Catching Winning Spirit In Las Vegas: UNLV Wins Thriller On Last Second Field Goal, 25-23, Over Colorado State Saturday; With Sixth Win In Seven Games, UNLV Becomes Bowl Eligible
Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell
Amid the emotional frenzy of the Vegas Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup banner opening game Oct. 10 and the Las Vegas Aces’ grind-it-out championship-clinching game Wednesday is UNLV’s football team that pulled off a wild, last-second 25-23 win over Colorado State Saturday to become bowl eligible with its sixth win for the first time in a decade.
Win by win, especially these dramatic wins over teams like Vanderbilt and CSU, UNLV’s football players are carving out a niche in this ultra-busy, super-hyped sports market that includes an open-wheel car race down the Strip in November, the NFL Raiders playing fingernail-biting close game this fall and Super Bowl 58 coming to Las Vegas in February.
“We will have to win games in the fourth quarter,” UNLV’s first-year coach, Barry Odom, said after the game about the close games and competitive teams of the Mountain West Conference.
LVSportsBiz.com spoke with UNLV Athletics Director Erick Harper, a former Kansas State football player who noted he’s superstitious so he stood behind the end zone in the same place tonight as he stood when UNLV defeated Vanderbilt in dramatic fashion earlier this season.
Harper said winning is contagious and UNLV is feeding off the success of the two-time WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces and the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights. He noted he has been in touch with VGK President Kerry Bubolz and Aces President Nikki Fargas about their teams’ big wins and he said he’ll probably hear from them after UNLV’s heart-thumping win that featured four lead changes in the final three minutes and 49 seconds.
Take a look at the scoring in the final eight minutes of this game.
It was absolutely crazy before an announced attended crowd of 22,585 even though several stadium workers said they were told to expect 14,000 in the domed stadium just west of the Strip across from Mandalay Bay.
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The exciting win could not have come at a better time for UNLV and Harper because the university has launched a “Rebel Up” capital campaign that has a goal of raising $150 million.
Rebel Up includes the following to enhance the Student-Athlete Experience:
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Academic & Scholarship Support
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Will give UNLV student-athletes the opportunity to continue setting academic records and achieve graduation rates never before imagined.
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Career Development/Life after Sport (Rebels Go Pro)
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Mental Wellness
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Sports Nutrition (training table, Grab-N-Go fueling stations)
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Sports Science Studio and Research
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The Switch Sports Science Studio will provide our Director of Sports Science the opportunity to enhance data collection that will give coaches pre-, post-, and in-game strategies for optimal performance.
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Rebel Up includes the following new facilities:
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Academics and Athletics Administration Center
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Multi-Use Indoor Facility (benefitting all sports)
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Softball Clubhouse at Eller Media Softball Stadium
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Track & Field Operations Building at Myron Partridge Stadium and Sheila Tarr Smith Field
UNLV’s football program received a nice $1 million check from Raiders owner Mark Davis earlier this month. The UNLV Athletic Department appreciated the donation from Davis. But keep in mind the university does pay Davis and the Raiders about $2.2 million a year to rent Allegiant Stadium to play six home games.
Frankly, LVSportsBiz.com was disappointed more Las Vegas locals and students were not tailgating in the parking lots outside the NFL domed stadium.
Recognize a collectible tent here? The tent cover has the short-lived old logo unveiled for a blink of an eye about six years ago. The logo had its own chart complete with a detailed explanation of every element of the logo — a chart that you would see for an elaborate championship ring, not a college mark.
A big difference between this year’s UNLV team and teams of past years is the defense. The Rebels defenders swarm to the ball and have limited big gainers.
Well, that was until the Rams’ Vann Schield ripped off a long run to set up a CSU touchdown in the second quarter to give Colorado State a 10-3 lead after UNLV’s Jose Pizano and CSU’s Jordan Noyes traded field goals.
Colorado State’s Noyes added a 27-yard field goal and the Rams led the Rebels, 13-3, at halftime.
The Rams outgained UNLV, 225 to 175, at the half. The Rebs’ Jayden Maiava completed a long pass on the first half’s last play, but the receiver came up three yards shy of the goal line.
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Pizano nailed field goals of 43 and 25 yards before Donavyn Lester ran 11 yards for a touchdown to give UNLV a 16-13 lead entering the fourth quarter.
The Rebs dominated the third quarter, turning the game to their favor. By the end of three quarters, UNLV had also totaled 306 yards of offense, while Colorado State had 275.
Then came a back-and-forth fourth quarter where both teams’ placekickers traded haymakers and kicks. Pizano, following on the literal heels of last season’s outstanding UNLV kicker, Daniel Gutierrez, kicked six field goals to set a UNLV record.
Thrilled to get that win. I don’t know what our attendance was, but they made the difference in the game. They were loud — we felt it and our team made so many big plays over the course of four quarters to find a way to win the game. You never know what play is going to make the difference and I don’t know how many two minute drills we have done since we started here together, but we always go good on good and it’s always at the end of practice. It is for those reasons. We are going to get in those situations in the game and you have to make clutch plays. You have to protect, you have to make throws, you have to make tough catches and we felt like if we got in position today, from the 40-yard line and in, that we were going to come away with points. Our team showed toughness, they showed resolve, they showed togetherness, they showed strain. It wasn’t great at halftime and I didn’t have to say a word, our team did, and I was proud of them for that. Our guys found a way and we are so thrilled to have a chance to get down and win one like that, because we will grow from it. The energy was amazing. We will continue to build on that and we have a chance now at 6-1 and 3-0 in the conference, it opens up a lot of opportunities for our football team. — UNLV coach Barry Odom
