Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

unlv football:

Rebels have chances at Utah State but come up short in 14-point defeat

UNLV football at San Jose State

Ben Margot / AP

UNLV’s Devonte Boyd (83) makes a reception past San Jose State’s Akeem King (25) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014, in San Jose, Calif.

The Rebel Room

Out on the Dancefloor

Las Vegas Sun sports reporters Case Keefer, Ray Brewer and Taylor Bern debate UNLV football's remaining number of victories and reflect on the basketball showcase while preparing for this weekend's Life is Beautiful music festival.

A touchdown by the UNLV football team with four seconds to play before halftime today at Utah State appeared to give the Rebels momentum.

Blake Decker was brilliant in driving the Rebels 69 yards in 50 seconds, connecting with Taylor Barnhill on a 2-yard touchdown with four seconds remaining before halftime.

But Jonathan Leiva kicked his extra point attempt low and Utah State blocked the try. Even though UNLV players still felt good about themselves in trailing by four points after a rough first quarter, the block showed how tough it is for the Rebels to catch a break.

It’s easy to argue everything needs to go the Rebels’ way for them to win, especially when playing on the road. And that didn’t happen today.

UNLV failed to score in the third quarter, and even though Decker passed for 267 yards and three touchdowns, the Rebels were defeated 34-20 in dropping to 2-6 on the season.

Utah State started third-string quarterback Craig Harrison, who, despite being inexperienced, completed 13 of 23 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns.

UNLV appeared to catch another break when Harrison was knocked out of the game with a leg injury at the end of the third quarter. But fourth-string quarterback Kent Myers, a true freshman seeing his first collegiate action, led Utah State to a touchdown in his first series. He rushed for 33 yards on three carries and completed 3 of 5 passes for 45 yards.

Joe Hill’s second touchdown for Utah State, a 7-yard rushing score with 11:48 remaining, gave the Aggies a 34-13 lead to essentially put the game out of reach.

Devonte Boyd continued to impress in his freshman season for UNLV, catching six passes for 128 yards, including a 41-yard touchdown with 7:06 left to cut the deficit to 14 points.

But Decker was intercepted on each of UNLV’s next two possessions, being forced to heave the ball downfield with the clock ticking toward all zeroes.

The stat sheet tells the entire story for UNLV.

Decker was sacked six times (and pressured all night), the Rebels rushed for only 15 yards and they converted just three of their 16 third-down attempts. UNLV didn’t gain a first down until three minutes into the second quarter.

Of UNLV’s 27 rushing attempts, just 10 went to running backs. Decker carried the ball 17 times, but most of those weren’t by design. Rather, after Utah State brought pressure, he was forced try to pick up yardage on the ground.

The UNLV defense had flashes of good play, including on Utah’s State first series of the game when the Rebels stopped the Aggies on a fourth-down play at the 2-yard line. But UNLV gave up a pair of long touchdowns, a 69-yard catch-and-run by Hill and a similar play for 71 yards from JoJo Natson, in having no answers for the Utah State speed.

The Rebels, who have to win all of their remaining games to finish with a winning record in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history, host New Mexico next Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

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