3 takeaways from UNLV’s win: Interception ends UCLA comeback bid — PHOTOS

Aamaris Brown might have been onto something in his assessment of Nico Iamaleava, at least in the first half.

“Nothing really sticks out to me about him, honestly,” Brown said about UCLA’s quarterback earlier this week. “You know in the past, there’s been talk about, ‘Five-star this, five-star that.’ I have been around plenty of five-star and four-stars — it doesn’t scare me.”

The fear came later. The talented Iamaleava overcame a shaky first half and nearly willed his team back from a three-score deficit.

But Brown, and UNLV, got the last laugh.

The senior defensive back intercepted Iamaleava in the red zone off a deflection from linebacker Marsel McDuffie, and the Rebels survived a comeback bid from UCLA in a 30-23 win at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday.

“Like we said earlier this week, it’s just preparation Monday through Thursday,” Brown said. “All week at practice, we were harping on the little details. We just went out there and executed.”

The Rebels (3-0) picked up their first win over a Big Ten team since Sept. 13, 2003 when they upset No. 14 Wisconsin 23-5 in Madison and remained perfect in the Dan Mullen era.

It came in front of an announced attendance of 36,117, the third-largest crowd for a UNLV football game at Allegiant Stadium.

It was far from easy.

UNLV steamrolled its way to a 23-3 halftime lead. Not just by a near-flawless offensive effort, but a dominant defensive performance that looked nothing like the Rebels unit the first two weeks.

The Rebels held UCLA (0-2) to 110 total yards in the first half and sacked Iamaleava twice.

Junior quarterback Anthony Colandrea accounted for 262 total yards and threw three touchdowns, and senior tight end Var’Keyes Gumms led the way in receiving with three catches for 40 yards and a touchdown.

Iamaleava, after being held to 136 yards on 11-of-22 passing in his UCLA debut on Aug. 30 in a 43-10 home loss to Utah, bounced back with 255 yards through the air and a team-high 59 on the ground.

UNLV has three straight wins to start a season for the second straight year. The Rebels opened last season 4-0 for the first time since 1976 and will try to do it again on Sept. 20 at Miami (Ohio).

“What a great team win for everybody,” Mullen said. “Couldn’t be more proud of our guys.”

Three takeaways from the win:

1. Colandrea shines

There won’t be any Matthew Sluka-like drama this year. The Rebels have their quarterback now and going forward.

Colandrea completed at least 70 percent of his passes for the third straight game (15-of-21, 203 yards) and nearly led the Rebels in rushing with 59 yards on 11 carries.

Star running back Jai’Den Thomas carried only 13 times for 61 yards.

“I feel like the biggest thing is, we’ve been playing together since January, so we’ve kind of build a strong connection with everyone,” Colandrea said. “Tonight, we executed at a really high level in the first half.”

Colandrea was nearly flawless in the first half, going 12-of-14 for 171 yards and two touchdowns. The second half was more unnerving with two three-and-outs and a near interception returned for a touchdown in the fourth quarter that was overturned because his knee hit before letting go of the ball.

The Rebels had just one scoring drive in the second half, and Colandrea was the star. He took off for a 33-yard run on second-and-4. On the next play, he found Gumms over the middle for a 17-yard touchdown to give UNLV a 30-13 lead.

Colandrea was in a tight competition with Michigan transfer Alex Orji at the start of training camp, but three stellar performances have proven it’s his offense going forward.

“I don’t want to take away who he is as a player, which is his ability to improvise, his ability to make things happen on the field,” Mullen said. “I think he’s really maturing and growing from the first time I saw him play at Virginia.”

2. The other side

Iamaleava, who transferred from Tennessee due to a name, image and likeness dispute, had a rough six quarters to start his UCLA tenure.

He was held to 59 yards passing at halftime and also failed to convert a fourth-and-1 on his own 46-yard line. Iamaleava bounced back by going 22-for-31 in the second half for 196 yards, one touchdown and the interception.

Iamaleava started to get the ball out quicker at the end of the first half and it carried to UCLA’s first touchdown drive to begin the third quarter.

He also delivered with quality throws in UCLA’s last drive, including a 21-yard strike to the Bruins sideline to receiver Kwazi Gilmer.

There is talent there, but head coach Deshaun Foster’s team has two losses on its ledger regardless.

3. Penalties aplenty

The officiating crew from the Big Ten conference was not shy about throwing flags on Saturday.

UNLV and UCLA combined for 27 penalties for 258 yards. The Bruins were called for 14, while the Rebels committed 13.

UNLV had three straight penalties during its opening drive that turned a promising start into a field goal from Ramon Villela.

The 13 penalties were UNLV’s most since Sept. 2, 2017 when it had 13 in the 43-40 loss to Football Championship Subdivision school Howard.

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.