Ex-Canyon Springs star Pumphrey, Aztecs run past Rebels

SAN DIEGO — UNLV tried to keep running back Donnel Pumphrey in Las Vegas, but even though he went to Canyon Springs High School, his roots were in San Diego.

When someone’s hometown happens to be one of America’s most beautiful cities with highs regularly in the 70s, it can’t be called a crazy decision to want to return there. To choose San Diego State over the Rebels.

A decision that certainly was justified Saturday.

Pumphrey rushed for 167 yards and four touchdowns to lead San Diego State to a 34-17 victory over the Rebels, who did enough on their own to ensure the Aztecs would walk out of Qualcomm Stadium as winners.

Now a big question for the Rebels (1-4, 0-1 Mountain West) is how long they will be without star wide receiver Devante Davis. He didn’t play and had a sling on his right arm after the game.

Coach Bobby Hauck called Davis “week to week.”

“I didn’t think he was going to play last week and he played,” Hauck said. “We held him this week, so we’ll see next week.”

When asked if Davis had surgery, Hauck said, “that’s all I can say.”

UNLV listed 31 names on its injury report last week that included 14 players who were out. Two of those players who were “out” were wide receiver Marcus Sullivan and safety Mike Horsey, but both played.

San Diego State coach Rocky Long was asked if he was surprised how many Rebels made it onto the field.

“The only surprise was when I saw an injury list of 31 guys,” Long said. “All of them played but one, I think.”

Injuries were a big storyline going into the game against San Diego State (2-2, 1-0), but UNLV had it chances to beat the Aztecs. The statistics were nearly even, with the Aztecs holding a yardage advantage of 466-455.

UNLV kept getting in its own way.

Two scoring opportunities were wiped out by interceptions. The first was a pass into double coverage in the end zone by Blake Decker, and the second was a throw to running back George Naufahu that popped right out of his hands. If the Rebels had scored touchdowns on those drives, they would have been in the game.

“It’s frustrating because you feel like you’re hanging with these teams and we’re playing well,” said Decker, who completed 18 of 31 passes for 346 yards and a touchdown. “We’ve got to capitalize. We’ve got to finish drives.”

UNLV made enough other mistakes — defensive end Jordan Sparkman, for example, lined up offsides twice in three plays inside his 13-yard line — to stand in the way of pulling off the upset victory. Or even making the game interesting.

“We’re a little bit snake bit,” Hauck said. “We had a field goal hit the right post, bounces out. They had a field goal hit the right post, bounces in. That’s where we are right now. That’s the story of the game, a little bit.”

San Diego State eliminated most of the drama with a 28-10 halftime lead, and Pumphrey scored all four of those touchdowns and had 107 yards by the break. He scored the first TD on a 71-yard run off a Statue of Liberty, and the next three were close to the goal line.

He also matched his career high of 167 yards rushing, and his four touchdowns were a personal best.

“I was able to get to the holes and make guys miss,” Pumphrey said.

As for UNLV, it needs to find some sort of spark, and maybe Saturday at San Jose State will provide it. But the Rebels won’t win there if they make the same kind of mistakes they made at San Diego State.

“We’ve just got to keep going,” Hauck said. “We’ve got a big one this week. We’re moving into October. September wasn’t good enough. We’re playing hard. I thought we played better tonight than maybe to date.

“We’ve got to get it done this week and find a way to get a win at San Jose.”

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.