Friday Night Lights Under The Dome: UNLV Returns Home To Allegiant Stadium To Face Fresno State; Rebels Drop Fifth Straight With 37-30 Loss


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   Story by Alan Snel   Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell

Five games and four wins into a new football season, it all seemed so bright for UNLV.

With a sparkling 4-1 record, there was talk of the UNLV Rebels playing in a postseason bowl game.

But more than that, it appeared as if UNLV was on the verge of claiming even something more valuable after only two wins in the two previous season — relevance in a highly competitive sports market that included the NFL Raiders and the NHL Golden Knights, plus several new pro lacrosse, minor league basketball and XFL teams coming on line.

Then the team went back to the future, reverting to the substandard play local followers were accustomed to.

The 4-1 UNLV squad visited San Jose State and was blown out, 40-7. Then Air Force visited Allegiant Stadium and ran past the Rebs, 42-7. A visit to national brand Notre Dame resulted in a 44-21 loss. And then UNLV wasted a stellar defensive effort against San Diego State in Southern California and lost, 14-10.

Oddsmakers have made UNLV a nine-point ‘dog to Fresno State tonight, forecasting a fifth consecutive loss for the Rebels.

It was a competitive game in the first half, with UNLV heading to the locker room at the half up by two points. UNLV said attendance was 23,146.

UNLV struck first with a Daniel Gutierrez field goal.

But Fresno has a gunslinger for a quarterback and senior 200-pounder Jake Haener tossed a touchdown to excellent receiver Jalen Moreno-Cropper to give the Bulldogs a 7-3 lead.

UNLV’s quarterback, Doug Brumfield, responded by rumbling into the end zone from five yards away for his sixth rushing TD.  And Gutierrez banged home a 48-yard FG to give UNLV a 13-7 lead in the second quarter.

But Haener began clicking again on his tosses. He led Fresno State on a touchdown drive and the Bulldogs reclaimed the lead, 14-13, midway through the second quarter.

Gutierrez completed the hat trick of field goals in the first half with a chip shot with 17 seconds left in the second quarter and UNLV took a 16-14 lead into halftime.

After the half, Fresno State — which is now 5-1 in the Mountain West — went to work with a short field goal to reclaim the lead and then a short TD toss from Haener to receiver Zane Pope. The Bulldogs were back on top, 24-16. late in the third quarter.

Gutierrez kicked his fourth field goal in the final minute of the third quarter and UNLV narrowed the deficit to 24-19 heading into the final 15 minutes.

Man, things got crazy in the fourth period. A Fresno State field goal opened up the Bulldogs lead to 27-19.

But UNLV put together two straight plays that were memorable this season. Running back Aidan Robbins ripped off a long 66-yard run on a fourth-and-one play. And then on the two-point conversion attempt, wide receiver Kyle Williams took the snap, ran and then tossed a short pass for the deuce and the game was locked at 27.

But Fresno State countered with a long TD pass from Haener to Moreno-Cropper for 65 yards and the Bulldogs took the lead once again, 34-27. Haener finished 28 of 36 for 313 yards and three TDs. Moreno-Cropper caught eight balls for 164 yards and two scores.

An awesome atmosphere to be back at home. Such a great place to play when our fans are there and excited, it makes all the difference in the world. Obviously Veterans Day is a special occasion too. Disappointed we couldn’t finish it off, playing a really good team … but the resiliency and the toughness of our football team, I couldn’t be prouder of and we have two games left here to continue to hit the pedal and go. — UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo

UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo

UNLV tried another fourth-and-short play at its 33-yard line and this time Fresno State stopped the run cold. It was Bulldogs ball with seven minutes to go in the game. The Bulldogs tacked on a FG for a 37-27 lead before Gutierrez booted FG number five with 17 seconds left in the game and UNLV lost its fifth in a row to fall to 4-6.

Final: Fresno State 37 UNLV 30

Interestingly enough, UNLV piled up 391 yards to 381 for the Bulldogs. There was only a single punt in the entire game and it was by UNLV.

UNLV travels to Hawaii next week, then hosts Nevada, Reno in its final game with the Fremont cannon on the line.


 

Alan Snel

Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.