UNLV’s Devonte Boyd out for season with broken arm

UNLV wide receiver Devonte Boyd played with a broken arm suffered during the Rebels’ thrilling 69-66 triple-overtime upset of Wyoming on Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium, Rebels coach Tony Sanchez said Tuesday.

Boyd appeared to break his left arm with 37 seconds left in the third quarter, but returned to the game on UNLV’s next possession in the fourth quarter and made a key 17-yard catch in the second overtime.

“He did that with an arm that was broken. That’s pretty impressive,” Sanchez said. “It speaks to the toughness that he has.

“However, had we known his arm was broken, you’re never going to put the guy back in the game. That’s a no-brainer.”

Boyd, a junior from Basic High School, was blocking downfield on a 16-yard run by David Greene when the Rebels running back inadvertently collided with Boyd’s arm from behind with his helmet. Clearly in pain, Boyd was attended to by a trainer, but Sanchez said the team and Boyd didn’t know the severity of the injury until after the game.

“We had no idea to the extent of the injury,” Sanchez said. “We had no indication there was a break in the arm, so he went back in.

“When you play the game, sometimes you get banged, and it kind of feels uncomfortable for a bit, but you feel like you can go on. Everybody has a different pain tolerance. It’s just a toughness deal. He knew it was uncomfortable and it hurt, but it wasn’t to the extent where he didn’t feel like he could play through it.

“A lot of times, especially if they’re fractures, you don’t know the severity of them, and you can’t tell unless you go in and X-ray it. We were shocked after the game.”

Sanchez said Boyd was in tears in the locker room when X-rays revealed a season-ending fracture.

“He didn’t realize it was broken until they told him,” Sanchez said. “Then he realized he wasn’t going to be able to play the last two games, and that’s how much he loves the game.”

Sanchez said Boyd, one of the leading receivers in UNLV history, suffered a clean break that will require surgery but that staying in the game didn’t create any additional problems.

NEED FOR SNEED

To help compensate for the loss of Boyd, the fourth UNLV starting receiver to suffer a season-ending injury this season, backup quarterback Dalton Sneed will play wideout in Friday’s game at Boise State. Sanchez said the redshirt freshman, who started five games at quarterback this season and had a 91-yard touchdown run, volunteered Sunday to play receiver.

“It was a great idea,” Sanchez said. “He’s a tremendous athlete, so let’s find a way to get the ball in his hands. It’s about winning by any means necessary.”

LEX NEEDS TUNEUP

Running back Lexington Thomas is expected to play Friday, but Sanchez said Thomas still isn’t fully recovered from a high ankle sprain suffered Oct. 29 at San Jose State.

“He’s 80 to 85 percent,” he said. “He’s a quick-twitch athlete. He’s a little different than those hard runners. They can be a little banged up. He’s kind of like a Lexus. He needs to be tuned up to be able to go. We’re working on getting him there.”

INJURY REPORT

UNLV lost starting cornerback Robert Jackson to a season-ending broken wrist Saturday. Defensive end Dominic Baldwin and long snapper Joe Lang also left the game with undisclosed injuries and are questionable for Friday.

PALANDECH HONORED

Rebels quarterback Kurt Palandech was one of eight quarterbacks named to the Manning Award’s “Stars of the Week” list sponsored by the Sugar Bowl, and the junior also was named to the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award’s Great 8 honorees for his performance against Wyoming.

Palandech, in his first start of the season, threw for a career-high 252 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for a career-high 157 yards and a 76-yard score.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.