Rebels rough up Hawaii for key Mountain West win — PHOTOS
UNLV stayed alive in the race for a berth in the Mountain West championship game with a 38-10 win over Hawaii in front of a season-high crowd of 37,106 Friday night at Allegiant Stadium.
The Rebels (9-2, 5-2 Mountain West) got three touchdown passes from quarterback Anthony Colandrea and are one of five teams with two losses or fewer in conference play.
Hawaii (7-4, 4-3) fell out of that group with the loss, largely because UNLV’s much-maligned defense came up big against one of the conference’s most explosive offenses.
“If you want to compete for championships, you’ve got to play defense,” coach Dan Mullen said. “We’ve really been doing that the last couple weeks.”
The Rainbow Warriors were held to a season-low 231 yards, the fewest UNLV has allowed in a game this season.
After Hawaii scored an opening-drive touchdown on a busted coverage that resulted in a 70-yard score, the Rebels allowed just three points on the final nine possessions.
“We had the one mistake, and the rest of the night was just a dominant performance against one of the best offenses in the league,” Mullen said. “We had a great plan. Got after the quarterback and didn’t let them get into rhythm.”
It’s part of a positive trend for the Rebels, who were allowing 34.3 points per game after a loss to New Mexico on Nov. 1. The defense has tightened significantly the past three weeks, limiting opponents to 15.3 points during a three-game winning streak.
Friday was the best performance of the season for defensive coordinator Paul Guenther’s unit, as it held Hawaii quarterback Micah Alejado, a redshirt freshman from Bishop Gorman High, to 163 yards passing and one touchdown. He entered the game averaging 297.5 yards passing per game.
‘The Magician’
If Friday’s matchup was indeed a referendum on which quarterback should be considered the front-runner for the league’s offensive player of the year award, Colandrea left little doubt. The junior connected on 21 of 26 passes for 253 yards and hit three different receivers for scores.
He added 16 yards rushing on three scrambles and was at his best outside the pocket.
“That’s the magician right there,” linebacker Marsel McDuffie said. “Whenever I’m on the sideline and get a chance to watch him work, I’m in awe. He’s always going out there making plays no matter what goes on.”
Mullen said Colandrea has always had those improvisational skills, but he has become one of the best players in the conference by learning to stay in structure and manage the game until he needs to make a play.
“He does those things right, and then all of a sudden, when something needs to happen, he does his Anthony stuff,” Mullen said. “But the maturity he’s shown and the growth he’s shown has been fantastic.”
Colandrea credits Mullen for helping take his game to the next level after transferring from Virginia.
“That’s the reason I came here, to be developed as a quarterback,” Colandrea said. “At the end of the day, I just want to be a good quarterback, and I knew if I came here, he was going to help make that happen.”
Starting fast
UNLV, which has put up gaudy offensive numbers despite getting off to slow starts, came out hot with 274 yards of offense in the first half. The Rebels finished with 470 yards.
They took a 24-7 lead in the second quarter before the Warriors hit a field goal just before halftime to cut the margin to 24-10.
The Rebels settled for a field goal on the opening drive of the game and then answered the Hawaii touchdown with an 8-yard TD pass from Colandrea to Jaden Bradley.
It was the first touchdown UNLV has scored in the first quarter since an Oct. 11 win over Air Force.
The Rebels weren’t finished. Colandrea hit Taeshaun Lyons for a 72-yard score on the next drive. They then found the end zone for a third consecutive possession when Keyvone Lee capped a 13-play, 74-yard drive with a 14-yard touchdown run.
UNLV will end the conference slate with a game at UNR on Nov. 29.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
