LAS VEGAS – Boise State converted 10 of 16 third downs against UNLV in the Mountain West championship game. Ohio brings a different rushing attack but the same threat to Dan Mullen’s defense: keep the ball with Sieh Bangura or Parker Navarro, and leave Anthony Colandrea waiting for another possession.
Bangura leads the Mid-American Conference in rushing. Navarro’s ability to keep the ball means UNLV has to account for the quarterback as well as the handoff on early downs.
UNLV enters 10-3 after losing 38-21 at Boise State. Ohio is 8-4, has won six consecutive bowl games and is preparing under interim coach John Hauser after Brian Smith’s dismissal. Kickoff at Ford Center at The Star is listed for 6:05 p.m. Pacific on ESPN, following the scheduled 6 p.m. television window. Matt Neverett, Caleb Herring and Steve Cofield have the local radio call on ESPN 1100.
Dan Mullen’s first UNLV team has reached a third straight bowl with a rebuilt roster. Another win would give the program consecutive bowl victories and back-to-back 11-win seasons for the first time. Getting there requires more than arriving with the better record or the league’s offensive player of the year.
“Nobody knew each other last January, and this team came together to compete for a championship,” Mullen said in the bowl’s preview.
The championship is gone. The last game still offers a chance to finish a productive season with something besides another discussion of what UNLV gave away in Boise.
Bangura and Navarro give the front two jobs
Bangura has rushed for 1,243 yards and 14 touchdowns, becoming Ohio’s fifth back to reach 3,000 career rushing yards. He has an accomplished blocker in graduate offensive lineman Davion Weatherspoon, who joined him on the All-MAC first team. Marsel McDuffie and the defenders ahead of him have to deal with the work creating the run, not simply wait for the back to arrive.
Navarro supplies the second responsibility. He passed for 2,232 yards and 14 touchdowns during the regular season and added eight rushing scores. Last season, his 1,062 rushing yards helped make him the first Ohio quarterback with more than 2,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in the same year. He was the Cure Bowl MVP when the Bobcats beat Jacksonville State 30-27.
Ohio also has Chase Hendricks, who finished the regular season with 67 catches for 950 yards and seven touchdowns. McDuffie cannot ask the secondary to treat every snap as another handoff while leaving that target unattended.
The quarterback cannot disappear from UNLV’s preparation when Bangura takes a breather. Neither can the back disappear when Navarro is preparing to throw. The Rebels need the front, linebackers and secondary working through the same play, rather than one defender abandoning his responsibility to repair another player’s mistake.
Boise State supplied the immediate warning. UNLV allowed 10 conversions on 16 third downs in the title game. After the Rebels cut a 21-point deficit to seven, Chase Penry’s 46-yard catch on third-and-3 put the Broncos at the 1 and set up the touchdown that stopped the comeback.
UNLV had earned a manageable score, then failed to get the offense back onto the field without another touchdown to chase. Ohio does not have to duplicate Boise State’s personnel to pursue the same benefit: a defense that cannot leave the field lets the opponent decide how long the quarterback waits.
The Rebels have made progress on defense. Their bowl notes record 21 sacks over the last six games after one in the preceding four. Seven came against Utah State. The pass rush became much more productive, but the championship showed that an improved pressure total can coexist with possessions that last too long.
McDuffie’s unit needs useful first and second downs before it can expect the rush to end a drive. Bangura’s gains and Navarro’s running make that difficult without requiring either to produce a highlight on every carry. A short conversion gives Ohio another set of downs just as surely as a long run does.
Hauser is trying to keep the preparation familiar
Ohio’s coaching change should not become UNLV’s explanation for expecting a flat opponent. The Bobcats have an established quarterback, an all-conference back and a postseason record their seniors have helped sustain. A victory would give that class 40 wins over four seasons, a program first.
Hauser, Ohio’s defensive coordinator, described the work in a Dec. 21 Field Level Media report: “Keeping them locked in, doing a ton of good-on-good where we can get better offensively and defensively.”
That is an interim coach explaining how he is preparing, rather than evidence that the disruption has disappeared. UNLV still has to beat the players who take the field. The Bobcats went unbeaten at home for a second consecutive season and closed the regular season with a 31-26 win at Buffalo, their second road victory.
The bowl has moved indoors to Ford Center at The Star during renovations at Toyota Stadium. Ohio’s running game remains the central matchup; no change of venue alters Bangura’s workload or Navarro’s ability to keep drives alive.
The Bobcats have reached seven bowls in nine seasons. Their winning streak includes the Bahamas, Frisco, Famous Idaho Potato, Arizona, Myrtle Beach and Cure bowls. Those games span different teams and coaching circumstances. This group has its own last assignment, with Hauser responsible for keeping the preparation moving after Smith’s departure.
Thomas can help without taking every handoff
Colandrea gives UNLV a quarterback-running threat after throwing for 3,275 yards and 23 touchdowns and rushing for 621 yards and nine scores. His 66.1% completion rate helped Mullen’s offense average 35.9 points and 459 yards per game, with 6.9 yards per play and a third-down conversion rate near 47%.
Those are reasons to trust the offense’s ability. They are not a reason to make Colandrea rescue every possession. Jai’Den Thomas enters with 985 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns on 137 carries. His efficiency gives Mullen a productive back to use before a passing down becomes obvious.
Thomas also has work available through the air. Against Air Force, he ran for 88 yards and caught six passes for 58. His 11 receptions against New Mexico set the UNLV record for a running back. Keeping him involved does not require calling the same kind of play every time or waiting until the defense has pushed the quarterback into trouble.
Ohio still has to tackle Thomas after a completion. Colandrea has to recognize when that throw is available and deliver it while the back can do something with it. The pass can continue a possession without asking Jaden Bradley or another receiver to win a long route on every series.
Keyvone Lee and Jaylon Glover have supplied another 812 rushing yards between them. Lee enters with 433 yards and six touchdowns; Glover has 379 yards on 62 carries. Their production gives Mullen alternatives behind Thomas and keeps a substitution from automatically removing UNLV’s ability to run.
The line has to make those choices usable. Center Reid Williams made the All-Mountain West second team after allowing one sack and going through the regular season without a penalty, according to UNLV’s awards announcement. Right tackle Austin Boyd earned honorable mention. Williams, left tackle Will Thomas and guard Malik McGowan have started all 13 games, according to the bowl notes.
The championship also showed how quickly an offense can undo the position it earned. UNLV reached the Boise State 30 in the fourth quarter, then lost three yards on a Kayden McGee play, 12 on a sack and two on a Thomas run. A false start followed. The Rebels punted from their own 48 instead of making Boise State defend another scoring chance. Colandrea had completed passes to Troy Omeire and Thomas to get there; the next snaps surrendered the ground they had gained.
Penalties added another burden. UNLV committed nine for 70 yards in Boise while the Broncos had three for 20. The bowl gives Mullen a chance to demand a different finish from the players who made those opportunities harder. A false start cannot be blamed on an Ohio coverage, and a drive that retreats from scoring range gives Navarro and Bangura a chance to make the wait longer.
Ohio’s defensive backs have their own established production. Cornerback Tank Pearson enters with 11 pass breakups and two interceptions. He gives the Bobcats a defender capable of contesting throws outside; UNLV cannot treat every isolated receiver as a completed pass before Colandrea releases the ball.
Bradley leads the group with 54 catches for 869 yards and four touchdowns. Omeire, DaeDae Reynolds and Taeshaun Lyons also averaged double-digit yards per reception. Omeire caught Colandrea’s 11-yard touchdown before halftime in Boise, helping the Rebels stay within two scores before their second-half recovery.
Finish the possessions Ohio allows
UNLV has scored at least 20 points in 34 consecutive regular-season games, the nation’s longest active streak entering bowl season. The Rebels have a rushing touchdown in 26 straight games and at least one passing and rushing score in 14 straight. Those streaks describe sustained production. They did not keep Boise State from holding UNLV scoreless after its third-quarter touchdown in the championship.
The bowl notes list 52 scores on 58 red-zone trips, with 41 touchdowns. That is a 90% scoring rate and a 71% touchdown rate, different measures of what happens after the offense reaches the 20. Against an opponent capable of extending possessions, leaving with three instead of seven can keep a long scoring drive from producing much separation.
Ramon Villela has given UNLV a way to finish close games. He enters 14-for-19 on field goals and perfect on 57 extra points, with a 50-yarder against UCLA and the winning 23-yarder at Miami (Ohio). Those kicks helped finish wins. UNLV’s red-zone offense can give Villela extra points instead by turning the field position into touchdowns.
UNLV is making its seventh Division I bowl appearance, while Ohio is making its 17th. The Bobcats’ six MAC championships and recent bowl streak give them their own history to protect. UNLV beat Cal in the LA Bowl last season; Ohio finished its Cure Bowl with a three-point win over Jacksonville State.
UNLV has also learned to win away from Las Vegas, going 15-5 in true road games since 2023 after an 8-25 record in the preceding six seasons. Frisco is neutral, but the Rebels have already won in Texas this season, beating Sam Houston 38-21 on Aug. 29. That win came with Colandrea directing Mullen’s offense away from home; he now takes a season’s work into the bowl.
