Jackson Arnold threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 98 yards to lead UNLV (6-4, 4-2 Mountain West) to its fifth straight road win over New Mexico (8-2, 5-1). The Rebels fell behind early as the Lobos leaned on their power rushing attack, with Scottre Humphrey scoring from 3 yards out and Cade Keith catching a 9-yard touchdown pass from Toa Fa'avae to make it 14-0.
Arnold connected with Keyan Burnett for an 18-yard score late in the first half to cut the deficit. In the fourth quarter, he threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to pull UNLV within 17-14 with 11:40 remaining, then broke a 44-yard quarterback draw for the go-ahead score with 7:26 left.
"I thought Jackson Arnold did an amazing job managing the game and making the big plays we needed to, especially on third down," UNLV coach Dan Mullen said. Mullen added that the game plan focused on stopping New Mexico's run game and forcing the Lobos to pass, which proved effective as the game progressed.
New Mexico coach Jason Eck said the loss does not eliminate the Lobos from the conference championship race. "A lot of our goals are still there for us," Eck said. "We still can play in the conference championship game. We still have a chance at a pathway to double digits wins, which has not been done here in a long time." UNLV travels to San Jose State next Saturday, while New Mexico visits Wyoming on Friday night.
Sources: KTNV 13 Action News
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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