Sweet victory: UNLV football wins first under Marcus Arroyo

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021 | 8:35 p.m.

Sure, everything had to go just right in order for UNLV to snag its first win since 2019.

The scarlet and gray had to face a terrible team. Check.

They had to be gifted two touchdowns by fumble recoveries deep in opposing territory. Check.

They needed their opponent’s quarterback to exit the game early due to injury, leading to their complete offensive collapse. Check.

But finally—and most importantly—they had to make the plays to take advantage of all those breaks. And UNLV did just that in defeating New Mexico, 31-17, to snap a 14-game losing streak that dated back almost two full years.

It was UNLV’s first victory under second-year head coach Marcus Arroyo, and the players rewarded him with a water-cooler shower shortly after the clock hit zeroes.

The players then sprinted off the field and into a jubilant locker room, where the celebration continued (loudly) for more than twenty minutes.

When Arroyo emerged, still wet from his postgame bath, he commended his squad for persevering through an 0-8 start to the season.

“I’m just proud of my team, man,” Arroyo said. “Just hanging in there when things aren’t going your way, it says a lot about your character, as a team, as a program, an identity, for everybody.”

Through most of the first quarter it looked like UNLV was on course for its 15^th consecutive defeat, until junior linebacker Kyle Beaudry stepped up and made a pivotal play. With UNLV trailing, 7-0, with less than a minute left in the quarter, the Las Vegas native and Liberty product strip-sacked quarterback Isaiah Chavez and recovered the ball at the New Mexico 4-yard line.

One play later, Charles Williams pinballed into the end zone to tie the score.

UNLV’s second score was also set up by a Beaudry forced fumble; he got Chavez again after a 1-yard gain and poked the ball out. Linebacker Kylan Wilborn recovered at the New Mexico 26, and it only took six plays before Cameron Friel hit Marcus Phillips for a 15-yard touchdown to make it 14-7 in favor of UNLV.

Beaudry, a holdover from Tony Sanchez’s tenure, was happy to see his contributions lead directly to touchdowns.

“It feels good because the offense feeds off the defense and we feed off the offense,” Beaudry said. “Obviously it feels good to make an impact for the guys.”

That led into the wildest stretch of the game. After UNLV kicked off, New Mexico running back Bobby Cole took a handoff on the next play and raced 75 yards into the end zone untouched to tie the score, 14-14.

The ensuing kickoff was a touchback, and on UNLV’s first snap Friel hit Kyle Williams deep down the field for a 75-yard score, pushing the scarlet and gray back ahead, 21-14.

UNLV never relinquished that lead. Though Chavez fumbled twice, he was New Mexico’s most effective quarterback, completing 3-of-3 passes for eight yards and a touchdown and running for 23 yards on five carries; once he left in the second quarter due to an ankle injury, the Lobos offense shut down completely.

In the second half New Mexico gained just 38 yards and averaged 1.3 yards per play. That allowed UNLV to pull away; Daniel Gutierrez kicked a short field goal to make it 24-17 midway through the third quarter, and Charles Williams rushed for a 1-yard TD early in the fourth to make it 34-17.

At that point, it was all about watching the clock and counting down to that long-awaited win.

Arroyo said the difference between this result and some of UNLV’s other close losses this season was their execution of the fundamentals.

“When you do a better job taking care of the football, when you convert third downs the way we were converting third downs, when you get stops on defense, you get takeaways on defense, we’ve done a good job in the red zone, but more than anything it’s those plays down the stretch.”

Charles Williams, who has lost 45 games during his six years with the program, was happy to add his 18^th victory.

So was the rest of the locker room.

“It was turnt,” Williams said of the post-game celebration. “We just won, baby. It was turnt. It was a good vibe, just seeing everybody have a good time and a smile on their face after a good win. This was a good win.”

Beaudry had a similar perspective on the festivities, but noted the younger players seemed to enjoy it more.

“It was just like pure joy,” Beaudry said. “The older guys, we’ve won before so it’s not crazy to us. It’s just, gotta go back to work, got another one next week.”

The game also represented a personal milestone for Charles Williams, as his 74 rushing yards gave him the school’s all-time rushing record. He now has 3,758 career yards, pushing him past former record holder Tim Cornett.

Kyle Williams caught seven passes for 137 yards and a touchdown, while Friel completed 20-of-33 for 227 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

UNLV is now 1-14 under Marcus Arroyo, but for now Arroyo and his team are focusing on the one.

Charles Williams said Arroyo even joined in on the celebration.

“It was good seeing him turn up with us a little bit and have some fun with us for once,” Williams said.

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.