The UNLV Rebels Drop Second In A Row To The New Mexico Lobos

A recap of the Week 10 matchup between the UNLV Rebels and New Mexico Lobos.

The UNLV Rebels logo in the end zone is seen before the Mountain West Championship between the Boise State Broncos and the UNLV Rebels at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The UNLV Rebels hosted the New Mexico Lobos in Week 10 and suffered their second loss of the season. This is their second-straight loss and a crushing blow to any hopes the Rebels had of earning a College Football Playoff bid. This is also a huge hurdle for UNLV to jump if they are going to have a chance of winning the Mountain West Conference as well. The defense once again gave up a ton of points in this 40 - 35 loss.

New Mexico Lobos @ UNLV Rebels Recap

First Half

The first half of this game started off about as bad as anyone could have imagined for the Rebels, with the Lobos scoring the first three touchdowns of the game, and jumping out to a 21 - 0 lead. However, like they have so often this season, UNLV came storming back. In less than a seven-minute span, they scored three straight touchdowns to tie the game.

Quarterback Anthony Colandrea struck first with a seven-yard touchdown pass to DaeDae Reynolds. After a quick three-and-out, the Rebels got possession of the ball back and went downfield to score a five-yard rushing touchdown from Keyvone Lee. That was followed by a Quandarius Keyes pick-six of Jack Layne just two plays later. At this point, we were all knotted back up.

Unfortunately, after a huge defense play, the Rebels' defense would once again collapse in the final two minutes of the half. The Lobos would score a quick TD, which was followed by a Colandrea fumble and another quick field goal before the half. The half ended with New Mexico in the lead by a score of 31 - 21, leaving the Rebels in need of a big second-half comeback once again. The defense had a lot to figure out during halftime. After just two quarters, they had already allowed 266 passing yards, 95 rushing yards, and four passing TDs.

Second Half

UNLV made a big comeback in the second half. Despite New Mexico starting off the second half scoring with a field goal, two more Colandrea touchdown passes gave the Rebels a 35 - 34 lead with just over six and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter. However, the UNLV defense was not able to step up and get the stop they needed, giving up the game-winning TD to the Lobos with just under three minutes left in the game. That would prove to be all they needed to close out the Rebels. New Mexico now climbs to 3 - 2 in the Mountain West standings, while the Rebels drop to 6 - 2 overall and 2 - 2 in the Mountain West.

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