There’s little question that the UNLV football team has improved.
While a 28-20 loss Friday to visiting San Diego State didn’t necessarily highlight all of those upgrades, a closer look shows that the Rebels could be on the right path. And this isn’t hunting for signs of positive play — these are obvious building blocks for the young roster that just gave a nationally ranked team a contested game. Actually, should have won, right?
Considering the following:
• The UNLV defense, a perennial problem, kept the game close by forcing No. 22 San Diego State (10-1) to punt six times. The Rebels had three sacks, an interception, and yielded just 98 rushing yards. San Diego State entered with a Mountain West-best 192.8 yards per game on the ground — so, yes, an impressive effort by the home team.
• The UNLV offense, despite being forced to play backup Justin Rogers at quarterback, wasn’t awful in passing for more than 300 yards. Rogers, surprisingly, was throwing darts all over the field against the league’s best team and nearly orchestrated an upset.
• And most important: The team didn’t quit against the Aztecs. Despite winning two games in two seasons of the coach Marcus Arroyo tenure, the players appear to have bought into his vision, and that’s a significant step forward entering the offseason. They played hard from start to finish, and that’s commendable considering it’s a two-win team. The season finale is next week at Air Force, where the Rebels "get to fight another week," Arroyo said.
The offense was a mess at the beginning of the season, the defense is usually an eye sore, and many two-win teams simply throw in the towel at this juncture of the season. But UNLV is different, and that’s a reason to be optimistic moving forward.
"We aren't where we want to be," Arroyo said. "We expect to win all of the games, especially against good opponent. At the end of the day we have to find a way."
The 2022 season will bring drastically different exceptions from the fan base and university athletic department officials, whenever and whomever the next athletic director will be. Gone will be the morale victories of this season, as dropping a close game — against Eastern Washington, Utah State or tonight against San Diego State — needs to be replaced with winning a close game.
Simply put: Arroyo needs to win in Year 3. He needs to at least threaten to go to a bowl.
Remember, this era of UNLV football has an advantage that no other in program history has in recruiting players to play their entire careers at Allegiant Stadium, the shared NFL stadium with the Raiders, and the on-campus Fertitta Football Complex. Those are the best facilities in the Mountain West and it’s time the program rises to a similar claim.
The offseason will be vital in pushing the program forward, especially when it comes to rebuilding the offense.
And that’s going to be a big-time challenge.
Running back Charles Williams had for nearly 100 total yards of offense Friday, padding his program-best career rushing totals to 4,059 yards. He’ll go down as one of the Rebels’ all-time greats, and will be painfully tough to replace as he’s accounted for virtually all of the team’s carries on the season. Backups Chad Magyar and Courtney Reese have combined for just 25 attempts, meaning UNLV will start the crucial 2022 campaign with an inexperienced running backs group.
“Chuck Wagon” was the main reason UNLV finally broke into the win column this season with victories over New Mexico and Hawaii in consecutive weeks, but not spreading out carries to other backs isn’t ideal in terms of building the program.
Compounding the problem is that there isn’t an established quarterback entering the offseason, which isn’t an ideal scenario for a coach entering his third season on the job.
True freshman Cameron Friel started his fifth straight game Friday and is closing in on 1,500 passing yards for the season, although he was knocked out with a leg injury in the first half. Doug Brumfield appeared to be the quarterback of the future earlier in the season, but can’t stay healthy.
And most important: Is Friel or Brumfield the longterm answer?
Either way, don’t be surprised if Arroyo heads to the transfer portal to upgrade both the running back and quarterback positions, as he’ll surely be aggressive in filling voids on the roster for experienced college transfers. He, too, knows it’s win or bust in the third year.
And there’s nothing wrong with that pressure, as we saw Friday this is a program on the verge of breaking through.
This is an improved bunch, which shows Arroyo and his staff have a strong blue-print for building a competitive program.
It will be interesting to see how that growth continues in the spring and summer, because it’s a different set of standards in Year 3. It’s time to win.