LAS VEGAS — UNLV opens Mountain West play at Hawai‘i on Saturday without starting center Austin Boyd or defensive linemen Poe Purcell and Cohen Fuller, testing both lines after a 27-21 loss to Memphis.
The Mountain West’s 1:32 p.m. HT Game Day Report confirmed Austin Boyd, Cohen Fuller and Poe Purcell are out for the full game, with Avery Helm the only UNLV player still listed as questionable. Hawai‘i will be without Robert Haynes for the season and eight additional players for the full game; The Scarlet Standard’s full injury report has the complete update.
Hawai‘i arrives at the same point by a different route. The Rainbow Warriors struggled offensively for three quarters at Stanford before scoring touchdowns on three straight fourth-quarter possessions and taking a 27-23 lead with 4:06 remaining. Stanford answered with two late touchdowns to win 37-27, leaving both teams 0-1 entering Saturday’s Mountain West opener in Honolulu.
UNLV led Memphis 14-7 at halftime and went back ahead 21-14 in the third quarter before the game changed up front. Memphis scored the final 13 points, recorded all six of its sacks after halftime and handed the Rebels a 27-21 loss at Allegiant Stadium.
The Rebels have won the last three meetings with Hawai‘i, including a 38-10 win last season, but Saturday brings a different setting and a different set of problems. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. Hawai‘i time and 7 p.m. Pacific at Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex.
Boyd’s absence puts UNLV’s protection under the microscope
The largest change for UNLV comes at center, where Boyd has been ruled out after suffering a leg injury against Memphis. BJ Tolo finished the opener after Boyd went down, while Griffin Scroggs and Joe Metzger have also worked at center and give offensive line coach Louie Addazio several combinations to consider.
The protection problems did not begin with Boyd’s injury. Memphis had already started winning individual matchups before he left, recording two sacks before the injury and four afterward. Quarterback Jackson Arnold was sacked six times for 47 yards overall, and four of those sacks came on UNLV’s final 11 offensive plays.
Hawai‘i does not bring the same defensive front Memphis did, but Dan Mullen expects a quicker group that can create problems in different ways.
“They’re fast,” Mullen said. “They’re not quite as big, but they have quick guys all over. They have returning starters. They play really hard.”
PFF credited Hawai‘i’s Luther McCoy with four pressures on 22 pass-rush snaps against Stanford, including two quarterback hits and two hurries.
Michael Lasquero of Hawai‘i Sports Radio expects the Rainbow Warriors’ defensive front to respond better at home after an uneven opener.
“I expect this defensive front to come out firing against UNLV this game,” Lasquero said on the Rebel Daily Drive. “The question mark to me will be what happens in the secondary with the cornerback positions.”
That secondary gives UNLV an opportunity if the protection holds. Stanford quarterback Davis Warren completed 22 of 34 passes for 310 yards against Hawai‘i, and the Cardinal averaged 6.5 yards per offensive play.
Hawai‘i’s quick passing game will test UNLV’s tackling
Quarterback Micah Alejado threw 51 passes against Stanford, but Hawai‘i did not build its offense around repeatedly pushing the ball downfield. The Rainbow Warriors were most effective when he could get the football out quickly, spread it among several receivers and allow them to create after the catch.
Alejado completed 31 passes for 272 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Tama Uiliata caught eight passes for 62 yards, Kainoa “Kaikai” Carvalho had five for a team-high 72 and DeVon Rice added four catches out of the backfield. Twelve Hawai‘i players recorded at least one reception.
Lasquero expects much of that approach to continue while Alejado develops more timing with the deeper passing game after missing spring throwing work.
“I think for the early parts of the season, that’s going to be kind of what the offense is,” Lasquero said. “The chemistry with the deep ball is something that they need to kind of work through.”
The challenge for UNLV is what happens after those short completions. Hawai‘i finished with 132 yards after the catch against Stanford. Carvalho produced 46 of them, while Rice had 30 and turned a short throw into a 29-yard touchdown that gave the Rainbow Warriors the lead late in the fourth quarter.
That fits directly into one of the biggest problems from UNLV’s opener. Memphis produced 13 explosive plays: seven completions of at least 15 yards and six runs of at least 10. Those catches included a 48-yard touchdown pass to Stonka Burnside and a 32-yard completion to Jemyri Davis. Jake Pope, who led the Rebels with 13 tackles, pointed to those plays afterward.
“We let up some explosives,” Pope said. “That really is what it came down to, on the defensive side.”
UNLV has to disrupt Alejado before the throw
The Rebels will also be without Poe Purcell, removing another player from a defensive-line rotation that was already operating without Cohen Fuller. Lucas Conti, Kal-El Togafau and Mohamed Altayeb started against Memphis, while Purcell worked heavily enough in the rotation that his absence will require additional snaps from elsewhere.
Conti handled 26 pass-rush snaps against Memphis, Togafau had 23 and Purcell had 20. Elias Rudolph rushed the passer only nine times but produced a quarterback hit, giving UNLV another option if his role expands Saturday.
Alejado’s quick releases will limit the time available for those rushers. Chang is preparing for Guenther to vary the fronts in front of him.
“They threw a lot of different looks,” Chang said. “It was seven-man, it was six-man, it was three-man, it’s four-man. There’s a lot of different looks that they threw at us.”
Lasquero said Hawai‘i has spent considerable time trying to solve the pressure packages that bothered the Rainbow Warriors in last season’s meeting.
“I know this coaching staff, they like to collaborate, they like to troubleshoot,” Lasquero said. “I expect them to have an answer to that seven-man front that UNLV showed against Hawai‘i last season.”
Jai’Den Thomas needs to stay involved before UNLV falls behind the chains
Thomas had 12 touches for 81 yards in the first half and six touches for 17 in the second. Some of that came from Memphis taking away the run, and some came from UNLV repeatedly falling behind the chains and into situations where the offense had little choice but to throw.
The Rebels averaged more than 10 yards to go on third down and faced third-and-9 or longer eight times. That made it difficult to stay balanced and allowed Memphis to attack a line that was already beginning to lose individual matchups.
UNLV held Memphis to 3 of 11 on third down but went 3 of 15 itself. Against Memphis, the Rebels possessed the football for more than 35 minutes.
Jaylon Glover rushed for 49 yards on five carries against Memphis, including a 44-yard gain.
DeVon Rice gives Hawai‘i another weapon out of the backfield
Hawai‘i entered the Stanford game with Cam Barfield at the front of its backfield and left it with more reason to use Rice.
Rice carried 11 times for 35 yards and scored Hawai‘i’s first touchdown on a 3-yard run. He also caught four passes for 25 yards, including the 29-yard touchdown that completed the Rainbow Warriors’ fourth-quarter comeback and gave them the lead.
Chang had seen flashes of that ability before the opener.
“We saw some of the things when he touched the ball, how dynamic he was,” Chang said. “You put the ball in his hands and he can do some special things.”
Rice also has a long history with Alejado from their time together at Bishop Gorman. Lasquero pointed to that connection when asked which Hawai‘i player UNLV fans should know before Saturday.
“He provides a little different element than Cam Barfield,” Lasquero said. “I think him being involved in the passing game, especially if Micah Alejado has to scramble and get loose, if he knows where his safety valve is in DeVon Rice or that checkdown is there, they’re going to have that chemistry back from high school.”
Hawai‘i rushed for only 46 yards against Stanford, so the ground game still has plenty to prove. Purcell being unavailable gives the Rainbow Warriors another reason to test UNLV inside and see how the defensive-line rotation responds.
Arnold can attack a Hawai‘i secondary still sorting through its rotation
In his UNLV debut against Memphis, Arnold found Tavian McNair for a 38-yard touchdown and Kayden McGee for a 22-yard score, while completing passes to 11 different players. Arnold also broke a 54-yard run and finished with 54 net rushing yards even after the sack yardage was deducted.
Taeshaun Lyons was quiet against Memphis, but McGee, Taz Reddicks, DeAngelo Irvin Jr. and McNair each made plays at different points. If Hawai‘i has to devote additional attention to Arnold’s legs or the run game, those matchups can become even more favorable.
Hawai‘i wants to make UNLV chase the game
Hawai‘i spent most of its opener chasing Stanford before finally finding its offense in the fourth quarter. Lasquero believes the Rainbow Warriors need to avoid another slow start if they want to control the way Saturday is played.
“For Hawai‘i, what I need to see from them is they need to get off to an early lead,” Lasquero said. “If they can get off there early, that bodes well because I think that’s going to activate the defense.”
Playing ahead gives defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman more freedom to use his pressure packages on obvious passing downs. It would also allow Hawai‘i to keep the run-and-shoot balanced enough that UNLV cannot simply focus on Alejado throwing the ball 50 times.
The road environment adds another variable Saturday night. Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex is smaller than most Football Bowl Subdivision stadiums, but the fans sit close to the field and the visiting setup is unusual compared with a traditional road venue.
“When that small, under-20,000-seat temporary stadium gets rocking, it does get pretty loud,” Lasquero said.
