UNLV defense turns in stellar performance in rout at Colorado State — PHOTOS

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — It looked as if UNLV’s defense was in for another long night after surrendering an opening-drive touchdown to Colorado State on Saturday at Canvas Stadium.

The Rebels, however, adjusted and turned in one of their best defensive performances of the season to snap a two-game losing streak with a 42-10 victory.

UNLV (7-2, 3-2 Mountain West) allowed three points on the Rams’ final 11 possessions, and the offense made more than enough plays to pull away from Colorado State (2-7, 1-4).

It was the fewest points the Rebels have allowed against a Mountain West opponent since a 35-7 win over New Mexico in 2012.

UNLV’s offense ran for 320 yards and four touchdowns, including two by Anthony Colandrea. The quarterback went 15-for-22 for 251 yards and two scores, as the Rebels joined North Texas as the only teams in the nation to score at least 30 points in all nine games this season.

But it was the defense that finally answered the call after several poor efforts.

“The big thing I’m really proud of what they did is kept their confidence,” coach Dan Mullen said. “Because there’s a lot of people out there, a lot of noise to not be a confident defense. Statistically, it wasn’t very good. But I think the guys inside could see where some of the issues were that we could correct, and we were able to do that.”

The defense was especially effective on third down, limiting the Rams to one conversion on 13 attempts.

“We did a great job there,” Mullen said. “And we did a good job on first down of not letting them get to third-and-1. I think that certainly helped. Then we were able to get a little bit of pressure, and then we did a great job of coverage on the back end.”

It was a huge improvement for a unit that had allowed an average of 48 points in the past three games.

The Rams, who entered the game as the league’s second-worst offense by total yards, appeared on the way to keeping that trend going after they went 75 yards on 13 plays to take a 7-0 lead.

UNLV’s defense forced two punts before allowing a field goal and then closing the first half with two fourth-down stops.

The Rebels completely took over in the third quarter, holding Colorado State to 31 yards on four empty possessions. The Rams had 73 yards in a scoreless second half.

“You have to just keep going,” Colandrea said of the defense’s bounce-back performance. “It’s football. We’re going to have bad games. They’re going to have bad games. Things happen like that. And they played awesome tonight. Ten points? That’s big time.”

Balanced offense

It was the opposite for the potent UNLV offense, which got off to a slow start with a punt and interception on the first two drives before scoring touchdowns on six of its next eight possessions before the starters were pulled early in the fourth quarter.

The balanced attack was led by Jai’Den Thomas, who had two runs of at least 50 yards in the first half, including a 57-yard touchdown.

He finished with 131 yards on seven carries. Jaylon Glover added 99 yards rushing and a touchdown, and Keyvone Lee ran for 46 yards and caught four passes for 51.

“We had to lock in, and that starts with me because I was playing bad those first two drives,” Colandrea said. “But those running backs were playing at a high level, so it’s nice to just give the ball to those guys and let them go.”

The Rebels are 7-2 for the third consecutive season with a 4 p.m. game on tap against Utah State on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.