FSM Essential Recap: UNLV vs Arizona State - Week 2

FSM Essential Recap: UNLV vs Arizona State – Week 2

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It was a tale of two halves in Tempe for UNLV. The Rebels came out on fire on both ends of the ball in the first half, but the game got out of reach in the second half after injury and ineffectiveness reared its ugly head as the Rebels fell to the Sun Devils 37-10.

 

The Rebels defense came ready to play against the #23 ranked team in the country. On their first drive of the game, Arizona St. quarterback Jayden Daniels led the Sun Devils down the field, mostly with his legs. But UNLV cornerback Nohl Williams intercepted Daniels in the end zone to keep the score tied at zero. It marked the third interception of the young season for the Rebels, which already exceeds the squad’s total of two from 2020’s six-game campaign.

Doug Brumfield got the start at quarterback and led the Rebels down the field. The Rebels had their drive stall and have to settle for a field goal by Daniel Gutierrez. The UNLV kicker improved to 5-for-5 on field goals this season and 26-of-32 in his career, which raised his career percentage to 81.3 — the highest in school history. The first quarter ended with the Rebels leading 3-0. UNLV has not trailed after the first quarter this season, leading ASU by three and sitting in a scoreless tie in the Week 1 vs. Eastern Washington.

The second quarter saw each team put up touchdowns. ASU shortly after the second quarter got started on a Daniels to Johnny Wilson touchdown connection to give the Sun Devils a 7-3 lead. But UNLV answered right back after Brumfield led the Rebels on a 10 play, 75-yard drive that cumulated in the Rebels quarterback doing a front flip into the endzone. The Rebels had a 10-7 lead. But ASU running back Daniyel Ngata gave Arizona State the lead after he ran it in from 13 yards out.

 

The first half ended with UNLV trailing ASU 17-10. Most were shocked at the score, but the Rebels were playing with more desire, passion, and had an energy that was infectious.

 

“Eventually, our guys came together,” Arizona State coach Herm Edwards said. “In the third quarter, that’s when we got going.”

Coach Edwards wasn’t lying when he said that after the game. Arizona State’s defense held UNLV to just 19 total yards in the second half and the Sun Devils were dominant with a 23-0 advantage after the break.

White had 90 yards on the ground and scored a crucial 9-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to give Arizona State a 21-10 lead. He added a 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth. Daniels was 20 of 29 passing for 175 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. The second touchdown was a 33-yarder to LV Bunkley-Shelton that put the Sun Devils up 34-10 and capped a stretch of three touchdowns in less than seven minutes, turning a tight game into a comfortable margin.

 

UNLV’s schedule remains tough with Iowa State coming to town next weekend and the Rebels will once again have to worry about who will start under center.

 

When Brumfield got injured late in the third quarter, UNLV’s offense stalled. Justin Rogers replaced Brumfield and the offense that once had some juice to it, couldn’t move the ball and finished the game with six straight 3-and-outs. Senior running back Charles Williams rushed for 35 tough yards on 13 carries, which gave him 3,147 yards in his career and moved him up to third in Rebel history.

“Excited about the way our guys’ mindset was coming in here. It was a big opportunity for our group in the infant stages we’re at, to come out here against a ranked opponent to see where we are at,” UNLV head coach Marcus Arroyo said after the game. “I thought that we did a nice job in the first half. We’ve got to continue to coach our tails off, be very introspective of ourselves in regards to how we can finish again, put two halves together. That’s our goal … I’m excited about going to work starting to fix things — starts with me and our staff — and making sure we give these guys the right plan to finish a game.”

The big question for UNLV is now how bad is Brumfield’s injury? Brumfield had zero turnovers and led the team both in passing (60) and rushing yards (43) despite not playing for much of the second half. Will coach Arroyo start Rogers again if Brumfield misses time or will he turn to Tate Martell, who is now fully cleared to play? Stay tuned.

 

UNLV will now host Iowa State at Allegiant Stadium. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 7:30 and can be seen on CBS Sports Network next Saturday.

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– Joe Arrigo

Follow Joe on Twitter @JoeArrigo

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