Grades: UNLV vs. Northern Colorado

OFFENSE: D

When you’re going up against a team that has lost 11 straight football games and you have the talent at wide receiver that UNLV has, you can’t allow yourself to continually stall out. Quarterback Blake Decker remains the proverbial work in progress and he needs to make better decisions. Yes, it’s only his second game as a Division I QB but he needs to have better awareness of what’s going on around him. His run game by committee isn’t helping his cause though George Naufahu picked it up in the fourth quarter and finished with 90 yards on 22 carries.

But back to the receivers. Northern Colorado was giving Devante Davis, Devonte Boyd and Marcus Sullivan room to operate but instead of looking to hit the secondary with quick strikes, UNLV opted more often than not to try and go for the big play and it was a flawed plan. Decker was picked off twice and had a couple of other throws that were nearly intercepted. UNLV had four turnovers and also were victims of a safety. All in all, not the kind of performance that instills a lot of confidence.

DEFENSE: B

Some solid play when it was needed to keep Northern Colorado from getting into the end zone more than once. And even that score took a spectacular catch between two defenders to set up the Bears’ lone TD. A strong game from Brandon Willis and Jordan Sparkman, both who were a constant presence in the UNC backfield. And Mike Horsey’s third-quarter interception turned out to be a huge play in the game.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B

Well, at least Bobby Hauck knows he has two kickers — one for short range in Jonathan Leiva, who hit from 35 yards late in the third quarter, the other from long distance as Nicolai Bornland made one from 54 yards in the second quarter, equalling the school record. The punting of Logan Yunker is fine.

COACHING: C-

No one is accusing the UNLV staff of looking past Northern Colorado but it sure seems weird that the Rebels would resort to gadget plays like Sullivan trying to throw a pass instead of catch one. Trickeration? Against Northern Colorado? Really?

When UNLV lined up, ran the ball or threw the ball quickly, it actually looked like it had a clue. But there were several drives that simply didn’t pass muster and with an offense bogging down and a defense that at times struggled to contain a good but not great quarterback, it makes you wonder how much focus there really was during Saturday’s game. And what is Decker doing throwing on 4th-and-4 inside the 10 and getting picked off at the goal line with 15 seconds remaining? Was UNLV trying to have a Kevin Thomas moment in reverse? Worse still, Sullivan got hurt on the play, injuring his knee in a scenario he didn’t need to be part of.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.