Game day: UNLV wins on final play to clinch bowl

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Published Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023 | 2 a.m.

Updated Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023 | 8:45 p.m.

UNLV football is bowl bound.

The Scarlet and Gray pulled off a dramatic, 25-23 comeback win over Colorado State to improve to 6-1 on the season and earn bowl eligibility for the first time in more than a decade.

Kicker Jose Pizano nailed a 28-yard field goal as time expired to seal the win after Jayden Maiava led the final drive with long completions to Ricky White (21 yards) and Jacob De Jesus (20 yards).

Colorado State took a 23-22 lead with 44 seconds left when Jordan Noyes drilled a remarkable 55-yard field goal.

UNLV had one final desperation drive, which began at the 34-yard line after a squib kick. Working with 44 seconds and two timeouts, Maiava completed his first two throws to get the ball near midfield; then he went deep, lofting a ball down the left sideline for White.

Reminiscent of the deep ball he caught to set up the game-winning kick against Vanderbilt on Sept. 16, White plucked it out of the air at the 30.

Maiava's next pass went to De Jesus for 20 yards; UNLV called its final timeout with three seconds remaining to position Pizano for a 31-yarder. He made the kick as time expired and UNLV rushed the field to celebrate clinching a bowl for the first time since the 2013 season.

CSU takes late lead, UNLV mounting final drive

If UNLV wants to clinch a bowl berth, it's going to have to be in dramatic fashion.

After a Jose Pizano field goal extended the Scarlet and Gray advantage to 19-13, Colorado State rallied with a 75-yard touchdown drive to retake the lead. Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi hit Justus Ross-Simmons for a 20-yard TD with 3:49 remaining in the fourth quarter, setting up a possible final drive for the home team.

UNLV has scored on four straight possessions here in the second half. Pizano is 4-of-4 on field goals today (and 15-of-16 on the season). Can Jayden Maiava and the offense get into range for a potential game-winning kick?

UNLV back in front of Colorado State, 16-13

UNLV has scored 13 unanswered points to begin the second half, with Donavyn Lester's touchdown run giving the home team a 16-13 lead late in the third quarter.

Colorado State tried a trick play on its last offensive drive, attempting a double pass deep down the sideline. Jaxen Turner wasn't fooled, however, and the senior made a toe-tapping interception on the sideline.

Starting with good field position after the pick, Jayden Maiava created a big play — UNLV's first on offense — by scrambling out of pressure and finding Vincent Davis for a 27-yard catch and run that went into the CSU red zone.

Three plays later, Lester burst through the line for a 12-yard touchdown. It was UNLV's first TD of the game, and perhaps that will loosen things up after 35-plus minutes of uneven offense.

UNLV on comeback trail, down 13-9 in third quarter

If UNLV is planning to come back and win this game, they are probably going to have to score a touchdown at some point.

The Scarlet and Gray have opened the second half with back-to-back field-goal drives to trim Colorado State's lead to 13-9 with 6:05 left in the third quarter. Both drives entered the red zone before sputtering.

On the most recent possession, quarterback Jayden Maiava appeared to have Ricky White open in the left corner, but his pass was a split-second late, allowing a CSU defensive back to close the gap and break it up. Jose Pizano then came on to kick his third field goal of the day (3-of-3).

UNLV's defense is more than holding its own against a Colorado State offense that has shown some explosive capabilities this season. Another stop here could turn the tide — assuming the Scarlet and Gray can get their offense into gear.

UNLV trails Colorado State at half, 13-3

After 20 minutes of defensive struggle, Colorado State scored on its final three possessions of the half to take a 13-3 lead into the break.

UNLV, which is currently riding a four-game winning streak, has not trailed in a game since Sept. 16 against Vanderbilt.

Colorado State found its footing on offense late in the half, first with a 15-play drive that earned the Rams a field goal, and then with a 7-play, 73-yard march that saw them get into the end zone on a 3-yard run by Avery Morrow. They made it three scoring drives in a row with another field-goal in the final minute of the half to make it a 13-3 game.

While CSU was revving up, UNLV's offense continued to sputter. Consecutive 3-and-outs not only gave CSU good field position, it also fueled the Rams' momentum.

While UNLV came into today sporting one of the nation's best rushing attacks, so far they've only been able to generate 48 yards on 2.3 yards per carry. Freshman quarterback Jayden Maiava has been unable to pick up the slack; while he has completed 9-of-12 for 127 yards passing, 39 of those yards came on the final play of the half — a completed Hail Mary to Kaleo Ballungay that came up four yards short of the end zone. 

UNLV will receive the kick to open the second half, so perhaps the Scarlet and Gray can spark a comeback. Through the first 30 minutes, the offense showed little sign of ignition.

UNLV, CSU trade field goals, tied 3-3

It's not exactly fireworks, but there has been some offense here in the second quarter, as UNLV and Colorado State traded field goals to produce a score of 3-3 with 7:39 left in the half.

UNLV drove to the CSU 15 before stalling out, and Jose Pizano came on to make a 32-yard field goal and give the Scarlet and Gray the lead. Pizano has now made 14-of-15 attempts on the year.

Colorado State answered by driving 59 yards on 15 plays — including two third-down conversions and a fourth-down conversion — to get into range themselves.

The UNLV offense is back on the field. Jayden Maiava is 5-of-6 passing for 52 yards, with one costly strip-sack on the game's opening possession.

Can either team get into the end zone before halftime?

UNLV, CSU still scoreless after first quarter

UNLV's 40-point streak may be in jeopardy today, as we are still scoreless at the end of the first quarter.

The Scarlet and Gray are driving, however, and will have a 3rd-and-4 at the CSU 24 to open the second quarter.

Outside of UNLV's current drive, this has been a slugfest. Colorado State has had zero success trying to move the ball. The Rams have had three possessions, and the UNLV defense has limited them to 18 yards on 11 plays (1.6 yards per play) and a single first down. Senior cornerback Ricky Johnson just ended CSU's last drive by blowing up a screen pass behind the line of scrimmage.

UNLV's run game, which rates as one of the best in the nation, is stuck at 2.7 yards per carry for now. Let's see if the offense heats up as the game progresses, or if this is destined to be a low-scoring rock fight all the way through. 

UNLV, CSU scoreless in first quarter

UNLV has run up a four-game winning streak by playing mistake-free football, so it was shocking to see quarterback Jayden Maiava lose a fumble to end the first offensive drive for the Scarlet and Gray.

This game is still scoreless midway through the first quarter.

Perhaps the biggest reason Maiava is UNLV's starting quarterback has been his ability to reduce sacks and avoid turnovers. He committed both sins early in this contest, however, as he took a sack on a 3rd-and-15 play and coughed up the ball, allowing CSU to recover.

UNLV appeared to be within scoring distance before the play, with the team's powerful running game advancing past midfield. The sack would have taken them out of Jose Pizano's field-goal range, and the fumble erased all doubt.

The UNLV defense forced CSU to go three-and-out on the game's first possession, with senior defensive back Jaxen Turner breaking up a third-down pass over the middle. The Rams' second drive was thwarted when defensive lineman Cooper Webb dropped quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi on third down.

UNLV will take over possession after the timeout, having been pinned at the 5-yard line by the CSU punt.

UNLV football hunting bowl berth vs. Colorado State

It’s homecoming week for UNLV football, and Barry Odom’s team can make an already momentous season even more memorable by beating Colorado State at Allegiant Stadium (4 p.m., Mountain West Network/Silver State Entertainment).

A win on Saturday would move the Scarlet and Gray to 6-1 on the season, earning them a bowl berth for the first time in 10 years, and it could keep them moving up the Top 25 rankings, so there is a lot riding on this contest.

Three keys to watch:

Deep defense

If there has been one flaw that has consistently plagued UNLV this season, it’s defending the deep pass. The secondary has been prone to allowing big plays, and it happened again last week, as UNR was able to connect on several long shots throughout the course of the game.

That could prove to be a major issue against Colorado State, which possesses an explosive passing attack under the direction of redshirt freshman quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi.

The Rams are all-in on throwing the ball. Fowler-Nicolosi averages an astonishing 48.3 attempts per game, and in the last two weeks he has attempted 57 and 54 passes, respectively. In a comeback win against Boise State, he hit 32-of-54 for 359 yards and three touchdowns.

In order to slow down Fowler-Nicolosi and CSU’s receivers, Odom says UNLV will need a total team effort — and a little luck.

“He’s a really, really good player, and they’ve got a great scheme,” Odom said. “Playmakers all over the field. They make you defend every inch of the field, so we’ve got a tremendous amount of work in every area for us. We have to try to find a way to disrupt the passer, we need to be really good in our coverage zones, and we need some breaks, honestly. Hopefully he’ll have an off-day.”

White stepping up

The last time UNLV had a 1,000-yard receiver was the 2013 season, when Devante Davis went for 1,290 yards.

Could he be getting some company in the 1K club?

Through six games, junior wideout Ricky White has racked up 493 receiving yards, putting him on pace to break 1,000 (assuming UNLV gets to a bowl and plays a 13^th game). And he has been getting more productive as the season has gone on; last week, he hauled in eight receptions for 174 yards and two touchdowns in the win at UNR.

Look for UNLV to test the Colorado State defense by sending White deep.

Crowd control

Saturday could be an historic occasion for UNLV, and Odom wants a big crowd on hand to watch it unfold.

The atmosphere inside Allegiant Stadium for the last home game (a blowout win over Hawaii) was strong, and the Scarlet and Gray also brought a vocal contingent on the road at UNR on Saturday. Now that the competition is getting stiffer — and the stakes are getting higher — Odom wants the fans to respond by showing up and getting loud.

“We need a huge homefield advantage,” Odom said of Saturday’s date with Colorado State. “We need to create that. We need to continue to play winning football.”

Though a win would seal a bowl berth and spark a celebration, the UNLV players are trying to ignore the big picture and focus on what they need to do to get the victory.

Senior running back Donavyn Lester said there’s nothing to celebrate — yet.

“We’re feeling good, we’re just not really focused on a bowl game right now,” Lester said. “We’re just trying to go 1-0 every day and do something special here at UNLV.”

What: UNLV (5-1, 2-0 MWC) vs. Colorado State (3-3, 1-1 MWC)

When: Saturday, 4 p.m.

TV: Mountain West Network, Silver State Entertainment Network (TV Channel 5.2, Cox Channel 125)

Radio: 1100AM, 100.9FM

Line: UNLV -7.5

UNLV leaders

Passing

Jayden Maiava: 62.2%, 958 yards, 5 TDs, 2 INTs

Rushing

Donavyn Lester: 265 yards, 5.9 yards per carry, 6 TDs

Receiving

Ricky White: 31 receptions, 493 yards, 2 TDs

Defense

Jackson Woodard: 45 tackles, 1.0 TFLs, 1 INT

Colorado State leaders

Passing

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi: 63.6%, 1,944 yards, 14 TDs, 11 INTs

Rushing

Vann Schield: 146 yards, 3.5 yards per carry, 3 TDs

Receiving

Tory Horton: 58 receptions, 690 yards, 6 TD

Defense

Henry Blackburn: 35 tackles, 3.0 tackles for loss, 2 INTs

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