Doug Brumfield leads UNLV to explosive win over Idaho State

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022 | 5:03 p.m.

Doug Brumfield wasn’t perfect on Saturday, but he was close.

The UNLV football program has spent the better part of a decade looking for a No. 1 quarterback, and in a season-opening 52-21 win over Idaho State, Brumfield was that guy. The sophomore hit on 21-of-25 passes for 356 yards and threw four touchdowns in the kind of performance that has officially earned him sole possession of the starting job.

After Brumfield’s explosive afternoon, Marcus Arroyo confirmed he will be UNLV’s top QB moving forward.

“Yeah,” Arroyo said. “Twenty-one of 25, 356 [yards], four touchdowns and no turnovers. I like it, man.”

Arroyo did not name a starter heading into the game, instead listing Brumfield and sophomore Harrison Bailey as co-No. 1’s on the depth chart. But when the coin was flipped and UNLV’s offense took the field for its first possession, it was Brumfield leading the huddle.

The 6-foot-6 lefty needed a moment to get up to speed. Brumfield nervously fumbled during his windup on one of the first plays from scrimmage without being touched, and later tossed a ball directly to an Idaho State defender, who botched the easy INT. But aside from those hiccups he operated UNLV’s offense at a high level against an FCS opponent that found itself thoroughly overmatched in every way.

UNLV receivers ran wide open on every pattern, allowing Brumfield to pick and choose which big gain to target. That was especially true in the second quarter, which saw Brumfield fire four touchdown passes — doubling his career total coming into the day.

On a 3^rd-and-2, sophomore receiver Ricky White simply ran past his defender, allowing Brumfield to loft him a routine 72-yard touchdown down the sideline. Minutes later, Brumfield threw a short pass to Kyle Williams, who bulled his way through a bushel of Idaho State defenders for a 9-yard TD. On UNLV’s next possession, White vaporized single coverage with a quick slant, giving Brumfield another gift-wrapped 19-yard touchdown. Then it was a swing pass to running back Aidan Robbins, who walked into the end zone from eight yards.

By the time Brumfield’s onslaught was over, UNLV was in the locker room with a 45-7 halftime lead.

It was a satisfying sequence for the Inglewood, Calif. native, who engaged in a quarterback competition that lasted the entire offseason. Brumfield even tested the transfer portal for a week during spring practice before ultimately returning to UNLV.

Idaho State certainly wishes he had transferred.

“I saw it as an opportunity to have all my hard work this offseason pay off,” Brumfield said of his big-bang season debut.

White lived up to the hype in his first game in Scarlet and Gray. As was the case throughout training camp, the 6-foot-1 transfer from Michigan State was open on every play, usually by a wide margin. He hauled in eight receptions for 182 yards and a pair of scores in the first half, while Kyle Williams and Jeff Weimer chipped in a combined nine catches for 139 yards.

Arroyo inserted Bailey to open the second half; the sophomore executed a handoff on the first play, then ran off the field before second down. Brumfield entered, completed a 5-yard pass, then returned to the bench. Bailey came back on and missed on third down, resulting in UNLV’s first punt of the day.

Bailey worked with second- and third-stringers at the skill positions and finished 3-of-8 for 26 yards. He also took three sacks. Sophomore Cameron Friel came in for mop-up duty and hit both his passes, including a 14-yard touchdown.

The Scarlet and Gray are 1-0 on the season and will now have two weeks to prepare for their first legitimate opponent when they travel to Cal on Sept. 10.

Defensively, UNLV allowed two early big plays but otherwise shut down Idaho State’s pop-gun offense. Senior linebacker Austin Ajiake intercepted a screen pass and returned it 47 yards to set up an early field goal, and five players recorded sacks (including Ajiake).

For the game, UNLV averaged 8.2 yards per play while holding Idaho State to 3.7 yards.

After knocking around Idaho State, Arroyo declared that UNLV is no longer anyone’s doormat.

“It’s different,” Arroyo said. “We’re over being circled [by opponents as a win] on the schedule. That’s over.”

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