Nightmare stretch against Boise State continues, UNLV loses 3rd straight Mountain West Championship

UNLV quarterback Anthony Colandrea looks for space on a scramble during the team's one-possession loss to Boise State in the Mountain West Championship. Photo Credit: UNLV Athletics

A third straight UNLV football regular season ends with a loss on the conference’s biggest stage, in the Mountain West Championship.

The Rebels lost to the Boise State Broncos, 38-31, Friday, Dec. 5 from Albertson’s Stadium in the Mountain West Championship. It’s the second loss for the program at the hands of Boise State this season after losing, 56-31, in Idaho earlier in the year.

“Right now it sucks,” head coach Dan Mullen said. “Losing sucks, right. It absolutely sucks.”

Since 2015, UNLV is 0-8 against its Mountain West foe as it falls to 3-13 against Boise State all-time with 11 straight losses. Friday’s loss also ends a four-game win streak for the Rebels as the program ends the regular season with a 10-3 overall record.

Having already secured a bowl game for a third straight season, UNLV will await a bowl offer before knowing its next opponent.

In the two games played this season against the Broncos, the Rebels defense allowed 94 total points. It didn’t help the unit’s matter that quarterback Maddux Madsen returned from injury and appeared in tip-top shape for the Mountain West’s biggest game of the season.

Madsen capped the second Boise State drive of the year with a 10-yard touchdown run. On the next drive he’d throw for a touchdown from nine yards out.

At that point, Madsen was 5-for-7 for 112 yards in addition to that early touchdown pass. He’d finish with 289 yards and four total touchdowns on 17-of-31 passing and four carries.

While going 10-for-16 on third downs, the Broncos went 4-for-4 in the red zone in the win. The Rebels have now allowed the team to go 19-for-19 in the red zone since 2023.

Quarterback Anthony Colandrea entered the game as the conference’s offensive player of the year, a first in program history. Moreover, he entered the weekend as one of four FBS quarterbacks to throw for at least 3,000 yards and rush for 500 more.

After receiving the game’s opening kickoff, the offense had its first drive halted after a fumble by senior receiver Jaden Bradely. After the early blunder, he finished with 35 yards on three catches after being held to just a single catch in the first meeting between the two clubs.

Aside from that, it was penalties that killed early chances in the game. A week after having issues on the defensive line with offsides penalties, it was UNLV’s playmakers making false start mistakes in this one.

The team’s first four penalties of the game were committed by either receivers or a running back. In fact, with five first half penalties more than midway through the second quarter, it was more than the offense’s four first downs tallied.

In total, UNLV was flagged nine times for 70 yards.

That early combination had the Rebels down, 21-0, on the scoreboard. However, a 21-7 run following that put the team right back in the game.

Senior receiver Jojo Earle scored from seven yards out on a wildcat designed run. That made the score, 28-21, with just under three minutes left in the third quarter.

Earlier on that third quarter scoring drive, Colandrea hit redshirt senior tight end Nick Elksnis for 20 yards on a 4th and 6. Just before halftime, he threw his lone touchdown pass of the game on an 11-yard strike to redshirt senior receiver Troy Omeire.

Colandrea accounted for 291 total yards on 18-for-38 through the air and 12 carries with two total touchdowns. His other touchdown came on a five-yard run to start the scoring for UNLV late in the second quarter.

“In today’s football world, he and I will get together,” Mullen said. “I certainly hope he’ll stick around. I think we’re a pretty good team and I think you’ve seen the growth. The growth he’s made from when I watched him playing at Virginia to when he got here to today, the growth is unbelievable in the type of quarterback he’s become [...] I think everybody in the city of Vegas loves him.”