Report Card: UNLV vs. Boise State

GRADING THE REBELS

OFFENSE: B

Blake Decker’s return helped open up the playbook and the offense responded with 487 total yards. The coaching staff figured running the ball would be a challenge against the stout Boise State defensive front, so the game plan was pass-heavy. It was successful for the most part. Decker threw for 357 yards and Devonte Boyd and Aaron Criswell each had over 100 receiving yards. The Rebels moved the ball just fine. The biggest shortcoming was in the red zone. The one-dimensional attack led to trouble when the field got shorter and there was less space to cover.

DEFENSE: D-

Stats don’t always tell the whole story, but allowing 705 yards is never acceptable. The Rebel defense gave up huge yardage both on the ground and through the air. Boise State freshman Brett Rypien threw for 469 yards and two touchdowns. He also caught a touchdown pass. The Broncos added 232 rushing yards on 37 carries. To be fair, UNLV wore down on defense as Boise State ran an insane 90 plays in the game. There just isn’t a way to put a positive spin on 700 yards allowed. The only thing that spared a failing grade was a defensive touchdown in the second quarter. This unit has to be better.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-

Nicolai Bornand made a pair of field goals and all three extra points. There were no major lapses on coverage as UNLV allowed just 17.8 yards per kickoff return, opting to squib kick on several occasions. Logan Yunker was good all day, averaging 45.7 yards on six punts and pinning Boise State inside the 20 twice. One of those led to a UNLV defensive touchdown as the Broncos fumbled deep in their own territory.

COACHING: C-minus

Tony Sanchez has his team to a point of competing against superior teams. He likes to say there are no moral victories, but UNLV was right in the game in the fourth quarter.That’s progress. Sanchez showed adaptability by taking a pass-heavy approach against a team that was going to be very difficult to run on. Those are all good things. But there were some negatives. UNLV elected to punt on fourth-and-three from the Boise State 42-yard line on its opening drive of the game. The Rebels then attempted a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 3 later in the quarter. At the end of the first half, he called for his offense to take a knee from its own 33 with 28 seconds left and three timeouts remaining. It was a game that called for an aggressive approach against superior talent and Sanchez got very conservative. His response would be that UNLV stayed in the game and could have been blown out if things hadn’t worked out. But in the end, the Rebels were only going to be just good enough to lose close without taking chances.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.