Report Card: UNLV vs. Hawaii

GRADING THE REBELS

OFFENSE: B

The final numbers look great. Blake Decker threw for 258 yards and two touchdowns. Both Lexington Thomas and Keith Whitely eclipsed the 100-yard mark on the ground and Devonte Boyd had six catches for 120 yards and a score. UNLV did more than enough on the offensive side of the ball to earn its third win of the season. The issues, however, was a stagnant stretch in the first half where the Rebels failed to take advantage of several opportunities to put the game away. Hawaii was doing next to nothing on offense, but the Warriors hung around and even had the game tied on a 34-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter. Hawaii is bad enough that UNLV was able to overcome the dormant stretch and win fairly easily. That won't be the case against better competition. Decker also had a horrible interception on an ill-advised throw. UNLV was just 3 of 13 on third down and turned the ball over twice.

DEFENSE: C

The UNLV defense played great in the first 20 minutes of the game. After that, it was incredibly average. Hawaii was able to find enough running lanes to tally 191 yards on the ground. The Warriors only passed for 187, but that was largely a byproduct of several bad dropped passes. UNLV did force three turnovers and sack Ikaika Woolsey three times.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A-

Nicolai Bornand was his steady self, making both field goal attempts and all five extra-point tries. He did only manage one touchback on eight kickoffs, however. Logan Yunker averaged 43.2 yards per punt and pinned Hawaii inside the 20 on three occasions. Hawaii's only punt return resulted in a 1-yard loss. The only real mistake came when Aaron Criswell managed to get to just the 14-yard line when he elected to run a kick out of the end zone.

COACHING: B

Sanchez gets credit here for winning his third game of the season when oddsmakers set the team's win total at just 2.5 for the entire year. Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, it has been a successful first season by that measure. He had the team ready for a game against an inferior opponent with an interim coach making his debut. It wasn't always pretty though. UNLV failed to take advantage of the opportunity to put Hawaii away early on. That needs to be addressed. It was also a dubious decision to punt on a fourth-and-2 from the Hawaii 39 in the first quarter. Clearly, Sanchez believes in Yunker's ability to pin the opponent deep and it worked as Hawaii had to start from its own 4-yard-line. That's an area of the field to be more aggressive, though.

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