UNLV falls to UNR in its first game at Allegiant Stadium
UNLV hosted a celebration with its first football game at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday night, but UNR stole some of the starch from the party with an aerial show for the 2,000 fans in attendance.
Wolf Pack quarterback Carson Strong was 21 of 27 for 350 yards and two touchdowns in a 37-19 victory, and receiver Romeo Doubs had six catches for a career-high 211 yards to help end UNLV’s two-game winning streak in the Battle for the Fremont Cannon.
“Our secondary is going to be aggressive and (was) challenged by a good football team tonight. Hat’s off to Reno and their experience and what they’ve done,” UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo said. “We’ll continue to find ways to improve back there.”
Quarterback Max Gilliam played the entire game for the Rebels (0-2) and was 27 of 40 for 207 yards and two touchdowns. UNLV took massive strides offensively after being shut down for most of a 34-6 loss to San Diego State in the opener.
But UNLV couldn’t match UNR’s explosive plays. Both teams had 22 first downs, but the Wolf Pack (2-0) rolled up 497 yards of total offense to 348 for the Rebels.
Here’s three takeaways from the loss:
1. Young secondary gets an education
The UNLV secondary is the youngest group on the team, with five true freshmen among the 11 players in the two-deep, including starting cornerbacks Nohl Williams and Sir Oliver Everett.
Strong and the Wolf Pack’s experienced receivers took advantage to the tune of 13.0 yards per passing attempt and 16.7 per completion.
“We were trying some different things to put them in positions to be successful,” Arroyo said. “It’s a really successful group of wide receivers, a talented group outside that we knew would be challenging for our young group. Again, it’s a chance to improve.”
Strong has 770 yards passing and six touchdowns in two games and extended the nation’s longest streak of passes without an interception to 230.
Doubs had a 53-yard catch that set up UNR’s first touchdown — a 1-yard run from Devonte Lee that made the score 10-3 late in the first quarter — then hauled in a 65-yarder for a TD and 17-6 lead early in the second quarter.
2. Offense better, not quite there
Arroyo said the Rebels aren’t into moral victories, but they can take plenty of positivity after a stronger offensive showing than in the opener.
They almost doubled their offensive output from a week ago, when Gilliam was one of three quarterbacks who played. They improved to 5 of 16 on third downs after going 1 of 14 last week and were 5 of 6 on fourth-down tries.
“We were mostly running the same stuff (as last week), but we got a little more comfortable and executed a little better,” Gilliam said. “The main thing is we’ve got to convert the red-zone drives into touchdowns. We can’t settle for field goals.”
Charles Williams ran for 99 yards on 19 carries and moved into sixth place on the Rebels’ all-time rushing list with 2,624 yards. Tyleek Collins caught five passes for 74 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown that was UNLV’s first in its new home, and Steve Jenkins caught a 14-yard TD.
3. Under pressure
The Rebels sacked Strong three times after recording one last week. Eilel Ehimare had two and Jacoby Windmon one.
Gilliam was also sacked three times, and he had immediate pressure on several other plays and was forced to escape. He ran 10 times for 18 yards.
Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2936. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.
