UNLV football readies for MW play: ‘Our season starts next Monday’

You might have seen the social media post. UNLV football coach Dan Mullen handed out cookies to his team on its flight home after it rallied to beat Miami (Ohio) 41-38 on Saturday.

“When you win games, good things happen,” Mullen said. “I’m a chocolate chip guy.”

Now, Mullen said, things get really serious.

The Rebels are 4-0 after winning all their non-conference games for the first time, but league play looms.

Eight games in nine weeks. Eight games to see if the Rebels can qualify for a third straight Mountain West championship game.

“I’m not downplaying the games we’ve played, but our season starts next Monday (Sept. 29),” Mullen said Monday, at the start of the second of UNLV’s three bye weeks. “Our whole complete focus is getting into conference games. We need to control the opportunity we have to compete for a conference championship.

“The key for us is to continue to coach and clean up our execution, our technique, our fundamentals better as we move forward. We played in Week Zero and have had two byes and four games. It has been unique.”

UNLV opens conference play at Wyoming on Oct. 4. The Cowboys are also on bye this week.

Mullen said improvement is needed before landing in Laramie. That the Rebels still haven’t played their best game, even after rallying from 14 points down three different times against Miami.

That it’s easier to correct things during a bye week coming off a win.

“Our guys are excited and they have some juice,” Mullen said. “A lot of it is about mental toughness. Not to point fingers. Just buckle down and do your job and continue to play hard.”

Mullen said one of the most enjoyable things about coaching the Rebels four weeks in is there are no off-field issues that can slow the progress of a program. That there is a complete commitment from players.

“It’s not complicated,” Mullen said. “When we execute, we have some pretty good players who do their jobs. But I can also go in there and say, ‘Hey guys, we’re not very good right now but we’re doing the hard things.’ We have to improve on the football and execution side of things. That’s the fun part.

“It’s easy to bury your head when you’re down 14. We don’t have that problem. It’s hard to fix that. I love coaching this team.”

Third down success

One of the reasons UNLV came back to win Saturday was its success on third down in the second half. The Rebels were 9-for-9 before lining up on fourth down for a game-winning field goal with 15 seconds remaining.

“We spend a lot of time on situational football during the week,” Mullen said. “Not all the (conversions) were clean, but I think our guys’ focus and understanding of situational football helped.

“They knew what to expect from the defense and then went out and executed their part. It was big for us to stay on the field and convert. It gave us the opportunity to have explosive plays on first down.”

He said the offense was able to stay in rhythm most of the day. That Miami was a bend-but-don’t-break defense that kept almost everything in front of it.

That quarterback Anthony Colandrea taking what the RedHawks gave him allowed the Rebels to move the ball. Patience was the key.

“I give our guys credit for that,” Mullen said.

A ballhawk

Defensive back Aamaris Brown leads the nation in interceptions with four in four games. He brought a second back for a touchdown Saturday.

He is, Mullen said, the ideal hybrid to man the nickel position.

Brown played mostly cornerback at South Florida before transferring to UNLV.

“He’s a football player,” Mullen said. “I like good football players. He has a nose for the ball and he’s in the right place at the right time.

“His pick-6 this last week just came from being in the right third-down coverage and seeing the ball floated downfield. His ability to come off his man and still make the play was perfect.”

So, apparently, were those cookies.

Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.