Despite a solid first half, three second-half turnovers proved to be the undoing for the Rebels in the game. They fell to the Bulldogs 40-27.
“In the second half we had three turnovers.” Head coach Marcus Arroyo said. “We didn’t execute how we needed to execute in a second half of football and that’s going to put you in a position that’s going to be tough to overcome.”
The first half for the Rebels offense was their best by a country mile. Max Gilliam led the way with 124 yards passing, including a 43-yard touchdown pass to Tyleek Collins. Senior running back Charles Williams led the way on the ground for the Rebels in the first half with 50 yards rushing on 18 carries and a touchdown. The Rebels defense on the other hand, struggled to contain the Bulldogs offense. Despite a three sack first half from Jacoby Windmon, the Rebels gave up 297 total yards in the first half. That included a 54-yard run by quarterback Jake Haener on the Bulldogs second drive of the game.
“I think the first half we did what we wanted.” Arroyo said. “And philosophically we like balancing our offense and Chuck’s a big piece of that, and so I thought we did a nice job with some balance.”
The Rebels started off the second half rough. On their first drive, Gilliam fumbled the ball after being hit from behind. Three plays later, Ronnie Rivers scored on a touchdown run to give the Bulldogs a 27-17 lead. The Rebels answered back on their next two drives, adding a field goal and a 71-yard touchdown scamper from Max Gilliam to tie the game at 27 entering the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately, the 4th quarter has been the Achilles heel for the Rebels all season. This game proved no different. Fresno State opened the scoring in the 4th with a 10 yard run from Ronnie Rivers. They added a field goal after a turnover by UNLV to take a 10 point lead, and another one shortly after to take a 40-27 lead. The Rebel’s offense, which had been moving the ball effectively, failed to manufacture any sort of offense. Gilliam threw two interceptions, one of which happened in the final two minutes of the game. This is now the third straight game that UNLV has not scored in the final quarter of the game.
Max Gilliam for the Rebels completed 15 of 31 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown, but threw two interceptions. He also led the team in rushing with 170 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries, becoming just the 11th quarterback in team history to rush for over 100 yards in a game. Fresno State quarterback completed 15 of his 23 passes for 164 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown. Ronnie Rivers led the way for the Bulldogs on the ground, with 123 yards rushing on 14 carries and three touchdowns.
With this loss, the Rebels fall to 0-3 to begin the Marcus Arroyo era. The good news for fans of the team is that the team has improved in each game they have played. 27 points and 402 yards of total offense. The team has also increased their third down efficiency dramatically. In the first two games, they went 6-31 on third down for a dismal 19% efficiency rating. Today, they went 11 for 20 on third down for a 55% efficiency rating. Despite allowing 487 yards of total offense, the defense played decent. They came up with a few stops when they needed to and recorded four sacks in the first half. They still have yet to record an interception on the season, which is concerning to say the least.
The Rebels head back out on the road next week, as they travel to take on the San Jose State Spartans. The game will air on Fox Sports 1, but a kickoff time has not been set yet.
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