UNLV Clinches Mountain West Title Berth With Fourth Straight Fremont Cannon Win

UNLV won the Fremont Cannon for the fourth straight year, defeating the Nevada Wolf Pack Saturday night in a dominant affair. With this victory, UNLV finished conference play with a record of 6-2 and clinched a berth in the Mountain West Championship game. Because of the four-way tie in the conference, the berths came down to metrics, since San Diego State and UNLV never played, and UNLV emerged as a top-two team in the conference.

OFFENSE

With all the Mountain West attention on this game, quarterback Anthony Colandrea shone in the bright lights. He threw for 270 yards and a passing touchdown, as well as taking a rushing touchdown from 17 yards out to the house.

The real star for the UNLV offense was running back Jai’den Thomas. If there was any doubt over how he would perform coming back from hamstring issues, he overcame all of it. Thomas had his sixth 100+ yard performance with 127 all-purpose yards. He ran for 103 yards on 11 carries, averaging 9.4 a carry. He also reached paydirt four separate times, two of them in wildcat formation. He was unstoppable and a massive driving force for the Rebel offense.

Wide receiver Troy Omeire scored a touchdown on a slant route, catching it a few yards from the goal line, but he pushed his way into the end zone. Omeire finished with two receptions, as did most of UNLV’s receivers, including wide receiver JoJo Earle with 80 yards, wide receiver DaeDae Reynolds with 43 yards, and tight end Nick Elksnis with 32 yards. Wide receiver Jaden Bradley finished his regular season with three receptions for 71 yards and a rush for 15 yards.

Overall, UNLV had 496 yards of offense, converting on all its red zone attempts, and looked outstanding.

DEFENSE

The defense had another excellent performance, holding Nevada to 17 points, the third time UNLV has held an opponent to under 20 in the last four games. Defensive back Jaheem Joseph was the star, coming up with two sacks and forcing a fumble in the third quarter.

Nevada did have 341 yards of offense, with 193 of them on the ground. Nevada wasn’t able to convert on third down, which led to the low score from the Wolf Pack. Most of the yardage came from running back Caleb Ramseur, who ran for 95 yards on 15 carries. Ramseur also scored twice.

UNLV restricted the passing game, holding quarterback Carter Jones to 105 yards. Jones couldn’t get things going, and in the fourth quarter, the Wolf Pack relied on quarterback AJ Bianco, who did solidly, going 6-for-8 with 43 passing yards.

Quarterback Chubba Purdy gave the Rebels some trouble on the ground because he’s elusive. Purdy took on a new role with the Wolf Pack lately as a wildcat running back. He ran for 73 yards on six carries and started the second half with a 58-yard rush that set up Ramseur’s first touchdown.

That was the most successful drive the Wolf Pack put together, showing how much this UNLV defense has grown throughout the season and now has clinched a spot in the Mountain West Championship game.

WHAT’S NEXT

Because of metrics, UNLV will play in the Mountain West Championship game on Friday, Dec. 5, at 5:00 PM against Boise State. Both of these teams played in October, and Boise State dominated, winning 56-31. UNLV looks to rebound and win its first conference title since 1994.