked up 1,808 total yards on the ground, with Neal ranking fifth individually amongst Big 12 rushers. Neal, who surpassed 3,000 career yards this season as a Jayhawk, hasn’t decided yet about declaring for the 2024 NFL Draft.
AP Photo/Andres Leighton
