Run of good luck: UNLV survives Utah State in double-OT thriller — PHOTOS
UNLV had Anthony Colandrea and some positive kicking luck on its side against Utah State on Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium.
The Rebels also had one big running play in them, even without injured star back Jai’Den Thomas, as they survived a double-overtime thriller with a 29-26 victory over the Aggies.
“What a great win for our guys,” UNLV coach Dan Mullen said. “They’re fun to coach because they do things like this, find ways to stick together and make plays when we need to make them at critical moments of the game.”
Kayden McGee ran for a 25-yard touchdown on the first play of the second overtime possession to set off a celebration that seemed very unlikely for the Rebels (8-2, 4-2 Mountain West) on multiple occasions during the game.
Tanner Rinker missed a 41-yard attempt that would have won the game for the Aggies (5-5, 3-3) in the first overtime after Ramon Villela had missed for UNLV on the first possession.
Rinker, who had made all 10 attempts this season entering Saturday’s game, earlier missed from 44 as time expired in regulation. He had already missed an extra point and a field goal in the first half in addition to a botched fake field goal late in the first half.
“I’m not sure why they struggled,” Utah State coach Bronco Mendenhall said of his kicking game. “We’ve kicked the ball really accurately throughout the year, so I certainly didn’t see that coming. We had multiple chances from the beginning of the game right to the end. We earned those opportunities and put them in position. That unit, we just didn’t have the consistency or the outcome we wanted there.”
Rinker did finally connect on a 39-yarder to put Utah State ahead after the first possession of the second overtime.
That set the stage for the heroics from McGee, who had just one attempt for 4 yards on the season entering Saturday’s game.
The Rebels shifted their formation in the backfield and ended up with McGee on Colandrea’s right hip in the shotgun. He took the handoff and found a hole up the middle before darting outside and sprinting for the pylon.
A wild celebration was momentarily paused for an official review, but it continued after the ruling of touchdown was upheld.
“I can guarantee you he’s been frustrated a lot this season, but it’s that belief when I tell him to just stick with it and trust me on this and he’s done that,” Mullen said. “You never know when your number is going to be called and it was called today and in overtime.”
Clutch Colandrea
McGee finished with a team-high 54 yards on three carries, taking advantage of an opportunity that was created when Thomas was ruled out after attempting to test out a leg injury during warmups.
The Rebels struggled to get much of a ground game going in the absence of the all-Mountain West performer, but made a big play when it was needed.
It was Colandrea who kept them in the game long enough to allow that to happen, including leading a drive for a game-tying field goal with 2:18 remaining in regulation.
The junior quarterback finished with 277 yards and a touchdown through the air and another 29 yards and a score on the ground, but the numbers don’t begin to tell the story.
Colandrea came through time and again when the Rebels needed to make a play, including two huge fourth-down conversions as UNLV won for the fourth time this season when trailing at halftime.
Gambles pay off
The Rebels took their first lead of the game when Colandrea hit Daejon Reynolds along the end line in the back of the end zone on a fourth-and-6 play from the 9-yard line late in the third quarter.
Officials originally ruled Reynolds had stepped out of bounds during his route and had touched the ball illegally, but the play was ruled a touchdown after review.
It wasn’t the first time Colandrea had made sure a gamble by coach Dan Mullen paid off for UNLV on Saturday.
Mullen elected to keep the offense on the field for a fourth-and-7 from the Utah State 37-yard line midway through the second quarter.
Colandrea stepped up in the pocket after his offensive line picked up a blitz and hit Troy Omeire for a 16-yard gain.
Two plays later, Colandrea juked a free rusher and raced into the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown that cut the Aggies’ lead to 13-10.
Both teams then had a chance to score in the final two minutes of the first half, but came up short as the Aggies went to the break with that 3-point advantage.
After Utah State botched a fake field-goal attempt when it appeared several players were unaware of the call, UNLV was able to quickly work the ball back downfield only to have Villela come up short on a 59-yard attempt as time expired.
UNLV next hosts Hawaii in a 7:30 p.m. Friday game at Allegiant Stadium.
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Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
