UNLV took a 24-20 lead into the fourth quarter against Air Force.
Then everything fell apart.
The Falcons scored three fourth-quarter rushing touchdowns and beat the Rebels 41-31, finishing with 430 rushing yards on 62 attempts. Air Force threw just three passes all night. UNLV knew what was coming and still could not stop it.
That is where this Rebel Daily Drive starts.
We break down why Air Force was able to repeatedly win at the line of scrimmage, UNLV’s tackling problems, the fourth-quarter collapse and why this cannot simply be dismissed as the difficulty of defending the triple option.
Jackson Arnold actually gave UNLV enough offensively to win. He finished 21-of-33 for 244 yards and two touchdowns while adding 78 rushing yards and another score. Caden McGee emerged with 99 receiving yards and two touchdowns. But the Rebels again struggled to establish a traditional running game, with Jet Thomas held to 48 yards on 17 carries.
Then we get into the bigger Dan Mullen conversation.
Mullen is 14-7 at UNLV, and that should not simply be dismissed. But against FBS opponents at .500 or worse, the Rebels are 11-0 in the sample discussed here. Against teams with winning records, they are 2-7.
The scoring drops from 36.5 points per game against the weaker group to 22.9 against winning teams. Defensively, UNLV goes from allowing 22.5 points per game to 31.1.
That is the question now.
UNLV is paying Dan Mullen to compete for championships, not simply beat the bottom of the schedule.
But the season is not over.
The Rebels are still 2-1 in Mountain West play with five games remaining. There are legitimate problems to fix, but firing Mullen in October is not the answer either.
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