LAS VEGAS — UNLV’s defensive turnaround at Hawai‘i produced two Mountain West weekly honors Monday.
Sophomore safety Tre Fulton was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week, while redshirt freshman defensive lineman Kal-El Togafau earned Freshman of the Week after the Rebels held Hawai‘i without a touchdown in a 21-6 win Saturday night.
Photo source: 808deac38e3de3af5724296e39a98de499be40f7f4105b8040624a20e13caeb2Fulton finished with a career-high 12 tackles, including eight solo stops, and added a sack, forced fumble and pass breakup. His biggest play came late in the third quarter, when Hawai‘i appeared to score a touchdown before a replay review showed Fulton had knocked the ball away in the end zone.
The play kept the Rainbow Warriors out of the end zone and was part of a night in which UNLV repeatedly stopped Hawai‘i after it moved into scoring position.
Photo source: fe3e0e60b8ac75bb96ebc00f9813570a478dfea7b72ab73f8024d2305b8a6b4eTogafau provided much of the pressure up front.
The 6-foot-3, 270-pound defensive lineman recorded two of UNLV’s five sacks, with both coming on the same Hawai‘i possession. His second came on first-and-goal and pushed the Rainbow Warriors back six yards as another scoring opportunity stalled.
Togafau became the first UNLV defensive player to win the Mountain West’s freshman award since the conference introduced it in 2021.
The two honors followed the Rebels’ best defensive performance of the young season.
After allowing 27 points, 418 total yards and 195 rushing yards in a season-opening loss to Memphis, UNLV responded by keeping Hawai‘i out of the end zone for four quarters. The Rebels finished with five sacks, seven tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, an interception and seven pass breakups.
Hawai‘i’s six points were the fewest it has scored against UNLV in a series that dates to 1969. It was also the fewest points the Rebels have allowed in a road game since a 23-5 win at Wisconsin in 2003 and their lowest total allowed to a Mountain West opponent on the road since beating BYU 24-3 in 2002.
Fulton was at the center of that effort.
The Bakersfield, California, native already has 18 tackles and two sacks through UNLV’s first two games after finishing last season with 33 tackles in 14 appearances. His recognition continues a recent run of UNLV safeties winning the conference’s weekly defensive award. Aamaris Brown earned the honor last season, while Jalen Catalon received it in 2024.
Togafau’s emergence gives UNLV another option along a defensive front that entered the season needing to create more consistent pressure.
After not recording a sack against Memphis, the Rebels brought Hawai‘i quarterback Micah Alejado down five times. Togafau accounted for two of them and finished the night with the first two sacks of his college career.
The performance also gave UNLV the response it needed after its opening loss.
The Rebels left Allegiant Stadium following the Memphis game with problems at each level of their defense after allowing 13 explosive plays. A week later, Fulton helped erase a touchdown in the end zone, Togafau repeatedly disrupted Hawai‘i’s protection and the Rainbow Warriors never crossed the goal line.
UNLV will get another road test Saturday when it travels to North Texas.
Kickoff is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. PT on ESPNU.