Graney: Rebels show resolve, match Air Force blow for blow

This is when you know UNLV football players have come together as a team.

When you face this kind of resiliency and still come out on top.

When there isn’t a defensive stop in sight and you find a way to win.

This is the moment when more than 60 new faces made quite a statement.

You know — after all the lunacy.

The team that returned the fewest number of starters nationally from a season ago survived Air Force 51-48 on Saturday before a homecoming crowd of 32,932 at Allegiant Stadium.

Bet on it. Those who came certainly got their money’s worth and then some.

A 6-0 start

It could have gone the other way, oh, several times. Air Force was relentless in pursuit of an upset. But as shaky as things have been at times during UNLV’s 6-0 start to the season, one thing that remains solid is the team’s resolve.

Coach Dan Mullen has his team playing like one. Even when things looked dire, when Air Force’s frustrating option attack was wearing UNLV down to a frazzle, the Rebels showed no quit.

They haven’t played a complete game yet — haven’t really come close — and are already bowl eligible for a third straight season.

They look really good in spots and not so much in others. They end a day giving up — are you sitting down? — 603 total yards and still discover a way to depart laughing and hugging and celebrating.

“We’re halfway through the season with six straight wins,” linebacker Marsel McDuffie said. “We need to put this one on the back burner and get ready for the next. Get ready and prepare. We know where we have to go, who we are going up against. It’s going to be a rowdy crowd. We have to have a good week of practice.”

Yes. It’s Boise State time.

The Rebels play at the Broncos on Saturday, a rematch of the past two Mountain West championship games. This is the one UNLV fans have awaited. This is the one that could in the long run — yes, there is a lot of football to be played — decide who hosts the title game this season.

Sure. UNLV has to get much better in several areas before it begins to think in those terms. But the headache of trying to stop Air Force is over. Finished. Done.

And what a challenge it was.

The Falcons might be 1-5, but they have as explosive an offense as the Rebels will see this season. And it was on full display Saturday.

And as much as UNLV’s offense produced — we’re talking 597 total yards, including 377 passing — it left some points on the field that might have allowed the Rebels a lead Air Force would have struggled to keep up with.

Three times the Rebels went into the red zone and opted for field goals. If they manage touchdowns on those drives, there isn’t much holding of breath down the stretch.

As it is, it was a classic shootout.

Not much defense from either side, but that was expected. The Falcons rank last among conference teams in scoring and total defense. UNLV hasn’t been much better trying to stop teams, allowing an average of more than 413 yards.

A number that will only grow after this one.

“We played a game and gave up 48 points, but I’ll take the win,” McDuffie said. “We never gave up. We kept fighting. We stayed together. That’s what I love about this team. No matter what the score is, no matter what’s going on, we do everything together.”

It’s Boise State

That’s the most impressive thing about Mullen’s team. It’s hardly perfect. It has a lot of flaws, even for a 6-0 team. It needs to be so much better defensively.

But for a program that welcomed more than 60 new players to its family, it competes as if the team has been together for years.

Saturday was a thing of folly. Video game more than actual football game.

But when fingers could be pointed and issues could have arisen, none of it did for UNLV.

Even on a day the other guys rolled up more than 600 yards, that says something.

That, and the defense really needs a week of practice and preparation.

Because it’s Boise State on deck.

The game you have been waiting for.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.