UNLV beats New Mexico, 27-20
UNLV 27, New Mexico 20 — Deante Purvis blocked a punt and Rodelin Anthony picked it up at the 11-yard line and ran it in for a touchdown to help the Rebels open up a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter as they went on to victory. It proved to be just the cushion the Rebels (4-6 overall, 1-5 Mountain West Conference) would need. New Mexico (4-7, 2-5) got a field goal with 6:34 to play and had two more possessions to attempt to tie the game, but could not get the ball into the end zone. Ryan Tillman intercepted Brad Gruner with just four seconds to play to help UNLV preserve the victory. In his first game filling in for injured quarterback Omar Clayton, redshirt freshman Mike Clausen was 17 of 34 for 203 yards and two touchdowns.
TIMELINE (counting backward)
UNLV 27, New Mexico 20, final
UNLV 27, New Mexico 20, 6:34 fourth quarter
UNLV 27, New Mexico 17, 13:32 fourth quarter
UNLV 20, New Mexico 17 — Frank Summers scored on a 4 yard pass from Mike Clausen on a fourth-down play for the only touchdown of the third quarter to give the Rebels the lead. The Lobos had extended their lead to four points on a 30-yard field goal by James Aho. Clausen has thrown for 182 yards and two scores in his first start in place of the injured Omar Clayton.
UNLV 20, New Mexico 17, 5:52 third quarter
New Mexico 17, UNLV 13, 10:59 third quarter
New Mexico 14, UNLV 13 — The Rebels scored the final 10 points of the first half to get within one point at the break. Rodelin Anthony caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Mike Clausen with 3 seconds remaining in the second quarter. Kyle Watson had kicked a 29-yard field goal earlier. New Mexico’s touchdown came on a 5-yard run by Rodney Ferguson.
New Mexico 14, UNLV 13, :03 second quarter
New Mexico 14, UNLV 6, 7:39 second quarter
New Mexico 14, UNLV 3, 11:47 second quarter
New Mexico 7, UNLV 3 — The Lobos got on the scoreboard first on a 40-yard run by wide receiver Bryant Williams with five minutes remaining. The Rebels answered on a 52-yard field goal by Ben Jaekle late in the period. UNLV’s first drive of the game ended on a missed field goal by Jaekle.
New Mexico 7, UNLV 3, 2:45 first quarter
New Mexico 7, UNLV 0, 5:07 first quarter