‘Next step’: Rebels begin stretch against top conference teams

During UNLV football’s preparation for Colorado State last week, coach Barry Odom showed his team a video from the Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury fight in 2018.

Odom specifically showed the clip from the 12th round when Wilder knocked down Fury, but Fury got up and finished the fight.

UNLV battled back from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat Colorado State 25-23 on Saturday to become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2013.

“That was (Odom’s) message to us,” senior defensive back Jaxen Turner said. “We knew we were going to get back in that fight, give it our all, and that’s exactly what we did.”

The Rebels (6-1, 3-0 Mountain West) begin the toughest portion of their schedule when they play at Fresno State (6-2, 2-1) at 7:40 p.m. Saturday. They are on a five-game winning streak.

“It’s another opportunity this week to be tested in a lot of ways,” Odom said.

“We showed some signs of maturity as a team in handling adversity (against Colorado State),” he added. “We’ll need all those things as we get into late October and November the way that our schedule lines up.”

UNLV will be tested the rest of the way as it looks to compete for its first Mountain West title.

Along with a tough road matchup at Fresno State, the Rebels have meetings against Wyoming (Nov. 10) and at Air Force (Nov. 18). The four teams have begun to separate themselves from the rest of the conference.

UNLV and Air Force are the lone teams undefeated in Mountain West play. Odom said every week against Mountain West opponents presents a new challenge.

Against Colorado State, he specifically mentioned the confidence he saw in the defense, saying they “took a step in the right direction.”

Turner came up with an interception on a Colorado State attempt on a double-pass, which turned into UNLV’s only touchdown last week. Odom said they’ll need to create more turnovers with the step-up in competition.

“We need to be on the plus side of that,” Odom said of getting turnovers. “Our margin of error is very, very slim to none. We need all the possessions we can get to end in points. Defensively we’ve got to be attacking, aggressive and when the opportunity presents itself, we have to come up with them.”

Odom said Monday’s practice was the best Monday practice the Rebels have had all year. He said continuing to finish games, like they did against Colorado State, is the next “barrier” they’ll have to break through these final five weeks.

“That’s our next step,” Odom said.

UNLV continues to get national attention in Odom’s first year as it received a vote in this week’s AP Top 25 poll and six votes in the Coaches Poll. The Rebels will be going to just their fifth bowl game in the program’s 46th season at the Division I Football Subdivision level.

Odom said he’s aware of the national attention and that his players are hearing it. He said it’s been important for him to acknowledge it and use it as motivation.

“We have a hunger to continue that process because we know we need it to win,” Odom said. “We haven’t played our best ball yet.”

Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.