LAS VEGAS — UNLV could get help on both lines against Northern Illinois, with Austin Boyd expected to resume some practice work and Lucas Conti having a chance to return Saturday. Dan Mullen had not committed to either player being available.
Boyd and Conti would bring college experience to lines that have asked replacements to learn their jobs while protecting leads. Conti’s return would be particularly timely after Air Force rushed for 430 yards against a defensive front already asking inexperienced players to handle more work.
Boyd had not practiced when Mullen gave the update. The offensive lineman’s next step was to get back on the field and see how much he could handle.
Boyd’s absence has interrupted his first season at center. He moved there from left tackle in spring after starting 13 games last year. He entered 2026 with three seasons of game experience at UNLV, having appeared in all 14 games in each of them. That background is difficult to replace even while the senior is learning a new position.
Boyd has also started at guard in his UNLV career and earned honorable mention All-Mountain West recognition last season before his preseason first-team selection this year.
“He’s supposed to be back at practice this week, so we’ll see how practice goes for him,” Mullen said.
“I don’t know where he’ll be at for Saturday, but he hasn’t practiced yet.”
Conti’s medical timetable gave Mullen reason to believe the defensive tackle could play against NIU, though the coach wanted to see how he progressed during the week.
“The timetable should lead him to be able to play this week,” Mullen said. “But we’ll see how he does in the week.”
His absence has consequences beyond one spot in the lineup. UNLV rotates its defensive linemen, and injuries have pushed players who were supposed to develop behind veterans into more demanding roles.
Conti started 10 of his 12 appearances last season, finishing with 22 tackles, four tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. A year earlier, he had made three starts at defensive tackle. He has spent time in the rotation and as a starter, while some of the players now filling those snaps are encountering their first substantial college work.
Conti’s previous production included six tackles against New Mexico last year, a sack among two tackles for loss, and a sack against UCLA. The Rebels still have a road game against the Lobos on Nov. 14.
Asked about the younger interior players, Mullen said three of the four mentioned had essentially no college experience. The fourth had played only a limited amount. They are being asked to learn while helping a defense that could not get Air Force off the field.
“You want guys to step up. You want guys to go make plays,” Mullen said.
He also acknowledged why those players began the season further down the rotation: They were not ready to be the first or second players at their positions. His hope is that the experience prepares them to handle those jobs by the end of the year.
UNLV needs more from them now. The Rebels led Air Force 24-20 entering the fourth quarter and lost 41-31. The Falcons scored touchdowns on four consecutive second-half possessions, repeatedly leaving UNLV unable to protect a lead.
Air Force averaged 6.9 yards on 62 rushing attempts and finished with 25 first downs. The Falcons converted both fourth-down attempts, so even a third-down tackle did not necessarily end a possession. UNLV forced no turnovers.
The injuries help explain who was playing. Mullen’s assessment of how the defense played was blunt: UNLV lacked physicality at the line of scrimmage and missed too many tackles.
Linebacker Cam Santee expects the next opponents to notice.
“We weren’t stout up front,” Santee said. “I feel like our front seven was kind of lacking.”
Santee said teams would see the Air Force film and test UNLV on the ground. He welcomed that challenge, saying the Rebels could improve from the loss and benefit from getting players back.
NIU running back Telly Johnson Jr. will test their tackling. He has 502 official rushing yards through seven games.
NIU’s average of 100.1 rushing yards per game includes losses from 23 sacks. Johnson ran for 139 yards on 16 carries at Wyoming and 63 on 14 against Hawai‘i. Those individual performances show why NIU’s team rushing average alone understates the challenge Santee expects opponents to bring. The Huskies do not use Air Force’s option, but their leading back gives them a different way to test the same defensive front.
The bye gave the staff additional time for individual technique before opponent preparation again consumed more of the practice schedule. It also gave players a chance to recover from the physical and mental demands of the first seven games.
It did not leave Mullen with a healthy roster.
“You’re going to see a lot of players because we’ve had so many injuries,” he said. “And we’re still a pretty beat-up team. So there’s opportunities for everybody to come play.”
