San Diego State’s Alex Barrett (58) covers the face mask of UNLV’s Lexington Thomas (3) just prior to his fumble during their game at Sam Boyd Stadium.
Sunday, Nov. 22, 2015 | 12:31 a.m.
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In each of the UNLV football team’s previous defeats this season, you didn’t have to search hard to find positives.
In some games, the Rebels had a lead and couldn’t finish. In others, they played better than expected against a quality opponent.
But Saturday night’s 52-14 loss to visiting San Diego State was different. It was the Rebels' (3-8) worst performance of the season, as they surrendered 31 unanswered points to open the game and yielded 286 rushing yards.
“We have done a lot of good things all year. Tonight wasn’t one of them,” UNLV coach Tony Sanchez said. “They were superior to us in their effort, their physicality, their tackling and the way they caused turnovers. They just did everything better than us.”
UNLV had no answers for San Diego State’s ground game.
Donnel Pumphrey, a Canyon Springs High graduate, rushed for 139 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. He rushed for more than 100 yards for the seventh straight game, the second-longest active streak in the nation.
On a two-play scoring drive in the second half, Pumphrey rushed for 60 yards on the first play and for a 4-yard touchdown on the second.
“We have played against some good football teams, good rushing teams throughout the course of the year,” Sanchez said. “I don’t know if any of them beat us up like they did. They were a lot more physical than we were. It shows how far we need to go.”
UNLV was without two of its top players because of injury, including linebacker Tau Lotulelei, who Sanchez said informed coaches 40 minutes before kickoff that he couldn’t play because of an arm injury.
But the biggest loss was again quarterback Blake Decker, who was ruled out with hip and ankle injuries. Kurt Palandech was ineffective in relief, completing just 18 of 35 passes for 190 yards and two interceptions.
Most of his yards came when the game was out of hand in the second half, including a 14-yard scoring strike to Kendal Keys to snap San Diego State’s streak of more than 107 minutes without giving up a touchdown. His other touchdown went 6 yards to Xzaviar Campbell.
“We were just inconsistent as a unit. I take a lot of blame as the quarterback,” Palandech said. “I have to direct the offense and put them in right place. I don’t think I did a good job consistently all night.”
A little bit of everything went wrong for the Rebels, possibly signaling that the trials and tribulations of the season are finally catching up with the three-win team.
On special teams, they gave up a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown to San Diego State’s Damontae Kazee that increased the San Diego State lead to 45-7 with 5:26 to play in the third quarter. In a bizarre play, UNLV defenders didn’t initially attempt to tackle Kazee because it appeared he called for a fair catch.
Offensively, running back Lexington Thomas lost a fumble in the first half, becoming the first UNLV running back to lose a fumble in exactly two years and 653 carries.
And defensively, the Rebels thought they had stopped Pumphrey at the goal line on a fourth-down play and brought their offense onto the field full of momentum. But after a replay review, it was determined Pumphrey scored. Instead of trailing 7-0, it was 14-0.
“We need to get a lot more physical in a hurry to be able to compete with teams like that,” Sanchez said.
The Rebels finish the season next week at one-win Wyoming, which one could argue is the perfect opponent to close the season against. UNLV can grab momentum for its offseason program against the last-place Cowboys and give Sanchez four wins — double last season's win total — in his first year as the Rebels' coach.
Even when they were trailing by five touchdowns, and with as bad as they performed, the effort appeared to still be there. Players were still energetic and motivated.
“We know were we are going; we have a plan,” he said. “A lot of guys are on board with it. They ones who aren’t, we’ll push them out of the way and keep moving on.”
Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21
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