Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Rebels Football:

UNLV starts strong but can’t hold on in 35-28 loss at Wyoming

UNLV Loses to San Jose State

L.E. Baskow

UNLV head coach Tony Sanchez and his players wait in the tunnel to meet San Jose State on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015, at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Updated Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015 | 6:33 p.m.

UNLV football coach Tony Sanchez's first season ended Saturday afternoon, and the campaign’s final game went similarly to the season as a whole.

The Rebels started hot as Blake Decker found Devonte Boyd for a 22-yard touchdown pass on UNLV’s opening drive.

But just as with the season, the hot start was quickly doused as UNLV gave up 21 unanswered points en route to a 35-28 loss in Laramie, Wyo.

“It’s a tough way to send the seniors out,” Sanchez told ESPN 1100 am on the postgame show. “We felt like we definitely let one get away.”

UNLV (3-9, 2-5) was able to tie the game twice in the fourth quarter behind a strong day by Decker, who completed 18 of 33 pass attempts for 270 yards and three touchdowns.

But Wyoming (2-10, 2-6) answered with a 64-yard touchdown pass from Cameron Coffman to Jacob Hollister to seal the win.

UNLV kicker Nicolai Bornand missed field goals from 35 and 36 yards in the first half that proved costly in a close game.

The Cowboys relied heavily on Brian Hill, who carried the ball 35 times for 232 yards and a touchdown.

The Rebels stymied Wyoming on the ground early, holding the Cowboys to 26 yards on their first 10 carries. But Wyoming ran for 183 yards on its next 20 carries for an average of 9.1 yards per run.

“First of all, we have to become a more physical team, and that starts in the weight room,” Sanchez said. “We have to be a stronger football team.”

Coffman completed 14-of-24 for 248 yards and three scores, and the Cowboys racked up 538 yards of offense.

Boyd caught five passes for 113 yards and a touchdown in the first half for UNLV, but injured his right leg and was held to only one catch for 9 yards in the second half.

“Defensively in the first half we played really well,” Sanchez said. “We are not far away from being a good football team. There were so many games time after time that we were in it in the fourth quarter and we let things slip away. We have to learn how to finish.”

Sanchez’s inaugural season with the Rebels started well with the team competing on the road against Michigan, scoring 80 points against Idaho State, and reclaiming the Fremont Cannon against UNR. But the team finished 1-6 down the stretch and failed to win four games for the sixth time in seven seasons.

Still, it’s not all negative for Sanchez. Three wins are the most by a coach in his first season at UNLV since John Robinson in 1999.

The offense improved nearly a touchdown per game, averaging 28.5 points after only scoring 21.9 in 2014-15, and Boyd will be back next year as a junior after finishing the season with 54 catches for 904 yards and seven touchdowns.

“There’s a ton of room for improvement,” Sanchez said. “There are some positives and also some glaring negatives, and some things we need to improve as a program. We are going to look at offense, defense, special teams and recruiting and break each one down and find out how to improve it.”

Jesse Granger can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Jesse on Twitter at twitter.com/JesseGranger_.

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