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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Hugh Byrne
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Win or lose, UNLV’s football program took a step forward Friday night.
In the field, it was a heartbreaking defeat for the Rebels, which took a narrow 24-23 lead into the final quarter against a very battle-tested Boise State program that left Allegiant Stadium with a 29-24 win.
More than 42,000 fans — 42,228 to be exact — were inside the domed for a spirited college football game between the nationally-ranked Boise State team and the upstart Rebels.
“They fueled us,” UNLV head football coach Barry Odom said after the game.
UNLV’s GoGo offense came out smoking as the Rebs piled up more than 200 yards of offense by the start of the second quarter and led, 10-3, at the time before Boise State scored 17 straight points to take a 20-10 lead into halftime.
There was palpable bigtime college football electricity in the venue stadium several miles from the UNLV campus.
There were so many fans here that the Allegiant Stadium upper deck had to be opened. Outside, the Hacienda Avenue bridge was closed from Mandalay Bay hotel-casino on the east side of I-15 to the stadium on the west side of the interstate as it is for Raiders games here.
It was a UNLV football attendance record for a home game.
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The day was here for UNLV’s football team.
It was time to go mano-a-mano against the bully of the league, a tough Boise State squad that has won five of six games entering the game and featured one of the most dazzling runners in college football, Ashton Jeanty. The man averaged a stunning 9.9 yards a run every time he took a handoff. He took 126 of those for 1,248 yards and 17 TDs coming in.
For so many years, the UNLV team has been mocked and ridiculed.
No more.
The fact is the Rebels are enjoying a much better season than their housemates at Allegiant Stadium, the Raiders and their two-win, five-loss season so far. The Raiders will be taking over the joint in two days when the Kansas City Chiefs and their red-clad followers are expected to take over the stadium.
For UNLV football, a crowd was expected to eclipse 40,000. And that’s exactly what happened.
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Late in the third quarter the crowd exploded when UNLV quarterback Hajj-Mailik Williams tossed a perfect touchdown ball to Jaden Bradley for 34 yards and the go-ahead points.
It was UNLV 24 Boise State 23 heading into the final 15 minutes.
In the final quarter, Boise State’s experience gave it the edge it needed to reach the finish line after a Jeanty one-yard plunge and a failed two-point try.
Final score: Boise State 29 UNLV 24
The Rebels have won six of their eight games, and dropped their first Mountain West game of the year. UNLV lost to Syracuse in overtime, 44-41, Oct. 4.