ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Jackson Arnold accounted for three touchdowns and UNLV’s defense clamped down in the second half as the Rebels upset No. 23 New Mexico, 21-17, Saturday night at University Stadium. The victory snapped the Lobos’ streaks of 11 straight conference wins and 11 straight home victories while keeping UNLV (6-4, 4-2 Mountain West) in the conference title hunt and securing bowl eligibility for a fourth consecutive season.
New Mexico (8-2, 5-1) built a 14-0 lead behind its power rushing attack, with Scottre Humphrey scoring from three yards out and Cade Keith catching a nine-yard touchdown pass from Toa Fa’avae. UNLV struggled early, going three-and-out on its first three possessions and losing a fumble on a strip sack deep in Lobos territory. Arnold connected with Keyan Burnett for an 18-yard touchdown late in the first half to cut the deficit to 14-7 at the break.
The Rebels dominated the final 30 minutes, holding New Mexico to just 88 total yards after intermission. Arnold threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to make it 17-14 with 11:40 remaining, then took a quarterback draw 44 yards for the go-ahead score with 7:26 left. The game ended on a Tony-Louis Nkuba interception. Arnold finished 11-of-26 for 201 yards passing with two touchdowns and one interception, adding 98 yards rushing.
“Our defense played its butts off,” Arnold said. “No joke – the conversation all week was we needed to get three touchdowns to win this game. We had that much faith in our defense.” Coach Dan Mullen credited halftime adjustments for the turnaround, noting the staff challenged the offense to eliminate drops and mental errors. “I thought Jackson Arnold did an amazing job managing the game and making the big plays we needed to, especially on third down,” Mullen said.
New Mexico coach Jason Eck said the loss would not derail the Lobos’ season goals. “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 on Saturday, while New Mexico visits Wyoming on Friday night.
Sources: 8 News Now, Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: 8 News Now →
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