Graney: Paul Guenther deserves credit for turning around UNLV defense

Give credit where it is due.

Paul Guenther deserves a huge amount of it right now.

UNLV’s football team isn’t the one we saw earlier this season. It isn’t the one that handed out points and yards as if they were free.

It isn’t the one that in three consecutive weeks surrendered 48, 56 and 40 points.

That couldn’t stop you.

The Rebels are different. The team that beat Hawaii 38-10 on Friday night at Allegiant Stadium is the one UNLV coaches hoped to see all season.

One with an explosive offense and a defense that refused even the best attack — which Hawaii’s run-and-shoot has been throughout Mountain West play — much of anything.

“Unbelievable play by our defense,” UNLV coach Dan Mullen said. “Paul and his staff had a great plan. We talked about if we could just eliminate mistakes …”

NFL to college

Mullen hired Guenther to be his associate head coach in March, but Guenther also became defensive coordinator after Zach Arnett resigned for personal reasons in April.

This, the same Guenther whose NFL coaching career spanned 21 seasons for six teams, including stints as defensive coordinator for the Bengals and Raiders.

“I came (to UNLV) and saw that these guys worked their tails off,” Guenther said earlier this season. “A lot of good guys. A lot of guys who want to be great as a team and great individually. I’m having a lot of fun. A lot more fun than I thought I would coaching college.”

Bet on it: He has had a lot more fun the past three weeks.

The Rebels have allowed an average of 15.3 points during that span and held the conference’s leading offense in Hawaii to 231 yards.

UNLV earlier this season would give up that many in a half.

Guenther has said he wants his players to understand the big picture, which is why the defense often meets as an entire unit. He’s not big on the defensive line going here and the linebackers there and the defensive backs somewhere else. He wants them all on the same page.

And that’s really what was lacking before this latest string of strong performances.

Can it really be this simple?

They all talk about communication. About all 11 defensive players knowing the call and executing. About how when they are good, they are really good. And when they are bad, they are really bad.

And the reason things have been good lately is you have an entire unit practicing what Guenther preaches every day. To just be them. To just focus on the snap at hand.

UNLV had one blown coverage that Hawaii turned into a 70-yard touchdown. It was the only time all night the Rainbow Warriors reached the end zone. They never reached the red zone.

This, a team that entered averaging 36 points in league games.

And it couldn’t do much of anything after that long scoring pass. Couldn’t get into any sort of rhythm.

“When we communicate, it’s hard to gain yards on us,” senior linebacker Marsel McDuffie said. “Just trust each other. It’s now showing what we can be.”

Which is this: A team that still might qualify for the conference championship game.

UNR up next

The Rebels (9-2, 5-2) are still very much alive in the league race with one regular-season game remaining, at last-place UNR on Nov. 29. UNLV needs to win and get help elsewhere, but Friday’s victory kept it on the path toward perhaps playing for the title for the third straight season.

“There’s a standard at which we expect to play,” Mullen said. “We want to keep improving and be playing our best ball at the end of the year. If we can compete then, maybe we’ll have a chance to play for a (conference) championship.

“We want to play our best ball as the days get shorter and the nights get longer and the games get bigger. That’s what happens at this time of year every single week.”

This is also what should happen: Credit to Paul Guenther.

How things changed in a matter of weeks.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.