UNLV Rebels vs Hawaii Warriors Football Recap

UNLV 40, Hawaii 20

This was probably the most head-scratching result of week three in the 2011 college football season. If you claim to have seen this result coming, you should already be a lottery winner… or perhaps you are a pathological liar.

The Hawaii Warriors, in the last year of their WAC football existence before they go to the Mountain West Conference in 2012, slipped on the banana peel in a big way against the UNLV Rebels in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Hawaii doesn’t play well on the mainland – that’s not exactly a secret in the world of college football – but the Warriors had to be viewed as a big favorite one week after a poor performance in Seattle against the Washington Huskies. Hawaii seemed to be a sure bet to get healthy against a UNLV team that had just lost by a 59-7 score against Washington State, a team that’s still very much immersed in a rebuilding phase. Yet, Hawaii fell behind 10-0 late in the first quarter and was never able to reduce the Rebels’ lead for the remainder of the proceedings.

The Warriors never mounted a sustained rally not only because their defense struggled, but also because of four lost fumbles and a complete inability to run the ball. Hawaii mustered only six rushing yards against a UNLV defensive front that got annihilated in its first two games of the season, against Wisconsin and then Washington State. How Hawaii couldn’t move the Vegas front four is one of the great mysteries of the young college football season. This game wasn’t supposed to be close, and it wasn’t… but it was the underdog who uncorked a 20-point smackdown that was actually even more decisive in terms of the flow of play. It was a breakout game for the downtrodden Rebels, while Hawaii players could only shake their heads in disgust.

It was the first win on the season for the Rebels, who had taken beatings on the road from Wisconsin and Washington State to start the season. UNLV got it going late in the first quarter when Tim Cornett busted an 80-yard touchdown run to give the Rebels a 10-0 against a Warrior team that was a three-score favorite to win. To put the run in perspective, the 80 yards amounted to be one-third of UNLV’s previous total rushing output in the first two games combined. The Rebels all but put the game away early in the second half with Hawaii intent on fumbling away any chance of getting back in the game (the Warriors would finish with four lost fumbles on the night). After a fumble to start the half for Hawaii, Phillip Payne caught a 33-yard pass from Caleb Herring to give UNLV a 24-7 lead just 15 seconds into the half. Four minutes later, Nolan Kohorst nailed a 50-yard field goal to extend it to 27-7.

The best news of the game for UNLV was the awaited emergence of Payne, the receiver who had been banged up and only caught five balls for 32 yards in the first two games. The senior hauled in two touchdowns on his way to 98 receiving yards and seven receptions on the night. Herring finished 17-29 for 178 yards for the Rebels, who also finished with 186 rushing yards on the night. Hawaii quarterback Bryant Moniz finished 20-36 for 233 yards for Hawaii, who only netted six rushing yards on the night.

> Find a great selection of UNLV Rebels apparel & merchandise online as well as the MWC Football Scoreboard!

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer