‘Our best act is our final act’: UNLV remains unbeaten with late rally

OXFORD, Ohio – Dan Mullen has said it often.

When his UNLV football team is good, it’s really good.

When it’s not, well, you know …

The Rebels were both Saturday, and yet put together a second half that was as memorable as it was terrific.

UNLV rallied for a 41-38 victory over Miami (Ohio) before a crowd of 12,625 at Yager Stadium.

It means the Rebels are 4-0 to start a season for the second straight year. It means they remain perfect under Mullen in his first season running the program.

It means they never give in, never relent no matter how things are going.

And they weren’t going well to begin Saturday.

Erasing deficits

UNLV found itself in 14-0 and 24-10 holes before heading to the locker room for halftime. The Rebels couldn’t stop much of anything, allowing 304 yards in the first 30 minutes, including 223 passing.

But somewhere between standing on the edge of being blown out and halftime speeches from coaches and players, the Rebels found a purpose.

Not to mention their game.

UNLV scored 31 second-half points, the final three on a 23-yard game-winning field goal from Ramon Villela with 15 seconds remaining.

The Rebels trailed 38-24 late in the third quarter.

“Holy cow!” Mullen said. “You know when I say we want to be the best show in town? It doesn’t mean we have to always sit there until the final seconds, right? Well, you’re not leaving early, I’ll tell you that. It seems like our best act is our final act.”

UNLV was just so good on both sides of the ball in the second half. Its offense found a rhythm Miami (0-3) couldn’t stop. The Rebels were 9 of 9 on third down until setting up for the final field goal. The defense that couldn’t deny anything early stopped pretty much everything late.

Take away a special teams miscue that saw the RedHawks return a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and UNLV was by far the better team when it mattered most.

Quarterback Anthony Colandrea finished 29 of 44 passing for 293 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions, one pick being tipped in the air and returned for a TD that gave Miami a 38-24 lead.

But he was solid down the stretch, leading the Rebels to scores on their final three drives.

“I don’t think I played that well,” Colandrea said. “But the guys around me played their tails off and made a lot of big-time plays. The backs ran their tails off. The receivers made huge catches. The defense held up when it needed to.”

The RedHawks lost their talented dual threat quarterback, Dequan Finn, to injury in the second quarter. His backup, Henry Hesson, led Miami to 10 points down the stretch of the first half, but not much else thereafter.

One of UNLV’s biggest plays of the first half came on defense, when defensive back Aamaris Brown returned a Finn interception 67 yards for a score. It was Brown’s fourth interception of the season and his second returned for a touchdown.

“There’s a lot of energy in that locker room right now,” Brown said. “Guys were down at halftime, but we just kept preaching the same message — the game wasn’t over. We had unfinished business. Stay in the game. Stay calm. Keep your composure. I told the guys we were going to get back in it, and it happened the way we wanted it to.”

A crazy game

Colandrea was right. There were contributions everywhere.

Running back Jai’Den Thomas rushed 14 times for 118 yards and a score for UNLV. Wide receiver Jaden Bradley had seven catches for 93 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Troy Omeire had six receptions for 76 yards.

It was the same on defense. Brown has turned into a fantastic ballhawk. Linebacker Marsel McDuffie recovered a key fumble at his 17-yard line with Miami driving in a 38-38 game in the final minutes.

McDuffie also ended the game with an interception after Miami muffed a field-goal snap when attempting a 57-yarder to try to tie the score.

“I couldn’t be prouder of these coaches and players,” Mullen said. “They had every reason to point fingers and start complaining and lose their composure. None of them did.”

And for it, UNLV came on the road and earned itself a fourth straight victory to begin the season.

Crazy as it was.

And it was nuts.

Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.