San Diego State rallies to top Rebels, 31-14

Quarterback Caleb Herring had just been jolted, and after he was helped up, the small crowd at Sam Boyd Stadium erupted and chanted "Reeeeeebbbbbeeeellsss!"

It had nothing to do with Herring getting to his feet. Across town at Orleans Arena, Rebels fans had just rushed the court to celebrate the basketball team's upset of No. 1 North Carolina, and UNLV football fans wanted to share in the joy.

The in-house crowd of 7,881 at Sam Boyd had little to cheer, watching the final minutes of a 31-14 loss to San Diego State on Saturday that concluded the Rebels' home schedule.

Ronnie Hillman rushed for 192 yards and two touchdowns for San Diego State, which scored 31 straight points after UNLV led 14-0.

The loss was the fourth in a row for UNLV (2-9, 1-5 Mountain West Conference). UNLV probably will finish with two victories for the sixth time in eight seasons because the Rebels travel to Texas Christian this weekend and figure to be prohibitive underdogs.

They had their chances against San Diego State (7-4, 4-3), however, taking a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter on touchdowns run of 54 and 25 yards by Tim Cornett. He finished with 136 yards on 15 carries, all but 2 yards coming in the first half before he reinjured his ankle.

San Diego State smothered UNLV's offense after the early spurt, shutting out the Rebels the rest of the way and holding them to 261 yards for the game, including 28 in the second half.

"We came out fired up and played very well in the first half, and we didn't finish the game," UNLV coach Bobby Hauck said. "They kicked our tail in the second half. It's a dang shame because our guys did some good things.

"I think a lot of it is us playing well one down and not playing well the next, being more inconsistent than anything else, which is certainly an issue we've got to keep addressing. We've got to play the first half and play the second half, finish the dang game, finish the drives."

UNLV rushed for 141 yards, ending its five-game streak of at least 150 yards. Herring had little time to throw, completing 14 of 26 passes for 119 yards.

San Diego State's Ryan Lindley also struggled. He was just 13 of 29 for 152 yards, but threw two touchdown passes.

After UNLV's initial burst, Hillman brought the Aztecs to within a touchdown with a 44-yard dash untouched down the right sideline.

UNLV then moved to the Aztecs' 33-yard line before the drive stalled. Nolan Kohorst came out to apparently attempt a 51-yard field goal, but the Rebels faked the kick. Holder Mike Clausen was tackled a yard short of the first down with 1:40 left in the half.

The Rebels carried a lead into halftime for only the third time this season. They won the other two times -- against Hawaii and Colorado State.

"I knew the game was far from over," Cornett said. "I felt we needed to build on our momentum that we had. I knew with the team they've got, they could come back easily."

San Diego State tied the game at 14 midway through the third quarter when Ryan Lindley connected with Colin Lockett for a 15-yard touchdown.

The Aztecs took the lead, 17-14, with 39 seconds left in the third when Abelardo Perez made a 27-yard field goal.

Momentum clearly was with the Aztecs at that point. UNLV didn't gain a second-half first down until the final play of the third quarter, and the Rebels ended the period with just 12 yards as San Diego State's defense dominated the line of scrimmage.

San Diego State all but put the game away with 5:45 left when Lindley converted a fourth-and-1 with a 6-yard TD pass to Dylan Denso to go ahead 24-14.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.