Defensive changes could be the difference as UNLV readies for Kansas

For the UNLV football team, the memories from last year’s bowl game against Kansas still linger.

UNLV’s magical 2023 campaign reached its end in Phoenix at the Guaranteed Rate Bowl under a barrage of deep balls. Bomb after bomb, launched downfield and into the hands of Kansas receivers as they elevated above Scarlet and Gray-clad defenders with ease.

The final numbers were ugly: Eight times Kansas attempted a deep pass, and seven were completed. Those plays went for a whopping 297 yards and three touchdowns as the Jayhawks downed UNLV, 49-36. It was the most points UNLV allowed all year, and the 449 passing yards were also a season high.

Now the teams are set to meet again on Friday in a rematch that carries much higher stakes for Barry Odom’s undefeated squad. Entering with a 2-0 record, UNLV has its sights set on the Group of 5 playoff spot, and a second road win over a Big 12 opponent would sure look good on the résumé. A loss, however, could be disqualifying under a format that demands perfection from non-Power Conference teams.

Knowing the importance of this game, Odom went into the offseason with a plan: Remake the secondary with seasoned players who are better equipped to handle receiving corps like the Jayhawks’.

Enter senior transfers Jalen Catalon and Tony Grimes, a pair of playmakers who have already enhanced the back end of UNLV’s coverage unit. Catalon, a safety from Texas, has already logged a pair of interceptions, including a pick-6, while Grimes, a cornerback, has blanketed receivers as a perfect complement to No. 1 corner Cameron Oliver.

During his weekly press conference, Odom said he didn’t recruit directly to remedy the holes that were exposed by Kansas in the bowl game, but the traits he described seemed to match those needs exactly.

“Not just that game, but you’re always trying to find ways to improve the roster,” Odom said. “Last year we were not good throughout the course of the game in not giving up explosive plays. That’s not all on the secondary — that’s on the rush, that’s on a number of things. But we knew we needed to get better on the back end.

“We knew we needed to get a little bit longer, we knew we needed to get more experienced on the back end.”

One thing Grimes and Catalon should do is tilt the odds on jump balls. Those plays are supposed to be 50/50 propositions, but Kansas completed 87.5% of its deep passes in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, including touchdowns of 60, 40 and 43 yards.

Four Kansas pass catchers who accounted for six of those big plays return this season in 6-foot-5 Quentin Skinner, 6-foot-3 Lawrence Arnold, 6-foot Luke Grimm and 5-foot-11 Trevor Wilson.

UNLV will be prepared, but scheme can only account for so much — especially on jump balls against big receivers like Skinner and Arnold. When the pass is floating through the air and both players are jostling for position, it comes down to a battle of wills.

Catalon checks in at 5-foot-11, and while he may cede some length to his Kansas counterparts, he is ready to fight for the ball.

“In practice you can do a lot of ball drills and certain 1-on-1 things, but when it comes down to it, it’s about heart,” Catalon said. “It comes down to who wants the ball more. Same thing with a block — you can do all the technique you want, but at the end of the day who wants it more?”

Grimes and Oliver measure 6-foot-2 and 6-foot-1, respectively, and should allow UNLV’s secondary to compete better than last year’s overmatched unit.

Oliver acquitted himself nicely in the bowl matchup with two interceptions — including a deep ball that he defended perfectly.

Oliver believes if UNLV can stop Kansas from creating chunk plays, the outcome will be different and his squad will fly home to Las Vegas with a gleaming, unblemished résumé.

“What we’ve seen over these two weeks is, whenever we eliminate explosive plays, we’re really hard to beat as a defense,” Oliver said. “What goes into that is everybody doing their job, one through 11, making sure they’re not going out there and doing something extra. Just doing their job and playing within the scheme, because we trust our coaches to put us in the right position to make plays.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.