UNLV’s Arroyo knows rare bowl berth must be earned, not given

UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo knows Saturday’s loss at San Diego State was a missed opportunity. The Rebels had a chance to end their losing streak and move one win away from bowl eligibility.

Instead, “self-inflicted” errors led to a 14-10 loss. UNLV is below .500 for the first time this season and now must win two of their final three games to reach the coveted six-win mark.

“You will not be given a bowl (game),” Arroyo said. “You have to earn it. You have to earn everything in this game.”

The Rebels returned starters at key positions Saturday, including sophomore quarterback Doug Brumfield and junior running back Aidan Robbins. However, the UNLV offense still struggled against SDSU’s stout defense and wasn’t able to take advantage of a strong outing by the Rebels’ defense.

UNLV returns to Allegiant Stadium for the first time in almost a month at 7:30 p.m. Friday when they play Fresno State.

“The next step is playing for each other,” Robbins said. “The defense was playing for us, now we’ve got to play for the defense.”

Robbins was effective in his return from a knee injury suffered during UNLV’s 42-7 loss against Air Force Oct. 15. He rushed for 115 yards on 21 carries, but never found the end zone for the Rebels (4-5, 2-3 Mountain West). Brumfield had more of a mixed day. He completed 17 of his 27 pass attempts for 207 yards and connected with senior wide receiver Nick Williams for a 70-yard touchdown.

However, Brumfield also lost a fumble and was intercepted in the end zone twice in the second half. Arroyo admitted his quarterback — who played his first game since Oct. 7 after returning from a concussion and ankle injury — showed some of the telltale signs of a player who’s been away from the game for a large amount of time.

Arroyo was most critical of himself during Monday’s availability. The UNLV coach said it’s his responsibility to find the solution to a Rebels’ offense which has scored a combined 45 points during its four-game losing streak.

“There’s no blame to go around for anybody in that locker room,” Arroyo said. “The buck stops with me.”

Some of the Rebels’ problems have come from injuries. It’s no coincidence UNLV’s losing streak began when Brumfield was injured. But Arroyo believes there is also a psychological element to the skid, especially since it came after the team’s hot start.

He said the program had to learn how to get used to winning and is now getting a first-hand look at what it’s going to take to challenge perennially strong Mountain West programs like the Aztecs and next week’s opponents, the Bulldogs (5-4, 4-1).

The UNLV coach said this difficult stretch has been a good learning experience for his team. Now, the players must prove the lessons have been learned by avoiding their mistakes from the past. He said the past few weeks have been humbling, but he was proud of his team’s response after their disheartening loss Saturday and expects to build upon it for Friday.

“It’s got to be a progression,” he said. “And I think from what we’ve seen here, it’s been that.”

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on Twitter.