UNLV Loses Crazy 2 OT Wild One To Eastern Washington, 35-33, At Allegiant Stadium Thursday As Rebs Coach Still Seeks First Win
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
It’s a gorgeous new stadium.
But it was same old result for the UNLV football team Thursday evening.
A loss for the Rebs. This time it was to Eastern Washington at pristine Allegiant Stadium, only three miles from campus.
But it sure was a crazy finish and a helluva comeback for UNLV, which staged a remarkable rally from a 20-6 deficit to force a 20-20 tie and overtime.
Eastern Washington prevailed, 35-33, in 2 OTs in front of a crowd that looked like about 15,000 or so at the Raiders’ impressive Allegiant Stadium. UNLV announced their attendance at 21,970.
*
The first half was a defensive struggle as the Rebs led, 6-3, at intermission.
But Mount Vesuvius erupted in the fourth quarter as UNLV rallied from 14 points down to force overtime.
The Rebels may have lost, but they did find a quarterback. Doug Brumfield, a southpaw thrower who can sling it around the artificial turf in the tray that was inserted into Allegiant Stadium for UNLV’s home-opener.
*
The season-opening kickoff was still 2 1/2 hours away when the UNLV marching band practiced on the synthetic green playing surface inside Allegiant Stadium.
Coming off an 0-6 COVID-19 pandemic season, UNLV played its first game inside this lavish domed venue with more than the 2,000 pandemic-time fans who entered the 65,000-seat stadium last Halloween when the Rebels lost to the University of Nevada at Reno.
Masks were required for everyone inside the stadium whether you were vaccinated or not. The Raiders are requiring all fans to show proof of vaccination to attend the Sept. 13 Monday Night Football season-opener against the Baltimore Ravens. But masks will not be required at Raiders home games. Just proof of inoculations.
*
The Rebels got their Super Senior running back, Charles “Chuck Wagon” Williams off and running midway through the second period and placekicker Daniel Gutierrez banged home a line-drive 49-yard FG to tie the defensive game at three.
UNLV DB Cam Oliver then picked off Eastern Washington QB Eric Barriere on a nice interception and the Rebels looked to take the lead heading into halftime. Gutierrez punched home a 23-yard chip shot and the Rebs led, 6-3, at the half.
Williams ran 27 times for 172 yards and two touchdowns, including a 16-yard scamper in the fourth quarter that put the Rebs in position to tie the roller-coaster game with a two-point try. His career running yards hit 3,112, making him only the fourth UNLV runner to eclipse 3,000 career yards.
*
The Rebels lost three inside this palatial indoor sports building and another three on the road in 2020, when new coach Marcus Arroyo kicked off his rookie season as UNLV coach after a high-profile stint as Oregon’s offensive coordinator.
Former UNLV Athletic Director Desiree Reed-Francois, who has moved on to the Missouri AD job in the Power Five SEC, hired Arroyo in December 2019 in those pre-coronavirus times that seem decades ago. Arroyo made $825,000 as Oregon’s offensive coordinator and received a pay increase to $1.5 million at UNLV in year one of a five-year deal. There are some pay escalators and incentives built into the 22-page contract
“I wanted this job. The pay has nothing to do with it,” Arroyo said on that December day when he was introduced.
UNLV’s long journey to a new stadium from ol’ Sam Boyd Stadium some eight miles away from the university campus near the Las Vegas Wash was marked by at least two attempts to build its own stadium on campus in 2013 and 2014. Both were unsuccessful.
The dynamic changed when the NFL Raiders aligned their future with the late Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas billionaire hotel and casino developer who helped get state legislation passed in 2016 that created the funding mechanism to build the Raiders’ 65,000-seat stadium that UNLV now uses for today’s game against Eastern Washington. Southern Nevada contributed an NFL stadium subsidy record $750 million to help build the $2 billion stadium project that former Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said was necessary for the state’s tourism industry.
ADVERTISEMENT: Presenting Sponsor of this Story, click for info
ADVERTISEMENT
It looked like UNLV’s defense was getting worn down as Eastern Washington claimed a 20-6 lead in the third quarter.
But with Brumfield taking over for Justin Rogers at quarterback, the Rebs went FG, FG, TD and a two-point conversion to pull even with Eastern Washington at 20 apiece.
Eastern Washington had a chip shot field goal to win the game with only seconds left in the fourth quarter. But the EWU kicker, poor Seth Harrison, missed it and off to overtime the game went.
UNLV’s defensive troubles from last season surfaced in the two overtimes. In the end, Eastern Washington outgained UNLV in yards, 471-339.
*
UNLV’s other home games in this stadium are Iowa State (Sept. 18), Utah State (Oct. 16), San Jose State (Oct. 21), Hawai’i (Nov. 13) and San Diego State (Nov. 19).
Allegiant Stadium is a mere three miles west of the UNLV campus on the west side of Interstate 15, a dramatic difference in atmosphere and setting. At Sam Boyd Stadium, there were no shortage of open fields and parking lots where UNLV fans had plenty of room for tailgating near the city of Henderson.
Now UNLV fans had pregame activities in Lot C outside the north end of the stadium before the 7:06 PM game.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
*
Not only are the Rebels playing in a sparkling new stadium. They also train at the new $35 million Fertitta training center on campus.
Former UNLV coach Tony Sanchez, who was instrumental in raising money for that football training complex, led UNLV to a dramatic 38-35 win over San Jose State in the final UNLV football game at Sam Boyd Stadium on Nov. 23. Two days later, Sanchez and UNLV parted ways, clearing the path for Reed-Francois to hire Arroyo. (It wasn’t the end of Sam Boyd Stadium, though. During the pandemic, New Mexico played home games there in 2020 and San Jose State won the Mountain West football championship game at Sam Boyd Stadium.)
Read this book, the official book of LVSportsBiz.com. Buy the book by emailing Alan at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com
