Rebels thrown for loss

A wide-open offense that seemingly moves at will, led by a quarterback who could become the first to go from his position in next April’s NFL Draft.

Hawaii is what UNLV wants to be when it grows up.

Whether the Rebels will ever get there is uncertain, but the difference in the programs was evident for the sellout crowd of 38,125 at Sam Boyd Stadium to see Saturday. No. 24 Hawaii never seriously was threatened after taking the lead early in the second quarter and breezed to a 49-14 win.

“The big challenge is who are we,” Rebels coach Mike Sanford said. “We’ve got to find out who we are and what we’re made of.”

Warriors quarterback Colt Brennan showed why he is a bona fide Heisman Trophy candidate, completing 26 of 32 passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for three scores. He did all of that while playing with an injured right ankle.

“We knew how good he was coming into this game, and tonight solidified it,” said UNLV linebacker Beau Bell, who made 12 tackles, including a sack. “We didn’t get it done.”

Perhaps UNLV can take solace in that it snapped Brennan’s streak of 14 consecutive 300-yard passing games. Then again, he didn’t play the fourth quarter. Hawaii coach June Jones felt comfortable his team’s 42-7 lead would hold up.

UNLV’s quarterback answer, Travis Dixon, easily played his worst game after two promising performances to open the season. He failed to notice two open receivers for touchdowns early in the game and overthrew passes throughout. Dixon finished 19 of 37 for 193 yards with a TD and an interception.

“I thought we had to go score for score with them and try to keep the offense off the field as much as possible,” Dixon said. “We started out strong the first series, and we kind of petered out after that.”

Freshman Omar Clayton, a walk-on, relieved Dixon late in the game, meaning he won’t redshirt this season. Dack Ishii, who was listed at No. 2, did not play. Clayton, the new No. 2, rushed for a 31-yard touchdown with 4:25 left.

The Rebels (1-2) will have to get past this game quickly with Mountain West Conference play opening next Saturday at home against Utah, which got the league’s attention Saturday by dismantling No. 11 UCLA 44-6.

UNLV definitely needs to play better than it did against Hawaii (3-0), but the Warriors will be one of the better teams the Rebels face.

And, early on, they tried to make a game of it. UNLV scored first, going 79 yards on 13 plays. Dixon’s 6-yard pass to tailback Frank Summers put the Rebels ahead 7-0 about midway through the first quarter.

After that, the Rebels appeared more baffled than the Western Athletic Conference officials who called the game.

But UNLV was at a disadvantage from the start. Starting safety Tony Cade was suspended for the game for breaking team rules — a matter Sanford failed to disclose during the week. He didn’t want a team known for passing to have an edge.

Imagine how bad the score might have been had the Warriors known.

With or without Cade, UNLV would have had a difficult time getting in the way of a Hawaii team that scored 108 points in its first two games.

Hawaii answered UNLV’s brief lead by going 67 yards on 11 plays. Brennan finished the series with a 1-yard sneak for a touchdown to tie the game.

His 1-yard sneak early in the second quarter put the Warriors ahead for good. Brennan gave Hawaii a 21-7 lead by completing a 13-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Ryan Grice-Mullen with 9:25 left.

UNLV still was in contention in theory. In reality, Hawaii had asserted its superiority.

Any doubts were erased in the third quarter when Brennan ran for a touchdown and passed for one and cornerback Ryan Mouton returned an interception 40 yards for a TD.