UNLV wins Fremont Cannon, keeps bowl hopes alive

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022 | 7:43 p.m.

The UNLV football team saw its season flash before its eyes — and then Johnathan Baldwin stepped in to save the game and keep the Scarlet and Gray alive for (at least) another day.

Baldwin’s fourth-down pass breakup at the goal line didn’t just seal UNLV’s last-second 27-22 win over UNR on Saturday, it also extended a lifeline to the program’s flickering bowl hopes and turned the Fremont Cannon red for the first time under head coach Marcus Arroyo.

The last time UNLV defeated in-state rival UNR was 2019, in Tony Sanchez’s final season at the helm (Sanchez was actually fired with two games left on the schedule but remained on to finish the year).

UNLV led, 27-16, with six minutes remaining and looked to be cruising toward victory, but a UNR touchdown trimmed the deficit to five points, and the Scarlet and Gray went 3-and-out and punted away with just over two minutes on the clock.

UNR quarterback Nate Cox drove the team 66 yards, setting up a 3^rd-and-goal from the UNLV 5-yard line with 16 seconds remaining. A third-down pass was batted in the air, and UNR receiver Cameron Zeidler nearly made a diving catch in the back of the end zone off the deflection, but the ball leaked through his arms incomplete.

On fourth down, Cox fired a slant to wide receiver Jamaal Bell, but Baldwin stayed in phase and knocked the ball away. After a kneeldown, UNLV players swarmed the field and took control of college football’s largest trophy: the 545-pound Fremont Cannon.

After last week’s devastating loss at Hawaii, which seemed to eliminate UNLV from postseason contention (more on that later), Arroyo was proud of the way his players rallied to claim the cannon.

“It’s a huge deal,” Arroyo said. “That cannon has a legacy behind it. It’s got a legacy for each team. It’s got a community behind it, it’s got people, it’s got alumni, it’s got a city.”

Baldwin had picked up his first interception of the season earlier in the afternoon, and also got UNLV on the board with a fumble return TD, but his steely nerves on the game’s most important play made the difference.

After playing soft defensive coverages that allowed Cox to lead UNR to the precipice of the end zone, UNLV went with a “Cover-0” play call on fourth down — an alignment that sends pressure at the quarterback while putting all defensive backs in 1-on-1 matchups.

In other words, Baldwin was on an island. And he came through with the biggest pass break-up of the season.

“He ran an under,” Baldwin said of the play. “I just tailpiped, got the PBU.”

UNLV came out like a team that had nothing to play for and fell behind, 13-0, after having a punt blocked and allowing a 75-yard touchdown pass from Cox to B.J. Casteel. The momentum shifted toward the home team when Baldwin scooped up a fumble at midfield and returned it 45 yards for a touchdown to bring UNLV within 13-7 early in the second quarter.

UNLV had to make an early change at quarterback after starter Doug Baldwin exited due to a back injury. Junior Harrison Bailey came on for the game’s third drive and did a serviceable job steering the comeback effort, finishing 16-of-27 for 209 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

Bailey’s best throw came on a 30-yard touchdown to Nick Williams that made it 27-16 with 6:45 remaining in the fourth quarter, setting the stage for the dramatic finish.

The school will hold a rally to paint the Fremont Cannon red on Monday at 11:30 a.m. outside the student union.

With the rivalry win, UNLV snapped a ruinous six-game losing streak and improved to 5-7 on the season, but that may not be the team’s final record.

UNLV still alive for bowl berth

UNLV’s postseason situation now is one of uncertainty, with a dash of hope.

It takes six wins to become bowl eligible, but according to current tabulations, there are only 79 teams with six wins, and 82 open spots. A pair of 5-win teams, Buffalo and New Mexico State, will play makeup games next week in pursuit of a sixth win that would make them eligible.

If there are not enough 6-win teams to fill out the 41 bowl games, the bowls will fill the remaining spots with 5-win teams. The tiebreaker for 5-win teams is APR, and UNLV is positioned toward the front of the line there.

There’s also Rice, which finished its regular season with five wins. The Owls are reportedly the only 5-win team with a better APR than UNLV; if Buffalo and New Mexico State win, that will leave room for only one 5-win team, and Rice would get the nod over UNLV due to the APR tiebreaker.

That means UNLV will have to wait a week and root for either Buffalo or New Mexico to lose. If one of those teams stumbles, UNLV will slide in through the side door and play in the program’s first bowl game since 2013.

Arroyo said he’ll have to huddle with athletic director Erick Harper in the coming days to get a handle on all the moving parts.

“I haven’t been in this situation before,” Arroyo said. “It’s not in our hands.”

Arroyo would certainly be stoked if things do break right for UNLV and the team ends up in a bowl game due to its APR score.

“It’s an awesome situation to be in if it’s an APR situation,” Arroyo said. “It’s a good reflection on the school, on the kids, on the athletic department, on the academics, on (UNLV director of student-athlete services) David Wedley.”

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