UNLV football still has everything to play for as bowl eligibility and a Mountain West title loom

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

UNLV plays Wyoming connected Saturday with a accidental to go vessel eligible.

Sure, the play hasn’t gone according to script. We thought the Rebels could tally the array and contend for an at-large spot successful the College Football Playoff.

We surely didn’t person them losing by 38 points astatine North Texas oregon needing to clasp disconnected winless Northern Illinois past Saturday successful beforehand of a sparse crowd. The instrumentality basal — maine included — was disconnected doing Halloween activities with our kids.

But entering the last 3rd of the season, the Rebels inactive person plentifulness to play for. They person 4 chances to go vessel eligible, a rivalry crippled against UNR and they power their ain destiny successful the contention for the Mountain West championship.

It hasn’t been pretty, but UNLV is 3-1 successful league play arsenic it chases a 4th consecutive quality successful the league rubric game.

Allow maine to beryllium a hypocrite for a fewer paragraphs.

At the commencement of the season, I argued that UNLV had outgrown the elemental goals of qualifying for a vessel oregon competing for a league title. This team, I wrote, was positioned to bash more, and thing little would beryllium a disappointment.

So, yes, it’s perfectly tenable to consciousness similar the Rebels are playing for a consolation prize the remainder of the way.

But let’s absorption connected reality.

Season aft season, until the programme moved into Allegiant Stadium successful 2020, the extremity was a vessel game. The Rebels reached 1 conscionable 4 times: the 1984 California Bowl, the Las Vegas Bowl successful 1994 and 2000, and the Heart of Dallas Bowl aft the 2013 season.

A triumph against Wyoming, astatine New Mexico, astatine San Jose State oregon successful the finale against UNR would nonstop UNLV to its 4th vessel crippled successful 4 years. By UNLV shot standards, these are the glory years.

That makes the lethargic effort against Northern Illinois unacceptable. The Rebels trailed successful the archetypal half, managed conscionable 7 points aft halftime and astir surrendered 500 yards earlier escaping with the win.

Coach Dan Mullen wasn’t pleased. Neither were you, the program’s supporters.

“I don’t cognize if we played existent hard. And that’s truly disappointing,” Mullen said aft the game.

Mullen and the Rebels person a fewer days to hole it.

If UNLV defeats its adjacent 2 opponents, Wyoming astatine 7:30 p.m. Saturday astatine Allegiant Stadium and New Mexico connected Nov. 14 successful Albuquerque, N.M., the Rebels would scope the title game. Wyoming is 4-1 successful league play. New Mexico is undefeated successful league games and ranked No. 22. Let’s beryllium honest: How galore teams tin accidental astatine this constituent successful the play that they inactive person thing to play for, fto unsocial a league title?

Remember, UNLV has ne'er won a Mountain West shot championship.

Mullen could good beryllium a campaigner for major-conference occupation openings: North Carolina State, Maryland, Florida State and immoderate other shakes escaped this month. Some locals, astatine slightest judging by my X feed, wouldn’t beryllium upset to spot him go.

That’s crazy.

Even portion underperforming, this squad has a winning record, volition play for a vessel berth and has a beardown changeable astatine playing for a league title. That’s precisely wherefore Mullen’s sanction keeps coming up for different jobs.

More importantly, successful an epoch of dense roster turnover each offseason due to the fact that of name, representation and likeness (NIL) deals, Mullen is simply a cleanable acceptable due to the fact that he’s a beardown recruiter. And there’s nary debating his quality to make quarterbacks. Alex Smith astatine Utah, Tim Tebow astatine Florida, Dak Prescott astatine Mississippi State and Anthony Colandrea astatine UNLV are each multimillionaires acknowledgment successful portion to Mullen’s coaching.

Don’t fto the vexation of 1 level effort against a mediocre hostile muddy what should beryllium a large period of UNLV football. The Rebels were favored by much than 3 touchdowns and played down to the competition.

They’ll beryllium acceptable for Wyoming. The aforesaid goes for New Mexico, successful what could beryllium a season-defining game.

It’s perfectly good to set your expectations, particularly erstwhile you’re cheering for a programme that went from two-win seasons to 10-win campaigns and is connected the verge of a 4th vessel quality successful a row. It’s besides perfectly good to beryllium captious of Mullen and his team.

That disapproval is refreshing.

By this constituent successful the season, galore supporters person traditionally shifted their attraction to grumbling astir however Rebel hoops is failing to scope the modular acceptable successful the 1980s and ’90s nether Jerry Tarkanian.