UNLV Rallies Past No. 23 New Mexico 21-17 as the Lobos Fall at Home
New Mexico had the game in hand, and then everything flipped in a little more than four minutes. Down 17-7 entering the fourth quarter, the UNLV Rebels won 21-17 on Saturday, November 14, at University Stadium in Albuquerque, carried by Jackson Arnold, who threw a long touchdown pass and then ran 44 yards for the go-ahead score. Ranked No. 23 in the AP poll, the Lobos took their second loss of the season and their first in Mountain West play, in their first home game as a ranked team.
The result does not knock New Mexico out of the conference title race, but it tightens it. The Lobos are now 8-2 overall and 5-1 in the Mountain West, while UNLV moves to 6-4 (4-2) and, with its sixth win, becomes bowl eligible. The Rebels also extended a pattern: they have won their last five trips to Albuquerque.
Last season, New Mexico won 40-35 in Las Vegas after watching a 21-point lead disappear. This time it was UNLV that came from well behind, and held on.
A One-Sided Start
Nothing pointed to that ending. Midway through the first quarter, New Mexico caught the defense off guard with a trick play: wide receiver Bailen George threw a 65-yard pass to DJ Darling, who was brought down 15 yards from the end zone. A 12-yard run by Kiefer Sibley moved the Lobos closer, and Scottre Humphrey finished with a 3-yard touchdown run, capping an 80-yard drive that took only three plays (7-0).
The second touchdown drive was a very different kind: 11 plays, 73 yards and 5 minutes, 43 seconds of possession. It could have stalled on a third-and-20 that followed a sack, but Sibley found a seam for 22 yards. Toa Fa'avae then hit tight end Cade Keith for 9 yards to stretch the lead to 14-0 in the second quarter.
UNLV first wasted a chance when Arnold lost the ball on a sack as the Rebels were moving through New Mexico territory. The answer came just before halftime: a nine-play, 55-yard drive finished by a 16-yard pass from Arnold to Keyan Burnett (14-7). At the break, the numbers still clearly favored the Lobos, with 220 yards to 126 and 139 rushing yards to 63.
A 10-Point Lead, Then the Stall
New Mexico went back to its plan after halftime: run the ball, keep it, wear the opponent down. An 11-play drive that lasted 6 minutes, 54 seconds, and was extended by a fourth-down run from Fa'avae, ended in a 36-yard field goal (17-7). With a 10-point lead and a defense billed before the game as one of the best in the country, the Lobos looked in control.
But the New Mexico offense did not score again. After halftime it gained only 88 yards, compared with 201 for UNLV. The passing game, already quiet, went silent: apart from the 65-yard pass thrown by a receiver, Fa'avae finished 7-of-14 for 40 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Even the running game slowed, with 64 yards after the break compared with 139 before it.
That left New Mexico with a one-dimensional offense: effective on the ground, stuck through the air. In the third quarter, with the Lobos still ahead, a deep throw to DJ Darling on third down was overthrown, coach Jason Eck said afterward. Fa'avae, a second-year player in his first season as the starter, works behind a line that has lost center Kaden Robnett for the year, and the Lobos converted only 3 of 13 third downs. On the final drive, Eck said, the offense had four true freshmen on the field, two of them on the line.
Jackson Arnold Flips the Game in Four Minutes
The turning point came on a drive that started a long way back. Pinned 5 yards from their own end zone late in the third quarter, the Rebels went 95 yards in 11 plays, converting a third-and-9 along the way with a 22-yard completion. Arnold finished it with a 43-yard touchdown pass with 11 minutes, 40 seconds left (17-14).
The UNLV defense got the ball back for its offense, and it took only four plays and 65 yards to take the lead. Arnold kept the ball himself and cut through the defense for 44 yards and into the end zone with 7 minutes, 26 seconds remaining (21-17). In a little more than four minutes, a 10-point deficit had become a four-point lead.
New Mexico had two chances to answer. The first ended on a failed fourth down 42 yards from the UNLV end zone with less than four minutes left. On that fourth down, Keith got a step on his defender, Eck said, but the defender recovered and broke up the pass. The second, which began close to its own goal line, ended with an interception.
Arnold effectively played two games in one. At halftime he had completed just 6 of 13 passes for 55 yards, with 40 rushing yards. After the break he added 146 passing yards and 58 on the ground. "Our defense played its butts off," the quarterback said after the game.
UNLV's resilience decided it. Down 14-0, then 17-7, with two turnovers along the way, the Rebels never let go. "We got a lead on them early, but they did not flinch," Eck said. "They kept battling."
The Numbers: Possession for the Lobos, Big Plays for UNLV
The box score shows two ways of playing. New Mexico ran 48 times for 203 yards and held the ball for 33 minutes, 3 seconds, compared with 26 minutes, 57 seconds for its opponent. Humphrey carried 19 times for 89 yards and a touchdown, and Sibley added 77 yards. But the Lobos completed only 8 of 15 passes for 105 yards, 65 of them on a single play.
UNLV gained 327 yards to 308 on fewer offensive plays, averaging 5.5 yards per play to 4.9. Arnold threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns and added 98 rushing yards, which accounts for most of his team's production. His defense recorded three sacks and allowed only three points after halftime. Each team punted six times, and the Rebels committed two turnovers to New Mexico's one, without it being enough for the Lobos.
What the Loss Changes for New Mexico
For Jason Eck and the Lobos, the most immediate consequence is in the national rankings. They entered the AP poll on November 1 and may drop out after only two weeks. Their only previous loss came on September 19 at Oklahoma (14-6).
The defeat ends a six-game winning streak. Since Oklahoma, New Mexico had beaten New Mexico State (42-18), UTEP (61-7), Hawai'i (21-10), North Dakota State (21-16), San Jose State (21-16) and Nevada (31-3). But the offense had topped 21 points only once in its previous four games, and it stayed below that mark against UNLV.
The Mountain West title race, though, is still open. With one conference loss, New Mexico remains in a favorable position but has no margin left. The Lobos still hold their fate in their own hands: win twice, and the Mountain West title game comes to Albuquerque. Two games remain: a trip to Wyoming on Friday, November 20, then a home game against Air Force on Friday, November 27. The trip to Laramie comes on a short week, which leaves little time to fix things. Eck did not mind. "I'm happy it's a short week," he said. "If we could play on Wednesday, I'd play on Wednesday."
UNLV, in its second season under Dan Mullen, is back in the picture at the right time. The Rebels, who visit San Jose State on Saturday, November 21, have two conference losses and stay alive in the race for the championship game. One question remains for New Mexico: can a team built on the run and on its defense erase a deficit when the passing game does not follow? The final two weeks of the regular season will provide the answer.
