Rebels stun Fresno State, 26-16

FRESNO, Calif. — UNLV was looking for anything positive to salvage its season, and the Rebels found it with a 26-16 victory over first-place Fresno State in a Mountain West game Saturday night at Bulldog Stadium.

The Rebels (3-5, 2-3 MW) snapped a three-game losing streak. It also was the first time UNLV had beaten Fresno State (5-3, 4-1) on the road since 1983.

Without starting quarterback Armani Rogers, who suffered a head injury in last week’s loss to Utah State, the Rebels turned to Johnny Stanton, who recently had been playing linebacker.

Stanton wasn’t flashy, but he did a stellar job managing the game, orchestrating lengthy drives and not committing any turnovers. He finished 17 of 29 passing for 155 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions, and rushed 11 times for 38 yards and a 7-yard TD.

UNLV’s Daniel Gutierrez was 4 of 4 on field-goal attempts, connecting from 38, 27, 23 and 25 yards.

The Bulldogs took the opening kickoff, and Oregon State transfer Marcus McMaryion marched Fresno State down the field for a 13-play, 78-yard scoring drive, culminating with a 3-yard TD run by freshman Jordan Mims for a 6-0 lead with 9:50 left. Jimmy Camacho’s extra-point attempt missed.

Stanton drove the Rebels to Fresno State’s 16 on their opening drive. UNLV was ready to go for it on fourth-and-1, but a false start forced the Rebels to settle for a 38-yard field goal, cutting the deficit to 6-3 with 5:58 left in the first quarter.

On Fresno State’s next possession, McMaryion’s 31-yard pass to Derrion Grim set up a 33-yard field goal by Camacho that pushed the Bulldogs’ lead to 9-3 with 2:58 left in the first quarter.

UNLV came back with a 16-play drive that was kept alive by Stanton’s 8-yard pass to Brandon Presley to convert a fourth down. The drive stalled at Fresno State’s 10, where the Rebels settled for a 27-yard field goal to close the gap to 9-6 with 10:18 left in the half.

The Rebels forced a Fresno State punt, then drove 78 yards for a first-and-goal at UNLV’s 2. But that’s when the Bulldogs stood their ground.

Linebacker Patrick Williams stuck running back Xzaviar Campbell for a 2-yard loss on first down. Stanton fumbled on second down, but the Rebels were fortunate to recover. Stanton overshot a receiver in the end zone on third down, and the Rebels settled for a 23-yard field goal on the 16th play of the drive for a 9-9 tie with six seconds left in the half.

UNLV opened the second half with an 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive. Running back Lexington Thomas kept the drive alive with a 4-yard run on fourth-and-2, and Stanton scored on a 7-yard TD run to give UNLV its first lead at 16-9 with 9:31 left in the third quarter.

Fresno State answered with an 11-play, 89-yard scoring drive. Josh Hokit kept the drive alive with a 2-yard run on fourth-and-1, followed by an 18-yard pass from McMaryion to Grim to set up Mims’ 5-yard TD run as the Bulldogs tied the score 16-16 with 3:38 left in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs forced the Rebels to punt from midfield on their next possession, but Fresno State returner KeeSean Johnson muffed the punt and UNLV’s Darren Palmer recovered at Fresno State’s 23. The Rebels cashed when Thomas ran for a 2-yard TD run and a 23-16 lead with 14:53 remaining.

After calling a timeout to decided whether to go for it on fourth-and-2 from UNLV’s 45, disaster struck Fresno State after deciding to punt. The punt was snapped over the punter, who fell on it at Fresno State’s 19, where the Rebels took over with 7:34 remaining. Gutierrez ended up drilling a 25-yard field goal to make the score 26-16 with five minutes left.

Thomas rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, Devonte Boyd had five receptions for 62 yards, and Presley had five receptions for 54 yards for UNLV.

McMaryion completed 16 of 27 passes for 152 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions, Mims rushed for 68 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries and Grim had four receptions for 68 yards for Fresno State.

A previous version of this story incorrectly reported UNLV’s victory had snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Bulldogs.