UNLV QB overcomes flu, but rally falls short against New Mexico — PHOTOS
UNLV quarterback Anthony Colandrea nearly had his “flu game.”
His heroics through illness, however, weren’t enough as the Rebels fell 40-35 to New Mexico in a wild shootout at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday.
New Mexico finished with 532 yards of total offense, including 401 through the air as UNLV’s defense was torched yet again in a second consecutive loss. The Lobos generated six plays of at least 30 yards and scored two touchdowns of 80 yards or more.
“The consistency of our performance is not where it needs to be and that gets to the head coach, right?” UNLV coach Dan Mullen said. “The consistency of making sure we are doing everything the right way at all times comes down to me and right now we’re not doing a good enough job of that.
“I have to make sure we don’t make the errors and mistakes we made that cost us the game today.”
Magic runs out
Colandrea and the offense almost created enough magic to overcome the lapses, just as he had in most of the first six games of the season.
A potential go-ahead drive for UNLV fell short, however, when Colandrea’s fourth-down pass to Koy Moore fell incomplete near midfield just after the two-minute timeout.
The Rebels (6-2, 2-2 Mountain West) got one more possession, but it started from their 2-yard line with 49 seconds to play and didn’t materialize.
UNLV had rallied from a 21-0 deficit to take its first lead of the game on a 14-yard pass from Colandrea to Nick Elksnis with 6:35 to play in the game, but the Lobos (6-3, 3-2) answered with an eight-play, 75-yard drive to take the lead on a 13-yard run by D.J. McKinney with 2:54 left.
Game time decision
Colandrea finished 36-for-46 for 382 yards and three touchdowns as the Rebels lost for the first time at home.
His effort was particularly impressive considering a final decision on his status wasn’t made until just before kickoff. Colandrea showed up to practice Friday sick with the flu and was kept away from the team while taking fluids through an IV right up until Saturday morning.
Mullen asked how he was feeling at game time and got the 10-out-of-10 answer he was expecting before asking for a more honest evaluation and getting a six from Colandrea.
“It was a decision I was going to have to make looking at him because he wasn’t going to sit out and the trainers weren’t going to hold him out,” Mullen said. “So it had to be a decision by me on whether he was going to help or hurt the team being out there.
“We were hoping and we were going to do whatever it takes to get him ready. I think he’s such an unbelievable competitor and to have the type of game he had after just sitting in a room and getting IVs and fluids, I give him a lot of credit.”
His availability was particularly important considering fellow highly touted transfer Alex Orji is out for the year with a left knee injury.
Run game neutralized
Colandrea added 40 yards on the ground, though he fumbled twice in the first half. The game was largely on his shoulders with the way the Rebels fell behind and New Mexico completely shut down UNLV’s vaunted rushing attack, limiting the rest of the ball carriers to 48 yards on 21 attempts.
“I think (Colandrea) did a really good job of making plays and keeping us in the game,” Mullen said. “He got the ball out on time when he needed to and made some great throws and some Colandrea plays where he ran around and improvised and kept it alive.
“They did a great job stopping the run and they were committed to that, but we did a good job throwing the football down the field.”
It just wasn’t enough as one last rally fell short.
UNLV trailed 21-0 in the second quarter before Colandrea led back-to-back scoring drives and Quandarius Keyes returned an interception 25 yards to tie the game.
The Lobos, however, answered with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Jack Layne to Keagan Johnson, who finished with six catches for 158 yards. Damon Bankston had five receptions for 122 yards and two touchdowns.
New Mexico would add a field goal just before halftime and another early in the third quarter to extend the lead back to 13 points before another UNLV rally.
The Rebels just didn’t have another one in them after falling behind a third time.
“They were 6-1, second place in the conference and have played in a conference championship game two years in a row,” Lobos coach Jason Eck said. “Their coach used to be the head coach at Florida. This is a good win for us.”
It was a tough loss for UNLV, which now faces an uphill battle to get back to another league championship game.
The Rebels will play at Colorado State (2-6) next Saturday.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
