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March 19, 2024

Rebels football:

Blog: UNLV flirts with disaster in 13-12 victory against Northern Colorado

UNLV Rebels Opener vs. Northern Colorado Bears

Steve Marcus

UNLV Rebels running back Keith Whitely (28) makes a one-handed catch during the UNLV Rebels home opener against the Northern Colorado Bears at Sam Boyd Stadium Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014.

Updated Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014 | 10:09 p.m.

UNLV Rebels Opener vs. Northern Colorado Bears

Northern Colorado Bears quarterback Sean Rubalcaba (15) loses his helmet as he is taken down by UNLV Rebels wide receiver Devonte Boyd (83) and another UNLV defender during the UNLV's home opener against the Northern Colorado Bears at Sam Boyd Stadium Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014. Launch slideshow »

UNLV 13, Northern Colorado 12

Game over

They avoided the upset, which I guess is something, but there wasn't much to feel good about during UNLV's 13-12 victory tonight against Northern Colorado, one of the bottom tier teams in Division I-AA.

UNLV scored a touchdown on its first drive and seemed like it would be able to cruise as expected, but not much went right after that. The defense was decent for the most part but the offense would gain yards and then turn it over. Blake Decker finished with three interceptions, including a very bizarre throw into the end zone in the final five seconds that was picked off and could have been returned for a walk-off pick-six.

Making matters worse, senior receiver Marcus Sullivan was injured on that play and had to be helped off the field. Even the defense had its share of screw-ups with penalties helping Northern Colorado reach the end zone.

Overall this was an extremely disappointing night for the Rebels. They needed to come out and dominant to feel better after last week's 45-point loss, and instead they narrowly avoided a terrible loss and now they have to get ready for Northern Illinois, which went to Northwestern and won earlier today.

Check lasvegassun.com later tonight for a full report from tonight's game.

The Rebel Room

Sunshine, Beatdowns and Knife-Wielding Punters

Las Vegas Sun sports writers Ray Brewer, Case Keefer and Taylor Bern make sense of UNLV's 45-point loss at Arizona while exploring the ways things will get better thanks to this week's opponent, Northern Colorado.

I don’t know how to go about researching this in a timely matter, but I’m confident that going from a 45-point loss when you were a 24-point underdog to a four-touchdown favorite is pretty rare. That’s exactly UNLV’s situation today as the Rebels open their home slate against Northern Colorado.

The game kicks off at 7:06 p.m. at Sam Boyd Stadium and will stream online through the Mountain West Network on UNLVRebels.com. Former UNLV quarterback Caleb Herring will provide color commentary alongside Tony Cordasco.

Northern Colorado hasn’t played a game yet this season, so there’s an element of the unknown. But the Bears are generally considered to be one of the bottom-tier teams in the Football Championship Subdivision this season. Northern Colorado was picked to finish last in the 13-team Big Sky Conference, and the offshore sports books have the Rebels as 28-point favorites with the total at 59.

To accomplish that, UNLV’s defense must be significantly better than last week. As we’ve discussed a few times, the Rebels’ biggest issue on that side against the Wildcats seemed to be failing to make the play once they were in position. Wrapping up should be an easier task considering the talent drop-off, but we still need to see UNLV actually do it.

This should be a chance for the defense to build up its confidence a bit and work out some more kinks heading into a pivotal home game next week against Northern Illinois. That’s one of the games that could end up defining the Rebels’ season.

Of course, that assumes that everything goes well this week and UNLV ends the night healthy at 1-1.

A good night would be a comfortable victory. A great night would mean the running game has more moments than last week and the defense pitches something close to a shutout. That may be out of reach, but it should be the Rebels’ goal.

Bern’s prediction: If UNLV’s offense is going to be anything that resembles last year’s group, this would be a great opportunity to go off. The opportunities should be there through the air, and the offensive line should be able to open some running lanes. I think the Rebels will eventually get what they’re looking for, but they’re going to have some struggles early. UNLV 40, Northern Colorado 15

Season: ATS 0-1, O/U 0-1

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.

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