UNLV’s trip to Hawaii more formidable this season

SAN DIEGO — UNLV’s trip to Hawaii suddenly doesn’t look as appealing for the Rebels as it did last season, when the Rainbow Warriors struggled to a 3-10 record and went 0-8 in the Mountain West.

Hawaii has improved under first-year coach Nick Rolovich, beating San Jose State 34-17 on Saturday to open conference play 2-0 and even its record at 3-3 while snapping a 10-game road losing streak.

Quarterback Dru Brown completed 24 of 33 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 54 yards and a score for the Rainbow Warriors, who beat UNR 38-17 in their league opener at home.

The Rebels will play Hawaii at 9 p.m. (PDT) on Saturday at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. UNLV beat the Rainbow Warriors 41-21 at Sam Boyd Stadium last season, but has lost the past four meetings in Hawaii, where it hasn’t won since 2000.

The Rainbow Warriors are averaging 29.1 points, and their losses are to Power Five schools California (51-31), Michigan (63-3) and Arizona (47-28).

FOX TO AIR HAWAII GAME

The Rebels’ game at Hawaii, which was originally scheduled to be streamed online and then not at all, now will be shown live on the local Fox affiliate. KVVU-TV paid the rights fee to pick up the Hawaii TV broadcast of Saturday’s game and will air it locally in Southern Nevada.

RICKS OUT FOR SEASON

San Diego State senior middle linebacker Randy Ricks, a Legacy High School graduate, had surgery Thursday for turf toe and will miss the rest of the season. Ricks had 11 tackles and a sack this season.

STREAKING AZTECS

San Diego State had its 13-game win streak snapped by South Alabama on Oct. 1, but the Aztecs took an 11-game Mountain West win streak into Saturday’s game against the Rebels. The streak was the longest active one in the nation entering Saturday after Western Kentucky saw its 13-game Conference USA win streak end in Thursday’s 55-52 loss to Louisiana Tech.

San Diego State also entered play riding an 11-game home conference win streak and had won its past five without trailing, a streak of 323 minutes, 13 seconds.

REBELS REUNION

Three former UNLV football head coaches attended Saturday’s game at Qualcomm Stadium: Jeff Horton, the Aztecs’ offensive coordinator; Bobby Hauck, the Aztecs’ special teams coordinator; and Wayne Nunnely, who is retired.

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