LAS VEGAS — Jackson Arnold had already helped UNLV build a 17-point halftime lead. By the time he took the field with 11:35 remaining Saturday, all of it was gone. Cal had scored 18 unanswered points, the Rebels had punted on their first four possessions of the second half, and an offense that spent the second quarter scoring in chunks suddenly needed to find anything that worked.
Arnold found it with his legs. He broke a 42-yard run to set up the go-ahead touchdown, then carried UNLV through another scoring drive as the Rebels recovered from a 25-24 deficit to beat Cal 39-31 at Allegiant Stadium. The quarterback threw three touchdown passes and ran for two more, accounting for every UNLV touchdown.
UNLV improved to 3-2 and won for the sixth time in its last eight games against Power Four opponents dating to 2023. Arnold finished 11-of-22 passing for 177 yards without an interception and rushed for 110 yards on 15 carries. His two fourth-quarter touchdown drives covered 80 and 52 yards, turning a one-point deficit into a 39-25 lead with 3:25 remaining.
“They seize all the momentum, come all the way back, take the lead, and then all of a sudden the grit it took for our guys to kind of buckle down and come from behind,” coach Dan Mullen said. “That just shows how much character all these guys have.”
The response began with Kayden McGee, whose return had already produced UNLV’s first touchdown. Arnold found him over the middle for 11 yards, and McGee held onto the ball through a hit that resulted in a targeting penalty and the ejection of Cal defensive back Daniel Harris. The catch and penalty moved UNLV from its own 20 to its 46, and Arnold took off up the middle on the next play, running 42 yards before stumbling at the Cal 12.
UNLV still had to finish the possession. An incomplete pass and a 2-yard Jai’Den Thomas run left the Rebels facing third-and-8, but Arnold found Keyan Burnett in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown with 9:31 remaining. After a Cal roughing-the-passer penalty moved the conversion attempt to the 1, Arnold kept the ball and ran in the two-point try for a 32-25 lead.
Mullen said Cal’s man coverage gave Arnold opportunities to run because defenders were occupied with receivers downfield. The Bears also committed heavily to stopping Thomas, sending safeties toward the line of scrimmage and holding UNLV’s leading running back to 46 yards on 16 carries.
“I think Jackson did an amazing job of understanding when it’s man-to-man coverage, who’s got the quarterback man-to-man?” Mullen said. “And even if one guy does, if he makes that guy miss, everybody else’s back is turned to you. You get an explosive play running.”
Cal threatened to answer immediately when Niles Davis returned the ensuing kickoff 46 yards to the Bears’ 47. UNLV’s defense held there, with Jaylen Allen staying with Kyion Grayes on a third-down incompletion before Jake Pope came free off the edge on fourth-and-5. Pope hurried Jackson Brousseau into another incompletion, giving the Rebels the ball at their own 48 with 7:39 left.
Cal helped extend the next possession, and Arnold kept doing most of the damage on the ground. A UNLV holding penalty backed the Rebels into first-and-20, but pass interference on a throw intended for Vincent Carner gave them a first down. Arnold ran for 12 yards, then missed an open McGee downfield, only for another roughing-the-passer penalty to move UNLV to the Cal 20.
Arnold converted third-and-4 with a 7-yard keeper, added another 4-yard run near the goal line and scored from the 2 on third down. The eight-play drive took 4:14 off the clock and put UNLV ahead by two touchdowns. Arnold produced 61 net rushing yards in the fourth quarter, even with an 11-yard sack included in that total.
Arnold had already done most of UNLV’s damage before halftime. He found McGee for a 70-yard touchdown, broke a 55-yard run for another score and hit Taz Reddicks from 36 yards out as the Rebels built a 24-7 lead. Quandarius Keyes intercepted a pass after Cal blocked a punt, but UNLV gave the ball back on a failed double pass. McGee finished with three catches for 85 yards, including the catch that started the fourth-quarter response.
Cal also lost safety Kingston Lopa and starting quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele during the first half. Lopa left after UNLV’s first offensive play, while Sagapolutele departed injured late in the second quarter after completing 19 of 27 passes for 195 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Brousseau took over before halftime and still led the comeback, finishing 19-of-32 for 200 yards and two touchdowns.
UNLV had 13 yards on 13 third-quarter plays and punted on its first four possessions after halftime. Cal recovered an onside kick to open the half, although the Rebels stopped that possession on fourth down. The Bears later scored when UNLV left Carson Perry-Smith uncovered on a wheel route for a 53-yard touchdown, then recovered Peyton Zachary’s fumble on the ensuing kickoff and added a field goal to cut the deficit to 24-18.
An 11-yard sack on third-and-2 and a 26-yard punt gave Cal the ball at UNLV’s 46 early in the fourth quarter. Brousseau found Cooper Perry for 21 yards, Denver Harris committed pass interference to move the ball to the 7, and Ashten Emory scored on the next play. Cal had erased the halftime deficit and taken the lead with 11:38 remaining.
UNLV finished with 350 total yards to Cal’s 464, but the defense produced four sacks, 10 tackles for loss and three fourth-down stops. Tre Fulton led the Rebels with 10 tackles, Pope had eight and Cam Santee had seven. Mumu Bin-Wahad, Kal-El Togafau and Andre Porter each recorded a full sack, with Fulton and Dee Crayton sharing the fourth.
Cal threw for 395 yards, including 239 after the catch. Taimane Purcell’s 91-yard first-quarter touchdown and Perry-Smith’s third-quarter score accounted for 144 receiving yards, with a missed tackle on the first and an uncovered receiver on the second. Cal also committed 16 penalties for 147 yards, including penalties that extended both UNLV touchdown drives in the fourth quarter.
Brousseau kept the Bears alive with an 86-yard touchdown drive, finding Ian Strong for a 10-yard score with 28 seconds remaining. Cal’s first two-point attempt failed before a roughing-the-passer penalty on Santee allowed another try from the 1. The second pass fell incomplete, and UNLV recovered the ensuing onside kick to finish the game.
Arnold said UNLV’s offense knew it had to respond once Cal took the lead. He also remembered receivers coach Del Alexander embracing the situation on the sideline before the Rebels’ final two scoring possessions. “We got rolling after that and started executing,” Arnold said.
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