LAS VEGAS — UNLV led Cal 24-7 at halftime Saturday, then gained 13 yards on 13 third-quarter plays and punted on its first four possessions after the break. By the time Jackson Arnold took the field with 11:35 remaining, the lead was gone and the Rebels needed their quarterback to get the offense moving again.
Arnold led consecutive touchdown drives in a 39-31 victory at Allegiant Stadium, accounting for all five UNLV touchdowns and rushing for 110 yards. His 42-yard run helped set up the go-ahead score, and his running carried the Rebels through their next possession. The finish improved UNLV to 3-2, but the four punts before it brought back problems that have followed the offense since the season opener.
Through five games, UNLV has averaged 393.6 yards, but it has punted 27 times and converted 29 of 76 third downs. The Rebels average 6.3 yards on first down and 5.6 on second, yet when they reach third down they have needed an average of 7.4 yards to move the chains.
Cal concentrated on Thomas, holding him to 46 yards on 16 carries. UNLV averaged 6.6 yards on first down against the Bears, dropped to 2.8 on second and faced an average of 7.1 yards to go on third. Only one of its 17 second-down snaps produced a first down, a 10-yard Thomas run before halftime.
Mullen said Cal moved safeties toward the line of scrimmage to stop Thomas and played man coverage behind them. When defenders followed receivers downfield, Arnold could run into the space they left. He scored on a 55-yard keeper in the first half and found more of those opportunities during the fourth-quarter response.
“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.”
UNLV kept returning to Thomas after incomplete first-down passes. On all four occasions when a first-down incompletion was followed by a second-and-10 snap, the Rebels handed him the ball. Those carries gained two, five, five and two yards, leaving third-and-8 twice and third-and-5 twice.
Arnold converted both third-and-8s for touchdowns. He found Kayden McGee for a 70-yard score in the first quarter and Keyan Burnett for the 10-yard go-ahead touchdown in the fourth. Both came after first and second downs had combined for two yards against a defense already limiting Thomas.
The Burnett touchdown followed the play that changed UNLV’s afternoon. Arnold’s 42-yard run took the Rebels from their own 46 to the Cal 12, but an incomplete pass and a two-yard Thomas carry left another third-and-8. Arnold found Burnett in the end zone, then ran in the two-point conversion after a Cal penalty moved the attempt to the 1.
Four of UNLV’s five touchdowns came on third down. McGee and Burnett scored on third-and-8, Arnold’s 55-yard touchdown came on third-and-3, and his final scoring run came on third-and-goal from the 2. His 36-yard touchdown pass to Taz Reddicks came on first down.
The Rebels finished 6-of-16 on third down and punted seven times. Their successful conversions produced most of the touchdowns, while the unsuccessful ones kept giving Cal the ball.
UNLV’s first possession after halftime included an Arnold conversion before the next series went backward. Thomas gained five yards on second-and-10, and Arnold followed with seven on third-and-5. Arnold then gained two yards on first down, Thomas lost one on second-and-8 and a third-down completion to Thomas lost two more before the Rebels punted.
Thomas touched the ball on consecutive snaps without getting beyond the defenders closing on him. The third-down completion ended behind the line of scrimmage, leaving UNLV farther from a conversion than it had been before the throw.
The next drive ended differently. After an incomplete first-down pass, Thomas gained five yards and gave UNLV third-and-5. Cal reached Arnold for a 14-yard sack, turning a manageable conversion opportunity into another punt.
Early in the fourth quarter, Arnold gained five yards on second-and-7 to create third-and-2. Cal still sacked him for an 11-yard loss. A 26-yard punt gave the Bears the ball at UNLV’s 46, and they scored the touchdown that put them ahead 25-24.
On both possessions, second down reduced the distance. Cal still reached Arnold on third down, including when UNLV needed only two yards.
The Bears also recovered an onside kick to open the second half, scored on an uncovered receiver and recovered a fumble on a kickoff return. Those mistakes helped erase UNLV’s lead. The four offensive punts kept the Rebels from answering while it disappeared.
Memphis had exposed the protection earlier, recording all six of its sacks after halftime in the season-opening 27-21 loss. UNLV gained 460 yards, Arnold threw for 291 without an interception and the Rebels held three separate leads. Their second-down average was eight yards, but their average third-down distance was 10.1.
Arnold’s 54-yard run, Jaylon Glover’s 44-yard run and touchdown passes of 38 yards to Tavian McNair and 22 yards to McGee all came on second down. Ten of UNLV’s 25 second-down snaps nevertheless gained nothing or lost yardage. The explosive plays raised the average without preventing other possessions from stalling.
Glover opened one third-quarter drive with runs of four and 44 yards, moving UNLV from its own 25 to the Memphis 27. Arnold took a six-yard sack on the next snap, Glover gained nothing on second-and-16 and Arnold threw incomplete on third down. A fourth-down completion to McGee gained 15 yards when the Rebels needed 16. UNLV continued with 25 dropbacks in each half as Memphis began getting pressure, while Thomas went from 12 touches before halftime to six afterward and Glover did not receive another normal carry after the third quarter.
Hawai‘i exposed a different problem in UNLV’s 21-6 victory. The Rebels ran for 248 yards and averaged 9.5 yards on first down, excluding the closing kneel. Their second-down average fell to 3.6, and only two of 17 second-down snaps moved the chains.
An eight-yard completion to Burnett created second-and-2, but Arnold threw incomplete toward DJ Jones and Thomas lost two yards on third down before UNLV punted. On another possession, Glover gained eight yards on first down and nothing on second, leaving Arnold to convert third-and-2. The Rebels had short-yardage opportunities without finishing either series on the next snap.
UNLV’s average third-down distance was 5.2 yards at Hawai‘i, its shortest of the season. The offense still punted six times and failed on two fourth-down attempts.
North Texas held Thomas to 37 rushing yards and UNLV to 98 as a team in a 44-6 loss. The Rebels averaged 4.1 yards on first down and 4.9 on second, then faced an average of 7.8 yards on third. Four turnovers and four sacks left the offense with mistakes it could not overcome.
One possession reached the North Texas 21 before Thomas gained 18 yards on second-and-10. Holding erased the run and left UNLV facing second-and-20 instead of having the ball at the 3. Arnold gained nothing on the next snap, a third-down completion to Taeshaun Lyons gained nine yards and the Rebels settled for a field goal.
The handoff had worked before the flag. The Rebels converted seven of 17 third downs that afternoon, but those conversions did not overcome the turnovers and mistakes near scoring territory.
Mullen and offensive coordinator Corey Dennis used the bye to remove calls the roster was not executing well. Mullen also identified several causes of the sacks, including offensive-line losses, missed pickups and Arnold taking too long through a read. He wanted the offense built around what the players could carry out.
“Just because I love a play and I think this is a great play doesn’t mean this roster runs it real well,” Mullen said.
Akron remains the best evidence that those changes can work. UNLV gained 493 yards in a 38-10 victory, rushed for 203 and did not allow a sack. The Rebels averaged seven yards on first down and 7.6 on second, with eight second-down snaps producing first downs and the average third-down distance falling to 6.4 yards.
After a defensive takeaway, Thomas gained three yards on first down and Arnold found Reddicks for a 59-yard touchdown on second-and-7. UNLV covered 62 yards in two plays, with the protection holding long enough for the downfield throw. The possession never reached third down.
Cal showed that one productive afternoon had not settled the offense. The Bears limited Thomas, sacked Arnold three times and held UNLV without points on four consecutive possessions after halftime. Arnold eventually led touchdown drives of 80 and 52 yards, but the Rebels had already surrendered their entire lead.
UNLV does not need to abandon the run on second down. Glover’s 44-yard run against Memphis came there, and Thomas’ 10-yard carry was the Rebels’ only second-down first down against Cal. The problem comes when the defense has already taken something away and UNLV goes back to it anyway, or when one negative play is followed by another.
Against Cal, Arnold had running opportunities when safeties closed toward Thomas and coverage defenders followed receivers. At Hawai‘i, UNLV needed to finish second-and-short. Memphis required the offense to respond to pressure that had not affected Arnold before halftime.
That leaves responsibility on both the call and the execution. Mullen and Dennis can change where the ball goes when a defense takes something away, but the call still depends on the line and backs handling protection, receivers finishing plays and Arnold getting through his reads before pressure reaches him. The Cal possessions that reached third-and-5 and third-and-2 before sacks belong in the same discussion as the repeated Thomas carries that created longer conversions.
UNLV has already shown it can run explosively, throw downfield and protect Arnold for an entire game. Against Cal, Arnold supplied the plays that rescued the Rebels after four straight punts. Five games into the season, UNLV still needs to stop requiring so many of them.
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