The FSM Essential Game Recap: UNLV vs Wyoming - Week 5

UNLV vs Wyoming Game Recap

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UNLV vs Wyoming UNLV vs Wyoming

It was a chilly and windy 57 degrees at kick-off in Laramie as Wyoming Quarterback Sean Chambers went 5-12 for 124 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He added another 104 yards and a couple of touchdowns on the ground as the UNLV Rebels fell to Wyoming 53-17 in Laramie.

This was the first time UNLV allowed a quarterback to rush for 100 yards this season as the Rebels fell to 1-3 (0-1 in the Mountain West) on the season. They now have the second-worst overall record in the conference.

The Cowboys, now 4-1, (1-0 in the Mountain West), won their first conference game and improved their overall record at home against UNLV to 8-4. Wyoming now has the second-best record in the conference, trailing only undefeated and nationally-ranked, Boise State.

UNLV scored the first points on their first drive on a 40-yard field goal, as kicker Daniel Gutierrez was kicking with the wind. Wyoming answered with an eight-play scoring drive that consisted of eight consecutive runs. This made the score 7-3. However, the Rebels would answer with a scoring drive of their own as UNLV Quarterback Armani Rogers converted a fourth-down. At his own 46, he completed a pass to tight end Giovanni Fauolo for 54 yards. This put the Rebels back up by a score of 10-7. Wyoming would answer again, but miss the PAT making the score 13-10.

This touchdown started a stretch in which Wyoming scored 33 straight points, making this game a clear blowout. Wyoming Quarterback Sean Chambers would not throw a pass until 10:36 remaining in the second quarter, and it was good for a 56-yard touchdown.

UNLV’s next points would not come until the game was already decided as the score was 40-10 with 10:24 remaining in the game. Backup quarterback Kenyon Oblad scored this time, as he played the whole second half due to an injured Armani Rogers out for the game. Oblad scored a one-yard rushing touchdown on a fourth-down to make the score 40-17. UNLV didn’t score again and wound up losing 53-17 to extend their losing streak to five in Wyoming. The Rebels’ last win in Laramie came in 2003 when they won 35-24 with John Robinson as their coach. They finished that year 6-6 (2-5 in Mountain West).

Backup quarterback Kenyon Oblad finished the night 16-31 with two interceptions and a rushing touchdown. Starting Quarterback Armani Rogers finished his night 6-13 for 87 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also had 8 rushes for 29 yards. Running Back Charles Williams, who limped off the field in the first half, finished his night with 5 carries for 17 yards. He didn’t play again and was in street clothes the whole second half. Darren Williams was the team’s leading rusher with 11 carries for 37 yards. Wide Receiver Randal Grimes finished the night with 6 receptions for 66 yards. Tight end Giovanni Fauolo had 4 receptions for a career and team high 83 yards and a touchdown.

Wyoming had two 100-yard rushers on the night. Quarterback Sean Chambers with 104 yards and two touchdowns, had his second 100-yard rushing game of the season. Running Back Titus Swen was the leading rusher with 14 carries for 143 yards and a touchdown, with a long of 53 yards. Running back Xazavian Valladay added another couple of touchdowns on the ground on 13 carries. Wide Receiver Austin Conway was the leading receiver with a team high 2 receptions for 48 yards.

The Rebels finished the game with 340 yards and Head Coach Tony Sanchez said he was “extremely disappointed in tonight’s performance” after the game. “The bell kind of broke when Chuck went down and Armani went down. The run game kind of went out the window, and our tackling was so poor, so poor all darn night…..we got to do some soul searching and we got to get a whole lot better fast,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez said Quarterback Kenyon Oblad was “Gutsy” and “Did a nice job staying in the pocket against a really good pass rush.” Sanchez commented that Oblad made some mistakes, alluding to his two interceptions, but he’s going to do that because he is “young”.

He concluded by saying that he thought the scheme was good, but that the team must do a better job of tackling against the run. The Rebels gave up 374 rushing yards and five touchdowns on 48 carries. “It all comes to tackling, it’s all scheme, it’s all gap control….When you have a linebacker, you have a safety, and you’re fitting, and you’re making contact at the line of scrimmage and the guy is bouncing off running for eight or nine more yards, you got to do a better job of tackling. The scheme was there, got to be a little tougher.” Sanchez said.

Even though Tight End Giovanni Fauolo had the best game of his career, he ended his night saying, “I think nothing of it because we lost by 40. It is hard to celebrate when you lose a big game like that.”

Kalin Sokell

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UNLV vs Wyoming

UNLV vs Wyoming