.png)
In all the cancellations, reschedulings and reshufflings, the UNLV Rebels football team have gone winless for the second time in program history.
This year’s Rebel team joins the 1998 Rebels as the only teams to not record a win during the season after losing 38-21 to the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors Saturday, Dec. 12.
“Obviously [I’m] disappointed we didn’t get a chance to send these guys out on the right now but proud of their fight,” head coach Marcus Arroyo said. “I thought there were a lot of things to build off of and springboard us going forward. Proud of how we pulled together and continued to fight.”
The average loss for UNLV was 21 points with all losses coming by at least 13 points, losing all Mountain West games for the first time in history.
The Ninth Island Trophy remains in Hawaii as UNLV’s oldest standing rivalry continues to go in the opposite direction for the Rebels as of late.
UNLV hasn't beat Hawaii since 2017 and hasn’t beat the Rainbow Warriors on the road since 2016.
Only 62 players made the trip to Hawaii with 14 seniors being in the mix.
Senior quarterback Max Gilliam started the game becoming the first Rebel quarterback to start every game in a season since 1996.
Earlier in the week, Gilliam made news as he apologized for appearing on an episode of “Below Deck,” eating sushi off of a semi-nude model.
The episode was recorded in February, prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
Arroyo admitted he was unaware of the episode until it was brought to his attention some weeks after it aired.
UNLV’s defense continued to be taxed as Hawaii’s offense rushed for 278 total yards as a team scoring all four touchdowns on the ground.
This includes a 54-yard touchdown run from quarterback Chevan Cordeiro less than three minutes into the game.
However, Hawaii came into the game allowing 233 rushing yards per game.
UNLV rushed for 218 total yards as a team with senior running back Charles Williams coming into the game 42 yards away from taking over fourth place on the all-time rushing list at the school.
Williams rushed for 148 yards on 22 carries and two touchdowns (with a long of 49 yards), with both scores bringing the deficit down to 14 points on two separate occasions.
It was his first game this season with over 100 yards rushing and it was his first game with multiple touchdowns.
He had just two touchdowns through the first five games of the season.
In the second quarter, Williams strung together three runs for 20 combined yards, gaining him sole possession of fourth place just ahead of former UNLV running back Kirk Jones.
Williams now has 2,792 rushing yards in his career at UNLV, 42 yards away from third place.
If he is given another year of college football, Williams may end his career just behind former UNLV running back Lexington Thomas’ 3,555 career rushing yards.
Though Gilliam started the game, freshman quarterback Doug Brumfield entered the game on the second drive of the game.
In four of the six games this season, Arroyo opted to use two or more quarterbacks.
Brumfield went 5-for-13, passing for 58 yards but left in the second quarter after attempting to recover a fumble.
After returning to the game, Gilliam finished the night going 16-for-27 for 187 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
He also rushed for 57 yards on 10 carries.
The offense took a while to get up-and-running as the Rebels didn’t gain a first down until the second quarter.
Freshman wide receiver Kyle Williams had 10 receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown.
He had 25 receptions through the first five games of the season.