UNLV thriving entering MW play thanks to opportunistic defense

LARAMIE, Wyo. — They practice it daily. They stress it during fundamental periods. Punch the football out. Intercept it.

Many teams do the same and never see the results.

That’s not the case with UNLV.

Forcing turnovers has become a thing for the Rebels.

The team, which opens Mountain West play at Wyoming on Saturday, has an FBS-best 57 interceptions since 2022. Texas has the second most with 52.

UNLV has forced 10 turnovers — including eight picks — in four games this season. Louisiana Tech leads the FBS with 13, but has played five games.

The Rebels (4-0) are best described as opportunistic.

When there is a play to be made on the ball, they’re ready to do so.

Need to improve

“We’ve been able to get them every game so far, so I just think it’s part of the way we practice,” defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said. “I think we can be a really good defense. We only have a few guys who really even played last year. It’s a whole new group.

“It’s like we’ve played four preseason games and you understand what your strengths are. We just need to work more on our deficiencies and get better at those.”

It’s crazy. UNLV at times has looked like a total shutdown defense. At other times it hasn’t. The numbers certainly need to improve if the Rebels expect to play for a third straight conference title.

UNLV enters Saturday’s game ranked 120th out of 136 FBS schools in total defense, surrendering an average of 427.8 yards per game. It ranks 103rd in scoring defense (28.3 points allowed per game). The Rebels bend at times and break at others. Yet they remain unbeaten.

UNLV also shut down Miami (Ohio) in the second half of its 41-38 road win Sept. 20. The RedHawks’ only points after halftime came on a kickoff return and a pick six.

“We made some uncommon errors early, whether it was against the run or pass,” Guenther said. “They got us on a double move and one got out the back door — just little things that shouldn’t happen that we need to get corrected because I don’t think we’ve played a complete game yet.

“We played really well against UCLA in the first half and (not) so much in the second. We were up at Sam Houston and then gave up a couple scores in cleanup time. We just need to put a complete game together.”

One player doing his part is senior defensive back Aamaris Brown, who has an interception in all four games and brought two back for touchdowns.

Cornerbacks coach Akeem Davis describes Brown as a true leader and ball hawk. He said Brown’s preparation stands out, which allows him to be ready when an opportunity to grab the ball arises.

Go make plays

“Being instinctive is very important,” Davis said. “(Guenther) does a tremendous job keeping it simple where guys can go out and play extremely fast with clear minds and fast feet and use their God-given abilities to go make plays.

“Ninety percent of this game is played from the neck up. You have to identify your opportunities and knock the ball away. Or when you see a certain split or alignment, you have to identify what routes are about to come at you and be mentally prepared and mentally tough enough to get yourself in position and let your eyes validate and go up and make a play on the ball.”

The Rebels talk about being perfect on every play. That whenever you receive the opportunity to step on the field, merely do your job to the best of your ability for the amount of snaps you receive.

That you need to reset and reload, no matter what happens.

And maybe, just maybe, all that might lead to UNLV’s defense putting it all together.

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