UNLV Rebels Receive Votes In Newest AP Poll

The UNLV Rebels bounced back from a shaky Week 0 performance by convincingly knocking off the Sam Houston Bearkats by a score of 38 - 21. At the start of the season, UNLV was a team listed at "others receiving votes" in the preseason AP Poll. There were some concerns that their struggles against the Idaho State Bengals would knock them off that list despite winning the game. While they did lose votes, they are still one of the teams receiving votes in the newest AP Poll that was released on Tuesday, following Week 1 of the college football season.

With the Boise State Broncos getting routed by the USF Bulls last Thursday night, the Rebels are the only team from the Mountain West Conference listed at all in the AP Poll. Prior to Week 1, the Broncos were ranked at No. 25 in the poll, but they were dismantled so badly by the Bulls that they didn't receive a single vote this week. They were dominated in all aspects of the game. USF embarrassed them on offense, defense, and special teams while dominating them both in the trenches and on the outside.

The only other team from the Mountain West that really had any hopes of climbing into these rankings was the San Jose State Spartans. Notice we said "was" and not is. After losing to Central Michigan, you can write them off for the foreseeable future. We don't see things getting any better this week when they go on the road to take on the Texas Longhorns, coming off a tough loss against Ohio State.

This leaves UNLV as the clear class of the Mountain West. They impressed this week, and Anthony Colandrea is looking like he could be the best quarterback in the conference. We already knew that Jai'Den Thomas was the best running back in Mountain West as well, but wide receiver Jaden Bradley has been a bit of a surprise. If the offensive line continues to play like they did in Week 1 and not like they did in Week 0, then this offense is going to be a force to be reckoned with.

The defense looked much better in Week 1 as well. While Aamaris Brown is rightfully getting all the attention after his monster game in which he made four tackles, three for a loss, two sacks, and a pick-six, the biggest difference from Week 0 was the defensive line. They got more pressure on the quarterback and played better against the run.

It's still early, but the Rebels are deserving of the votes they received and will look to earn more moving forward. They will have a huge opportunity against UCLA this week. If they can beat the Bruins, they could inch their way towards a Top 25 Ranking.

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