Rebels bowl-eligible after surviving Falcons to improve to 6-0

Six straight wins to open the season for UNLV Football and now the program is bowl-eligible for the third straight season for the first time ever.

In a Homecoming classic, UNLV escaped Air Force, 51-48, Saturday, Oct. 11 from Allegiant Stadium in a Week 7 Mountain West meeting. First-year Rebels head coach Dan Mullen still sports a blemish-free in his return to college football.

“Heck of a team win,” he said. “So proud of our team [...] We knew they were an explosive offense and we were going to have to score.”

In total, UNLV has won seven straight games dating back to last season’s LA Bowl against California from SoFi Stadium. The last time the team lost was in the Mountain West Championship on the road against Boise State.

Ironically enough, the Rebels’ next game is a rematch of that contest against the Broncos. That matchup is set for Saturday, Oct. 18 from Albertsons Field in Idaho with kickoff set for 12:30 p.m.

As it presently stands, UNLV is on top of the Mountain West as the conference’s lone undefeated team.

“We had the least number of returning starters in America in all of college football coming into the season,” Mullen said. “I give a lot of credit to our leadership and our older guys on the team.”

Air Force missed out on a chance to send the game to overtime with a 40-yard field goal but missed the uprights wide-right.

Prior to that, junior quarterback Anthony Colandrea gave the home team the lead on a 19-yard touchdown run while facing a 3rd and 1. That was the 11th lead change of the game with nine of them coming in the second half.

“It’s so crazy because you dream about playing in an offense like Coach Mullen’s,” he said. “It’s awesome everyday to be able to come in and just learn from him and [offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Corey] Dennis.”

Colandrea accounted for 423 yards including 62 rush yards and two rushing scores on seven carries. As a team, the Rebels rushed for 220 yards led by 88 yards on 11 carries by junior running back Jai’Den Thomas.

In the fourth quarter, Thomas broke free for a 51-yard touchdown run after a long offensive drive for the Falcons.

Through the air, Colandrea added 361 more yards on 20-of-32 passing with another touchdown. He had to overcome several drops by his receivers but would still connect with his teammates periodically for long plays, sometimes even adding in some trickery.

Senior receiver Jaden Bradley tossed his first career passing touchdown in the third quarter on a trick play from 16 yards out. As a post-touchdown celebration, he channeled former Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott’s pregame warm-up routine.

Prescott was coached by Mullen during his time as a Bulldog.

“He’s been saying that all week too,” Colandrea said. “It was yesterday, he told me, ‘When I throw the touchdown, I’m going to do the Dak.’”

In addition to that, Bradley added 73 receiving yards on three receptions. Fellow senior receiver DaeDae Reynolds led all pass catchers with 139 yards on four catches. Along the way, he had a long play of 86 yards for a score early in the third quarter to give UNLV its first lead since the first half.

Through the first half, Air Force racked up nearly 250 total yards before adding another big number in the second 30-minute session. In total, the visitors compiled more than 600 total yards in the loss while holding the ball for nearly 37 minutes.

“You look at the yards, 603-597,” Mullen said. “Back-and-forth, could’ve went either way. Heck of a football game but so proud of our guys – the resolve of guys.”

Of those 603 total yards, 428 came on the ground as the Falcons produced two rushers of at least 135 yards. Along the way, the visitors rushed for six touchdowns as well.

“All of a sudden, you’re in a game where they get the opportunity to run and wear you down,” Mullen said. “And wear you down defensively and [the] offense responds.”

It wasn’t all one-dimensional for the typically run-heavy offense, Air Force also threw for nearly 200 yards and another touchdown.

“I thought we did a great job,” Mullen said. “Their guys made some plays [...] There was not one time where they had a guy undercovered just down the middle of the field and that’s what we had seen a lot on film.”