UNLV loses at Hawaii, finishes 0-6 in Marcus Arroyo’s 1st season

UNLV will have to wait until next season to get its first victory under coach Marcus Arroyo.

Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro ran for a 54-yard touchdown on Hawaii’s second play from scrimmage en route to a 38-21 victory Saturday night at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.

It’s the second winless season for UNLV (0-6), which had two games canceled because of COVID-19, and all of the losses were by double digits. The Rebels were 0-11 in 1998.

“Obviously, disappointed we didn’t get a chance to pull it off and send these guys out on the right note,” Arroyo said. “I’m proud of their fight, and I thought we had a lot of things to build off of and springboard us into the offseason.”

Hawaii ran for 278 yards, and all five of its touchdowns came on the ground.

Cordeiro was 20 of 33 for 252 yards and an interception passing and ran for 88 yards and two touchdowns. The Rainbow Warriors (4-4) also received a rushing TD apiece from Dae Dae Hunter, Calvin Turner and Koali Nishigaya.

UNLV had a season-high 463 yards, led by Charles Williams’ 148 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 22 carries. The senior’s scores came from 2 and 49 yards in the third quarter, and both pulled the Rebels within two scores.

Max Gilliam was 16-for-27 for 187 yards and a touchdown and interception and ran for 57 yards as UNLV’s primary quarterback. Kyle Williams finished a standout freshman season with 10 catches for 144 yards and a touchdown.

Here are the takeaway’s from Saturday’s loss.

1. Big night for the Williamses

Charles Williams was a first-team All-Mountain West performer last year, but his yards per carry average had dropped from 5.9 to 3.7 this season. He averaged 6.7 on Saturday in his first 100-yard game of the season, and his touchdowns were the first of his career against Hawaii.

“It was great to be out there with my teammates and my brothers (for) one last chance,” Charles Williams said. “I just told them the only thing we can do is compete, try to earn this win and have fun. We did compete, we did have fun, but we didn’t earn the win. That’s the tough part.”

It was Kyle Williams’ second 100-yard game, and he was targeted 17 times. The rest of the UNLV receivers caught 11 passes for 101 yards.

Freshman cornerback Nohl Williams had five tackles and his first career interception.

2. Turnovers play a role

For the most part this season, turnovers haven’t played a major part in deciding UNLV games. The Rebels had collected only three takeaways and given it away six times.

UNLV forced two turnovers on the Nohl Williams interception and a fumble that was forced by Farrell Hester II and recovered by Bryce Jackson.

But the Rebels turned it over three times, including back-to-back possessions in the second quarter on fumbles by quarterback Doug Brumfield and Charles Williams. Brumfield was injured trying to make a tackle after his fumble and didn’t return. Gilliam’s final pass was picked off in the Hawaii red zone with less than a minute to go.

3. Rebels’ two-minute drill strikes again

UNLV moved past midfield five times in their first eight drives but never made it inside the 40. The Rebels had one final shot before halftime, taking over at their 25 with 1:45 left. They needed six plays and 52 seconds to go 75 yards and find the end zone on a 19-yard pass from Gilliam to Kyle Williams and cut their deficit to 21-7 at halftime.

Two weeks ago, the offense sputtered for most of the first half against Wyoming before driving 98 yards in 10 plays, with Gilliam scoring on a 2-yard run for UNLV’s first touchdown.

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2936. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.