UNLV football team figuring out how to finish games
The starts weren’t the issue for UNLV’s football team this season. The Rebels proved they could score against — and stop — opponents week in and week out as they battled for their first victory.
They just couldn’t finish.
Not until Nov. 6 at New Mexico. And Saturday against Hawai’i.
“Those moments in those games (earlier in the season) will build and create seeds for later in the future,” UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo said during his weekly press conference. “We’re here now. … The last two weeks have been a lot better.”
The Rebels (2-8, 2-4 Mountain West) are reveling in their first two-game win streak under their second-year head coach. They will vie Friday for a third consecutive win against San Diego State (9-1, 5-1) at Allegiant Stadium. The game doubles as senior night, and 24 will be honored.
UNLV struggled situationally en route to an 0-8 start, losing five games by one score.
Untimely penalties, turnovers and poor execution all were a factor in those losses. But in the last two weeks, the Rebels have built two-score leads and held them — thanks in part to an improved defensive effort.
“They’re building on that, and it’s something really good to see, the way they’re playing and jelling together,” Arroyo said.
Senior linebacker Kylan Wilborn couldn’t quite quantify why the Rebels are playing better deep into games. He explained the Rebels are communicating better now at this point in the season. Plus, younger players have naturally improved with the coaching in practice and experience in games they’ve had this fall.
UNLV is allowing 31.4 points this season compared to the 38 spot it surrendered a year ago. Fourth-quarter defense has been better the last three weeks as well, with the Rebels allowing 4.3 points in final periods compared to 8.4 throughout the season.
“We’ve been working so hard since the spring, even before that,” Wilborn said. “Coach had emphasized finishing for four quarters. … I still think our best football is yet to come. We’ve still got two more games.”
Williams claims league honor
Charles Williams was named the Mountain West’s Offensive Player of the Week for his play Saturday in the victory over the Rainbow Warriors, the conference announced Monday.
The sixth-year senior carried a school-record 38 times for a school-record 266 yards and eclipsed 4,000 career rushing yards in the process.
He leads all active FBS rushers with 4,024 career yards.
Arroyo said that Williams eclipsed 22 mph Saturday, based on data gathered by the program’s GPS tracking. No UNLV player, he said, has run that fast this season.
“He was a machine,” Arroyo said, saluting the program’s strength and conditioning. “We’re in the … 10th game of the season, and you’re out here playing like that? Says a lot about Charles.”
Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon Twitter.
