After struggling to get by the Idaho State Bengals in their season opener, the UNLV Rebels came out and made a statement against the Sam Houston Bearkats on Friday night. They dominated for almost the entirety of the game and came away with a 38 – 21 victory. This comes on the heels of their arch-rivals Boise State catching a beatdown on national television from USF on Thursday. The Mountain West Conference is looking like it could be wide open this year. After watching the game, we have some takeaways on the performance of both the offense and the defense.
Offense
Quarterback Play
It’s becoming more and more clear that Anthony Colandrea is the top quarterback for the Rebels. He had another strong performance in this one, completing 19 of 23 passes for 249 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception while adding 23 yards and a TD on the ground.
Alex Orji didn’t throw a pass and rushed just three times for seven yards. While we do expect him to have a role in the offense, he’s clearly the second fiddle. However, he’s a load to bring down and should continue to see action in third or fourth and short situations.
Jai’Den Thomas’s Usage
This continues to baffle us. They have gotten away with it so far, but you have to give your best players more than nine carries. Jet rushed nine times for 65 yards and a TD at 7.2 yards per carry. He also had a long TD called back due to a holding penalty by wide receiver Jojo Earle. If they end up losing a game and Thomas has single-digit carries, head coach Dan Mullen is going to have a lot of questions to answer.
Much Improved Offensive Line
After struggling a bit last week, the offensive line looked much better this week. The unit appears to be building chemistry and was solid both in the run game and in pass protection.
Jaden Bradley
It’s becoming evident that Bradley is the clear WR1 in Las Vegas. Again, he dominated in the passing attack with six receptions for 125 yards and a TD. Again, no other Rebel pass-catcher was anywhere close to his production.
Defense
Lack Of Discipline
The defense was much better this week, but their weakness is clearly a lack of discipline. They need to know their roles and do their jobs, and not always be trying to be the guy who makes the big play. Over and over, they overpursue, they bite on fakes, and the offside penalties and an extension of that. This is something they can and will fix, but it could hurt them next week against UCLA if they don’t.
The Defensive Line
The defensive line did a lot of good things in this game and is really starting to come together. They played well and got nice penetration in both the rushing and passing games. This group is going to be particularly tough to deal with when they can pin their ears back in obvious passing situations. That was on full display late in the game.
4th and 1 Woes
Two of the Bearkats’ three TDs came on 4th and 1 plays. Both were from beyond 50 yards out. Landon Brown broke a 53-yard run, and Tim Burns Jr caught a 59-yard pass. This could have just been an unfortunate coincidence, but it’s worth addressing. Especially when you bring back to players not being disciplined and overpursuing.
Aamaris Brown Shines Again
After a fantastic game against the Bengals, Brown was the star of the defense again this week. He finished the game with four solo tackles, two sacks, three tackles for a loss, and a game-changing pick-six. He’s an early contender for the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year. What a game! This young man could be on his way to a special season if he keeps this up…