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The UNLV football team lost its starting quarterback to an apparent injury in the team’s 37-10 road loss to Arizona State Saturday, Sept. 11.
“We got a sour taste in our mouth in regard to how we [can’t] put the whole thing together,” head coach Marcus Arroyo said. “We have to put two halves together in all three phases of the game. I’m excited about going to work, getting that fixed, starting with myself [and] starting with our staff.”
Coming into the game, ESPN gave the Rebels a 4.7% chance to beat the Sun Devils with Arizona State entering as 34.5 point favorites.
UNLV trailed 14-10 with as little as 46 seconds left in the third quarter.
The loss knocks the program down to 5-43 all-time against ranked opponents. In addition, the Rebels are 6-32 all-time against the Pac-12.
With a home matchup against Iowa State next on the schedule for UNLV, the road doesn’t get any easier.
Sophomore Doug Brumfield got his first collegiate start and had the Rebels in business for most of the first half.
Right out of the gate, Brumfield showed poise from the pocket converting on his first three third down attempts.
UNLV snagged an early 3-0 lead behind a field goal from kicker Daniel Gutierrez.
The first UNLV touchdown of the game came on a four-yard run from Brumfield on a third and three.
This included a front flip into the end zone to avoid contact from the Sun Devil defender.
However, those four converted third downs were all the Rebels were able to muster in 14 attempts.
Late in the third quarter, Brumfield was leveled on a rollout pass, forcing him to leave the game and not return.
He left with 60 yards on 6-of-14 through the air and 43 yards on eight carries with a touchdown on the ground.
Junior Justin Rogers entered the game in a role reversal of week one when Brumfield replaced him.
Rogers wasn’t able to get much going in his quarter plus of work, accumulating seven yards on 1-of-5 passing.
Arroyo and company had their hands full with Arizona State quarterback Jayden Daniels, whose dual threat style shredded the UNLV defense.
Back when he was at Oregon, Arroyo attempted to recruit Daniels and recently praised both his arm and his legs ahead of this meeting.
Daniels returned the compliment with a 20-for-29, 175-yard performance with two touchdowns and one interception.
That interception was the fourth of Daniels’ career. Moreover, he had five turnovers in more than 600 plays from scrimmage in his career.
Defensive back Nohl Williams got the interception a week after being ejected in the first quarter of the game against Eastern Washington for targeting.
Unlike the Rebels, Daniels led the Sun Devils to a 8-for-14 mark on third downs and additionally 2-for-3 on fourth down tries.
His elusiveness frustrated the UNLV defense so badly, linebacker Jacoby Windmon was flagged for unnecessary roughness after slinging Daniels to the ground as he ran out of bounds.
Late in the third quarter, Arizona State led 14-10 before adding another touchdown ahead of the final frame.
That was part of 30 unanswered points from the Sun Devils when the Rebels once led 10-7 in the second quarter.