LAS VEGAS — Charles Huff ran on to the turf at Allegiant Stadium as Memphis football defensive lineman Jacari Gatling came toward him.
They went up for a chest bump, and Huff ended up on the ground.
It was far from the first time a Memphis defensive lineman had knocked someone to the ground on that field. The Tigers beat UNLV 27-21 on Aug. 29 thanks to a dominant performance from the defensive line in the second half as Memphis (1-0) overcame a first-half deficit and won the first game of Huff's tenure at Memphis.
"I didn't know how they would respond if we got down," Huff said. "I didn't know how they would respond if the game was close. I know what we trained for, but you still don't know. I learned one, we've got a lot of work to do, but two,
we've got the right guys. We've got the right guys, we've got the right coaches, we've got the right administration."
In the first half, UNLV quarterback Jackson Arnold looked like a budding star.
He had space to move in the pocket. He consistently found running lanes down the field. The Rebels (0-1) were winning one-on-one battles down the field. It continued in the early second half, when they scored on their first drive of the third quarter.
And then Memphis' defensive line flipped everything. Arnold was suddenly retreating on every play. He was holding on to the ball too long, especially because the pocket was seemingly collapsing before it even formed. When UNLV got the ball back with 59 seconds and a chance to go win the game, the ensuing back-to-back sacks felt more like fate than anything else.
"Coach says dogs have to be dogs," said Elijah Kinsler, who was the standout with 2½ sacks. "And dogs have to come out in the second half to get it done."
The Tigers sacked Arnold six times. Huff said after the game that he wanted to work on his team's run defense, but the Tigers did a good job of slowing down star Rebels running back Jai'Den "Jet" Thomas. He finished with only 44 yards on 12 carries and was a non-factor in the second half.
There were growing pains on offense, and new quarterback Marcus Stokes wasn't at his best, especially in the first half. But the Tigers' offense did enough to keep pace with the Rebels for most of the game, and the defense took over when it needed to.
Thomas and Arnold looked at times like the two best players on the field. But this game was won in the trenches.
"We've got a chance to be really dominant up front," Huff said. "That's where it starts, O-line and D-line. I thought our O-line did a heck of a good job today. As far as what they were seeing, being able to create some running lanes. But we've got a good D-line."
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: How Memphis' defensive line shut down Jackson Arnold, UNLV en route to statement win
