UNLV took down Hawaii in dominant fashion on Friday night, retaining the Golden Pineapple with a 38-10 victory to keep Mountain West Championship game hopes alive. The offense was unbelievably efficient,
and the defense was on high alert, stopping the Hawaii air raid, which led to the blowout score.
OFFENSE
Offensively, UNLV left everything on the field. The offense scored five touchdowns, all by different players, and everyone had their stroke of paint on the picture-perfect game.
Quarterback Anthony Colandrea was once again spectacular. He threw for 253 passing yards, his third straight game of throwing for over 250 passing yards, while also throwing three touchdowns. Colandrea was also highly efficient, throwing 21-for-26 on his passes and making great throws in tight windows.
The ball was spread between multiple receivers tonight. Wide receiver Taeshaun Lyons had the biggest play of the night. Lyons was wide open thanks to broken coverage from the Rainbow Warriors, and Colandrea threw him a perfect ball, and Lyons took it all the way down the sideline for a 72-yard touchdown.
Wide receiver Jaden Bradley had the first of UNLV’s five touchdowns to add to his 51 receiving yards on five catches. Wide receiver DaeDae Reynolds scored the other passing touchdown on a bootleg from Colandrea, on which Reynolds got just enough separation to make the catch. Wide receiver JoJo Earle also had an incredible run on a fake handoff play that worked to perfection.
Running back Keyvone Lee was the star out of the backfield. He trucked his way for a 14-yard touchdown in the second quarter to extend UNLV’s lead and had a great night with 63 all-purpose yards. Running back Jai’den Thomas was quiet, not reaching the endzone, but still had 75 yards. The injured hamstring coming into this game was definitely a factor in his noticeably silent game.
The Rebels went 3-for-3 in the endzone and had 470 total yards of offense. In a game as important as this one was, UNLV couldn’t have performed better offensively. The team also couldn’t have performed better defensively.
DEFENSE
Hawaii hadn’t thrown under 200 passing yards in a game all season. That changed against UNLV.
UNLV’s ability to dominate the trenches and make Hawaii quarterback Micah Alejado uncomfortable led the dominant effort. Alejado only threw 163 passing yards, and most of that came on one big defensive mishap, which was a 70-yard touchdown to wide receiver Jackson Harris. Besides that, the defense was flawless.
Hawaii couldn’t get anything going on the ground. Running back Landon Sims averaged 3.7 yards per carry, while running back Cam Barfield averaged two yards per carry. The Rebels were also able to lock down wide receiver Pofele Ashlock, who had zero catches, a rarity for the star receiver.
The Rainbow Warriors never entered the red zone in the game, which is simply unbelievable for an offense that was as dominant as Hawaii was coming into this game. UNLV was able to lock them down.
The game was won in the trenches. UNLV sacked Alejado three times, with defensive back Aamaris Brown recording two of them. Defensive back Jake Pope also came up with an incredible interception. Alejado aired the ball deep, and defensive back Tre Fulton tipped the ball. Pope put his body on the line and came up with the remarkable grab.
For a defense that has struggled all season long, putting up this type of performance against one of the best passing offenses in the country is promising. The defensive unit held Hawaii to just 231 yards of total offense, and all signs point to a positive finish to the season.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The Battle for the Fremont Cannon is upcoming against UNLV, which will travel north to Reno to take on the Nevada Wolf Pack. The game will be on Saturday, Nov. 29, at 6:00 PM.
