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March 29, 2024

Rebels Football:

Blog: Northern Illinois holds off UNLV’s rally in 48-34 victory

UNLV Football

Mikayla Whitmore

Northern Illinois Huskies’ Keith Harris Jr. (20) runs a ball during the first half against the UNLV Rebels at Sam Boyd Stadium Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014.

Updated Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014 | 7:33 p.m.

UNLV Rebels vs. Northern Illinois Huskies

UNLV Rebels defensive lineman Antonio Zepeda (49) & NIH linback Alex Schwab during UNLV’s game against the Northern Illinois Huskies  at Sam Boyd Stadium Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014. Launch slideshow »

Northern Illinois 48, UNLV 34

Game over

There was finally reason to believe, at least for a moment, that UNLV was going to be able to dig out of its 23-point hole. The Rebels stormed back and tied the game, fell back behind, and then got into position to tie the game again. But it wasn't enough.

Blake Decker's pass to Devante Davis in the end zone was intercepted and Northern Illinois drove down for another touchdown to win 48-34. The Rebels fall to 1-2 on the season while the Huskies are 3-0.

The defense wasn't good for most of the night but even that group was able to step up at some key moments in the second half. Everything changed in that third quarter, when the Rebels scored more touchdowns (three) than they had scored the entire season to that point.

Decker found a lot of holes in the zone defense and Devante Davis went into beast mode, finishing with six catches for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Decker was 24-for-42 with 397 yards and two touchdowns while Shaquille Murray-Lawrence rumbled for two scores in his first appearance of the season.

NIU finished 15-of-19 on third down, which was too much for the team to overcome. The defense simply had too many chances to get off the field and just failed to do so.

Check lasvegassun.com later tonight for a full report from the Rebels' game.

The Rebel Room

Walking Back From the Ledge

Las Vegas Sun sports writers Case Keefer and Taylor Bern try to walk sports editor Ray Brewer back from the ledge of giving up on UNLV's season following an ugly 13-12 victory against Northern Colorado.

Click to enlarge photo

UNLV punter Logan Yunker warms up for UNLV’s game against Northern Illinois at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014.

What to make of Northern Illinois? Much like Arizona and UNR, two teams meeting today that I hope to have a better idea about by the end of the day, NIU is a little tricky to handicap.

On the one hand, the Huskies have a 25-game regular-season winning streak and a nation-leading 16 straight victories in true road games. You don’t get to those numbers through luck alone or even just a couple of talented players.

On the other hand, most of those victories were collected by a roster that appears to be much better than the current version. Last week, NIU went on the road and beat Northwestern, but it’s possible the Wildcats are the worst team in a bad Big Ten, so how much does that victory mean?

That’s one of many things we’ll find out when UNLV (1-1) and NIU (2-0) kick off at 4 p.m. today at Sam Boyd Stadium. The game is streaming on the Mountain West Network and Campus Insiders.

NIU sophomore quarterback Drew Hare was the third guy coach Rod Carey tried at quarterback last week, and he was the one who finally got things going. Hare went 6-for-10 with 109 yards passing and three total touchdowns: two passing, one rushing. Now he gets his first career start and a chance to take control of the job. If he struggles, don’t be surprised if Carey gives another quarterback a chance, though. Carey has been using a rotation through two games, so at a sign of struggle I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go to someone else.

Will there be a sign of struggle? I think so. The temperature should be right around 100 at kickoff, and there’s no place to hide in Sam Boyd in the early evening. I’d be surprised if the heat doesn’t affect the Huskies at least somewhat.

After that, the question is what can UNLV do about it? I still believe the Rebels are better than what we’ve seen, but the ceiling certainly feels a little lower than a few weeks ago.

Part of that has to do with quarterback Blake Decker, who I don’t think is nearly as bad as last week’s game against Northern Colorado made him appear. Still, he needs to go out and prove that, and the defense needs to get pressure on Hare to help a secondary that might not be much, if any, better than in years past.

I’ve always viewed this as one of UNLV’s pivotal games. If the Rebels are going to have any chance to get in the six-to-seven-win range, this feels like one of the victories they need.

Last week’s performance changed my perception a bit, making it feel like a close loss would at least be something. But sitting here this afternoon, that doesn’t feel like enough. This is an opportunity for the Rebels to prove this season isn’t going to revert to one of their recent disastrous campaigns. Will they rise to the occasion?

Bern’s prediction: While I wouldn’t be shocked by it, based on what I’ve seen there’s no way I can pick UNLV to win this game. However, I do think it should stay close enough for UNLV to cover the 10 ½-point spread. Northern Illinois 24, UNLV 20

Season: ATS 1-1, O/U 1-1

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.

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