UNLV Punctuates Historic Football Season With 11th Win Via 24-13 Victory Over Cal In LA Bowl At SoFi Stadium Wednesday
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
Coaches come and go. Players come and go.
But UNLV showed everyone Wednesday evening in Los Angeles that its football program has arrived with a 24-13 win over Cal to tie its school season record for wins at 11. The Rebs finished with an 11-3 mark after pitching a second half shutout at the Art of Sport LA Bowl Hosted by Gronk at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. It was UNLV’s first bowl game win since 2000. Attendance was announced at 24,420.
UNLV played its bowl game without its former head coach, Barry Odom, who left for Purdue after the Rebs lost to Boise State in the Mountain West Conference championship game.
And even the Rebs’ 37-year-old OC, Brennan “Go-Go Offense” Marion, has left the UNLV football program for a likely head coaching job at Sacramento State.
It didn’t matter at a bowl game where Rob Gronkowski strolled the sidelines with the giant belt that would go to UNLV.
It was a historic season for the UNLV Rebels football program, which was mired in mediocrity for decades before Odom showed up for the 2023 season.
The former intense college linebacker and ex-Missouri head coach infused the Rebels team with a new standard and brought talented former Arkansas players like linebacker Jackson Woodard and defensive back Jalen Catalon to drive UNLV to the Mountain West Conference championship games in both 2023 and 2024.
UNLV played a 6-6 Cal team, which used to play in the Pac-12 but is now a member of the ACC.
After hiring former Florida and Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen to be the head man at UNLV, Athletics Director Erick Harper named receivers coach Del Alexander to be the interim coach for the LA Bowl.
Mullen joined the ESPN TV crew in the third quarter to discuss joining UNLV. “We’re right the doorstep of becoming a consistent powerhouse,” Mullen said. He noted UNLV was only one win away from playing in college football’s inaugural 12-team playoff championship.
It was an entertaining first half a UNLV led Cal, 14-13, on touchdown passes from quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams to Kayden McGee (49 yards) and Jacob DeJesus (nine yards).
UNLV scored the game’s only second half points on a 23-yard TD run by Kylin James in the third quarter and a 49-yard field goal by talented freshman placekicker Caden Chittenden.
Final: UNLV 24 Cal 13
