Kansas vs. UCF Football: 3 Instant Takeaways After the Win

Kansas football got back into the win column on Saturday night with a nail-biting win over UCF, overcoming a 14-point deficit to do so.

It wasn't pretty by any means, but the Jayhawks managed to go into a tough road environment and grind out a victory against a team that had shown promise earlier in the season.

KU rebounded from its disastrous loss to Cincinnati, giving itself some much-needed momentum heading into next week's showdown at Texas Tech. Here are some quick takeaways we have from the victory.

Kansas vs. UCF Instant Takeaways

3. Offense Struggled to Get Going

In the early stages of the game, quarterback Jalon Daniels and the offense looked out of sync. Kansas punted on its opening drive and turned the ball over on downs during its second possession, ending the first quarter scoreless.

The offense eventually found some rhythm later on with a few chunk plays to move the ball downfield, but these sluggish starts cannot become a recurring issue. Against stronger, more explosive opponents, KU won't have the extra room to dig itself into an early hole.

2. D.K. McDonald Excels in Second-Half Playcalling

There had been serious questions about D.K. McDonald's job security after last week's unacceptable showing against Cincinnati, when the defense surrendered over 600 total yards and 37 points to the Bearcats.

The first-year coordinator has experimented with some unconventional play-calling this season, including using defensive ends as quarterback spies and mixing in creative looks that he likely learned from his NFL background.

McDonald continued to show that same creativity on Saturday night, most notably with safety Lyrik Rawls, who was consistently flying into the backfield and disrupting plays.

He found ways to make UCF's signal-callers uncomfortable and took them out of the game they wanted to play. At the very least, his hot seat got a bit cooler tonight.

1. Defense (Somewhat) Redeems Itself

While the Jayhawks' defense still has plenty of work to do, it managed to somewhat redeem itself.

It wasn't a perfect outing by any means, but it was enough to restore a bit of confidence among Jayhawk fans. KU held UCF to 375 total yards and just 4.8 yards per pass attempt.

The biggest play of the night was a crucial strip sack by Jalen Dye that completely shifted the game's momentum and forced quarterback Tayven Jackson out with an injury.

Granted, KU benefited from a few major breaks, including UCF's failure to punch it in on four separate plays inside the five and a blatant missed pass interference call on Austin Alexander. But the defense finally showed it could adjust and make key stops when it mattered most.