UNLV’s Armani Rogers, throws a pass during their game against Prairie View A&M at Sam Boyd Stadium, Saturday Sept. 15, 2018.
Published Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018 | 2 a.m.
Updated Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018 | 10:28 p.m.
Armani Rogers accounted for five touchdowns — four rushing, one passing — to lead UNLV past Prairie View A&M, 46-17.
UNLV went into halftime with a 34-0 halftime lead thanks to three touchdown runs from Rogers, but a sloppy second half allowed Prairie View to close within 34-17. The Rebels' tacked on two more scoring drives, including Rogers's fifth touchdown of the game, to put the game away in the fourth quarter.
Rogers finished with 122 yards rushing on 16 carries, and he completed 11-of-21 passes for 130 yards. Senior running back Lexington Thomas posted 124 yards and a touchdown on a career-high 30 carries.
The Rebels are now 2-1 on the season, with a key matchup at Arkansas State next on the schedule.
UNLV leads Prairie View in fourth quarter
UNLV is probably going to win big tonight, but the Rebels have not looked good in the second half.
The Rebels were held scoreless in the third quarter, and Prairie View has scored 17 unanswered points to close the gap to 34-17 with 8:28 left in the fourth quarter.
A missed field goal and a blocked field goal snuffed out two promising UNLV drives in the third, and Armani Rogers's first interception of the season set up a Prairie View touchdown. So while it looks like the Rebels are going to hold on, Tony Sanchez probably won't be very happy about the team's performance.
UNLV leads Prairie View A&M, 34-7
Prairie View A&M finally got on the board, taking advantage of a short field to score and trim UNLV's lead to 34-7 late in the third quarter.
Armani Rogers forced an ill-advised throw to the sideline, which was picked off by Prairie View cornerback Sonnie Williams at the UNLV 41. Three plays later Prairie View QB Jalen Morton threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to break up the shutout.
Aside from that, the third quarter has been relatively uneventful, and that's probably fine for UNLV. The Rebels have a huge lead, and though the starters are still in the game, the top priority is now getting out of the game as healthy as possible. Cornerback Ty'Jason Roberts and offensive lineman Jaron Caldwell have both left with injuries.
UNLV leads Prairie View at half, 34-0
Armani Rogers scored a 2-yard touchdown with 51 seconds left in the first half, and UNLV has taken a 34-0 lead into the locker room.
It was Rogers's third rushing touchdown of the game, and the sophomore quarterback now has 66 rushing yards on seven carries. He has completed 5-of-11 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown.
UNLV has done enough to win this game already; the question now is whether the Rebels will sustain their intensity in the second half. Last week, Tony Sanchez thought his team let up in the second half against overmatched UTEP.
UNLV blowing out Prairie View, 27-0
Prairie View needed to play something close to a perfect game in order to spring an upset on UNLV tonight, and that has not happened so far. The Panthers have committed a ton of special-teams blunders already, and with 3:31 left in the first half, UNLV has taken advantage of those mistakes to build a 27-0 lead.
The latest misstep came at the end of the first quarter, when Prairie View muffed a punt and UNLV recovered at the 11-yard line. Two plays later, Armani Rogers plowed into the end zone to give UNLV a 20-0 lead.
After a defensive stop, the Rebels drove the length of the field again, capped by a Rogers 2-yard run to make it 27-0. Rogers now has two rushing touchdowns and a passing touchdown on the night.
UNLV leads Prairie View, 13-0
Both teams have been sloppy so far, but UNLV has done enough to scrape together a 13-0 lead over Prairie View A&M with 4:41 remaining in the first quarter.
The Rebels took the opening kickoff and went 75 yards to take the lead. An early gamble paid off for UNLV, as the Rebels opted to go for it on 4th-and-2 from the Prairie View A&M 39-yard line. A handoff to Xzaviar Campbell gained just enough to move the chains, and five plays later Armani Rogers hit Drew Tejchman in stride for a 24-yard touchdown catch. Evan Pantels missed the PAT, leaving UNLV with a 6-0 lead.
The UNLV defense forced a 3-and-out on the next possession, and Prairie View mishandled the snap on the punt. UNLV recovered at the 1-yard line, and Lexington Thomas scored two plays later to make it 13-0.
An Armani Rogers fumble on the Rebels' next drive gave Prairie View the ball inside the 10, but the defense held and forced a short field-goal attempt. UNLV blocked the kick.
It hasn't been pretty, but so far the Rebels seem to be in good shape.
Previewing UNLV vs. Prairie View A&M with reader questions
Heading into UNLV’s matchup with Prairie View A&M tonight, we solicited reader questions to find out which storylines Rebels fans will be following throughout the game. As it turns out, the defense, the schedule and syrup were the top questions.
Before the Rebels kick off against Prairie View (7 p.m., streaming on the Mountain West Network), check out the Q&A:
The defense. Is it too early in the season to write them off?
@MikeGrimala
Is two games too early to write off half of the team? Yes, obviously. The defense was expected to be very weak coming into the season, and I’d say they’ve been better than anticipated. The Rebels competed against USC (for three quarters, anyway), and after a slow start against UTEP last week they eventually settled down and played well enough to let the offense run away for the win.
Are there problem areas? Of course. The run defense in particular has been worrisome, allowing 17 rushes of 12 yards or more (out of 75 running plays), and a bunch of Mountain West teams will be able to exploit that. Heck, Prairie View A&M might be able to exploit that to a certain degree tonight. But it’s only been two games under a new defensive coordinator, so give UNLV at least the rest of non-conference play to show what they can do before torching the entire defense.
When are we going to upgrade the schedule? I know the magic 6 wins is Tony’s holy grail, but 1 top 20 team in 4 years. They can’t make 6 wins any easier
@MikeGrimala
Due to finances, league affiliation and perceived roster strength, UNLV has to walk a tightrope when putting together future schedules. In recent years, the Rebels have scheduled one game per season at a Power 5 opponent — this year the program earned a seven-figure check by traveling to USC.
Those games are difficult to win, so scheduling additional quality opponents during non-conference play would make it very difficult for the current Rebels to get to six wins and bowl eligibility. So it’s been a mix of big-money games and more “winnable” non-conference games.
That may change in the near future. In 2020, UNLV has Louisiana Tech, Cal, Arizona State and Iowa State scheduled; in 2021, it’s Arizona State and Iowa State again; Vanderbilt is on the slate for 2023; BYU in 2024. So the quality of the schedule does seem set to improve — the big question now is if the Rebels will improve enough by then to win those games.
Before the season, UNLV-Arkansas State was viewed as a likely loss for UNLV. Based on what you’ve seen so far, should that still be the case?
Also, why is Menzies against a smaller lineup despite having most of his success with it last year?
@MikeGrimala
I expected UNLV to go into that game as a double-digit underdog, and I still expect Arkansas State to be favored by at least a touchdown next week. But I do think the Rebels have shown enough that fans should expect them to be competitive in that game, and if Armani Rogers and the defense play well, it could very well be a win.
Of course, I’m saying that with the assumption that UNLV goes out there tonight and demolishes Prairie View A&M. If the Rebels play down to the competition and look shaky against an FCS squad, then you can probably forget about going into Arkansas State and getting a win.
And as for Marvin Menzies’ aversion to smaller lineups, I think he just generally prefers to play with size on the court. Building teams around traditional size in the post at center and power forward has won him a lot of games, and he believes that kind of style can work in the Mountain West. But the Rebels have added a ton of perimeter players in recent recruiting classes, so we’ll have to see if his philosophy might be evolving.
In spite of your hand waving it's clear Armani is the same passer he was last year. Would we be better off with one of his backups that can make the throws but can't run as well? If so, who?
@MikeGrimala
The same user asked almost the same exact question verbatim last week.
I’m not ignoring Rogers’s accuracy issues — that would be negligent on my part. He is not an accurate passer, as evidenced by his career completion rate (51.1 percent) and the fact that he’s been below 50 percent in both games this season. I just don’t think it’s as big a deal as everyone else seems to believe — it’s just not Rogers’ style of play to sit in the pocket and pick defenses apart with 60-plus percent accuracy. He’s a big-play guy, built to gain huge chunks with his legs and then kill defenses with the deep ball. The Rebels can win like that, as long as Rogers continues to run the ball effectively (an absolute certainty, unless he is slowed by injury at some point) and hit on a couple deep passes per game.
Would UNLV have a better offense if Rogers could run over linebackers, run past defensive backs, throw the ball 60 yards on a line AND carve up the middle of the field like a surgeon? Yes, of course, but right now he can only do three of those things. Maybe he’ll get better at the fourth skill as he gets more reps under his belt, but for now he’s plenty good enough to win.
How sweet is their marching band?
@MikeGrimala
I’ll never know. Unlike previous HBCU’s that have visited UNLV in recent years, Prairie View A&M will not be bringing its band along.
Would you eat syrup on pancakes if it guaranteed a UNLVfb bowl game?
@MikeGrimala
Absolutely not. I don’t do condiments, and even if I did, syrup would be way down on the list. I’ve never understood pairing starchy breakfast foods with sugary toppings, and my diet is 80 percent sugar. No thanks.
More relevant though is the fact that UNLV doesn’t need me eating pancakes to make a bowl game. The Rebels should make the postseason on their own merits, maybe even as a seven-win team. If they beat Prairie View tonight, they’ll already be a third of the way to qualifying, and I won’t have compromised my dietary ideals.
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
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