LAS VEGAS — Air Force never faced third-and-9 against UNLV. Not once. It ran the ball on all 31 first-down snaps, gaining 223 yards before the Rebels could even think about unleashing the pass rush that had bothered North Dakota State a week earlier.
The Falcons finished with 430 rushing yards and a 41-31 victory on Oct. 17. UNLV led entering the fourth quarter, but Air Force had already found the space it needed. The Falcons scored touchdowns on four consecutive second-half possessions, with the Rebels spending much of that stretch making tackles only after another manageable down had been created.
The last three touchdowns showed how the damage accumulated. Evan Medders broke a 32-yard scoring run early in the fourth, then added a one-yard touchdown after a short-field possession. Rocco Conti later ripped off 50 yards to set up Owen Allen's two-yard score.
“When they're able to get those three to four yards inside, you never get them behind the sticks,” coach Dan Mullen said afterward.
Northern Illinois arrives at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday carrying an 0-7 record and 23 sacks allowed. The temptation is to imagine UNLV turning loose its edge rushers against Taron Dickens. Telly Johnson Jr. is the reason that plan cannot begin on third down.
Johnson has run for 502 yards on 95 carries, according to NIU's official seven-game statistics. UNLV must limit those early-down gains before it can force Dickens into obvious passing situations.
If a two-yard gain becomes six because the first defender misses, NIU has more choices on the next snap. It can hand Johnson the ball again or use the threat of another run to get a receiver behind a linebacker.
The Huskies average only 3.5 yards per team rushing attempt, a figure that includes sacks and the work of other runners. Johnson is at 5.3. He gained 139 yards on 16 carries at Wyoming, part of NIU's season-high 176-yard rushing performance. Against Hawai‘i last Saturday, he managed 63 yards on 14 attempts without being thrown for a loss on any carry.
Interim coach Rob Harley liked the blocking and Dickens' decisions at Wyoming, but wanted Johnson to keep pressing vertically after finding daylight. That is what makes the matchup different from Air Force's option attack. NIU does not need to copy the Falcons' scheme to test whether UNLV can close a gap and finish the next tackle.
Cam Santee watched Air Force demonstrate how quickly that failure spreads. The linebackers spent the game chasing gains that had already crossed the line of scrimmage. Santee made 12 tackles; Jake Pope had 15 and Tre Fulton nine. The totals reflect how often they found the ball, not how often the defense got off the field.
“We weren't stout up front,” Santee said during NIU week. “I feel like our front seven was kind of lacking.”
Mullen did not soften the message after the bye, even with time to correct it. His warning reached beyond the Huskies’ record. “If we’re not very physical on the defensive line and we miss 20-plus tackles this week, we’re not going to beat Northern Illinois,” he said.
A defender can be assigned the correct gap and still arrive late, especially against a patient runner. Another can beat the block but approach the ball carrier too high. Both failures can leave the linebacker chasing the play instead of attacking it.
That warning is not about NIU's record. It is about where a defense places its next defender. When the interior loses the first collision, a linebacker must meet the runner deeper in the lane. If Johnson sheds that contact, a safety comes downhill with more grass to protect and less help arriving from the line.
Mullen is asking inexperienced interior linemen to learn that lesson against players who will not give them an easy snap. He said three of the four young defenders discussed during NIU week arrived with virtually no college experience; the fourth had played little. They were not at the top of the depth chart in August because they had not yet earned those responsibilities.
Lucas Conti could give the rotation another option. Mullen said the defensive tackle's recovery offered a chance to play Saturday, but practice would determine how much could be expected. After Air Force, he said the Rebels were missing their top two tackles. He did not promise that both would return or that one healthy player could repair the front by himself.
The young players have supplied evidence of what improvement can look like. Against North Dakota State, Andre Porter recognized a quick throw Nathan Hayes had shown in practice two days earlier, stepped in front of it and returned the interception 23 yards for UNLV's only touchdown. Porter added a fourth-quarter sack and forced fumble in the 13-7 win.
“Honestly, I was surprised I caught the ball,” Porter said. “I actually did the same thing in practice on Thursday. So practice how you play.”
That play started before the pass. Porter understood the look, trusted his preparation and arrived at the football on time. On a running down, the equivalent is less spectacular but just as important: recognize which gap belongs to you, defeat the block and force Johnson to make his first cut before he reaches the linebackers.
NIU center Landon Hron has described the challenge from the offensive line's side. The blockers have to identify moving fronts and linebackers arriving from different depths before they can agree on who picks up the rush. After the Huskies allowed 18 sacks through five games, Hron had little interest in blaming the circumstances.
“We can't really make any excuses,” Hron said.
UNLV must coordinate its rush rather than simply send defenders toward Dickens. Leaving him an escape lane can undo the advantage created by winning at the line.
The protection breakdown has not been confined to one Saturday. Six of NIU's 23 official sacks allowed came at Georgia State, where the Huskies gained 432 yards but scored only 14 points. Wyoming added five more. Then came the sack-free Hawai‘i game. The week-to-week swings matter because they suggest that protection is not NIU's only recurring problem.
Hawai‘i did not sack Dickens last Saturday. It still forced five turnovers in a 56-21 win. Johnson lost two fumbles, Dickens threw two interceptions and DeAree Rogers muffed a punt. The Huskies showed they could protect the quarterback for an afternoon without protecting the football or sustaining their possessions.
Johnson's first fumble came on NIU's opening possession after halftime, when the Huskies needed a response. The second came early in the fourth. A running back can keep the offense on schedule and still hand away the possession.
That result should keep UNLV from treating a sack total as the whole assignment. Rogers caught two early touchdowns before NIU went six complete possessions without scoring. A defense can pressure a passer into mistakes, but it can also make him wait for an opening by covering the first read and keeping its rush disciplined.
Paul Guenther has already shown how UNLV can test an offensive line's communication. Against Akron, the defensive coordinator described holding the front's presentation longer when the offense looked to its sideline for help. A late shift can force the blockers to settle their assignments quickly. The timing matters only if the players stay in their lanes after the snap.
The Rebels learned the other side against NDSU. On third-and-11, Hayes escaped a twist and hit Reis Kessel for 28 yards. UNLV had earned the down it wanted and then surrendered the conversion because its rush provided a way out. Dickens has designed runs and run-pass options available, too. He is not always moving because his first read failed.
NIU can also let an aggressive rush carry itself out of a play. At Arizona, Rickey Taylor Jr. took a tunnel screen 21 yards on third-and-10. Against Hawai‘i, a 62-yard screen against the Huskies showed how a front that keeps charging toward the passer can miss linemen releasing toward a receiver. UNLV's rushers must recognize when the ball is headed behind them.
There are targets worth defending if Dickens gets time. Rogers has 57 catches and works primarily from the slot; La'Don Bryant has 316 receiving yards, and Cam Thompson scored on a 52-yard catch at Arizona. Charging the quarterback without accounting for those routes does not eliminate NIU's chance to move the chains.
The Huskies have converted 26 of 90 third downs and scored touchdowns on seven of 16 red-zone trips. That record suggests opportunities for UNLV to finish drives. But Air Force offered the sharper lesson: the Rebels have to reach the difficult down before they can use their passing-down answers.
Pope described the work more plainly after the Falcons ran through UNLV's defense: “Just reading your keys and getting penetration on the D-line and being able to fill our gaps and being physical on the perimeter is what matters most.”
If Johnson gets through the line on first down, Dickens can keep throwing on his terms. The Rebels need to tackle Johnson before he reaches the secondary so their rush can face Dickens in obvious passing situations.
