UNLV offense continues to show improvement in loss

UNLV’s offense stalled in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 40-27 loss to Fresno State at Allegiant Stadium, but the Rebels had reason for optimism.

They had season highs of 242 yards rushing and 402 total yards and found ways to sustain drives.

UNLV (0-3) was 11 of 20 on third downs after going 1 of 14 against San Diego State and 5 of 13 against UNR — and 2 of 2 on fourth down. The UNLV defense held Fresno State to 4 of 12 on third down; the Bulldogs converted on their only fourth-down attempt.

“We were in a lot of third downs, and we had some conversions that were OK,” UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo said. “The defense held them to 4 of 12 on third down, which gives you a chance.”

The Rebels showed their aggressiveness with the fourth-down plays, since both were fourth-and-1 at their 40. They picked them up with a flip in the flat to Steve Jenkins for 5 yards and a Charles Williams 4-yard run.

Both plays set up scoring drives, as Daniel Gutierrez made a 28-yard field goal, and Max Gilliam and Tyleek Collins connected for a 43-yard touchdown pass off play action that gave the Rebels a 17-13 lead in the second quarter.

UNLV abandoned the running game at times in its first two games, but stuck with it against Fresno State. Williams wasn’t picking up big chunks of yards, but he made the Bulldogs respect the run and finished with 89 yards and a score on 27 carries.

“Philosophically, we like balance in our offense,” Arroyo said. “(Williams) is a big piece of that. I thought we did a nice job with some balance things in the first half.”

Williams continues to climb

Williams’ 89 yards gave the senior 2,713 for his career, moving him into fifth place on the school’s all-time rushing list.

He passed Kirk Jones, who had 2,656 yards from 1983 to 1986. Up next is Dominique Dorsey with 2,834 yards.

UNLV gets first-half pressure

UNLV defensive ends Jacoby Windmon and Adam Plant kept Fresno State quarterbacks Jake Haener and Ben Wooldridge from getting comfortable in the first half.

Windmon had 2.5 sacks, the most for a Rebel since Jeremy Geathers had 2.5 against Wyoming in 2006, and Plant had 1.5. Their four sacks were the most for UNLV since last season’s opener against Southern Utah.

Gilliam hits century mark

Gilliam became the 11th quarterback in school history to rush for 100 yards in a game, and his 139 were the seventh-most by a Rebels QB.

Amari Rogers was the last quarterback to eclipse the 100-yard mark when he ran for 181 against Arkansas State in 2018.

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