LAS VEGAS — UNLV had a bye week to work on a defense that gave up 430 rushing yards at Air Force. When the Rebels returned against Northern Illinois, they missed more than 20 tackles.
Dan Mullen said Monday those misses accounted for about 30% of the Huskies’ 493 yards in UNLV’s 31-24 win. Defenders also abandoned gaps and played without the physicality he expected, leaving the Rebels with familiar problems before a game against one of the Mountain West’s most productive running quarterbacks.
Wyoming’s Tyler Hughes has rushed for 421 yards and five touchdowns during the Cowboys’ three-game winning streak. He will face a UNLV defense that has allowed 670 rushing yards in its past two games, with an open date between them.
“I thought we had a really good week of practice last week,” Mullen said. “I thought our preparation coming into the game and our mindset, we were pretty solid. We just didn’t. We didn’t perform, and that’s the disappointing part.”
The win kept UNLV, 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference, in contention for the Mountain West championship game. Wyoming, 5-3 and 4-1, visits Allegiant Stadium on Saturday. The winner will remain within reach of conference leader New Mexico.
Northern Illinois did not need long to find openings. Its first two possessions covered 75 yards apiece and ended in touchdowns. The Rebels had scored on the game’s first play, but they trailed 14-10 by the end of the first quarter.
Elijah Porter finished with 113 rushing yards. Telly Johnson Jr. added 72, including the 20-yard touchdown that capped the Huskies’ opening possession. Quarterback Taron Dickens ran for another 50.
Mullen credited the Huskies’ execution and Dickens’ play. He also said UNLV had too often failed to handle its own assignments.
“We didn’t fit and hold the gap properly with where we were and where we were supposed to be,” Mullen said.
The tackling problems made those mistakes more expensive. Mullen estimated the missed tackles cost UNLV roughly 150 yards. He also questioned the defense’s physical play, something he said had fallen below its usual level.
Hughes has been creating problems even for defenses that know Wyoming wants him to run. The senior transfer from William & Mary ran for 146 yards in a 28-14 win over Air Force on Oct. 23, then had a bye week before the Cowboys began preparing for UNLV.
His 68-yard touchdown came on Wyoming’s second offensive play against the Falcons. Late in the game, he ran 15 yards to the 1-yard line to set up Markell Holman’s touchdown. Hughes also completed 70% of his passes with three touchdowns and one interception during the winning streak, according to Wyoming’s review of those three games.
Against some offenses, the first priority is the running back, with defenders also responsible for a quarterback who can pull the ball and run. Mullen described Wyoming as the reverse: Stop Hughes first, then account for the backs playing off him.
“You’ve got to stop the quarterback,” Mullen said. “But the running back’s the complement to it.”
He compared the challenge to decisions he made coaching Tim Tebow at Florida. With Tebow and running backs Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps, his offense could change who ran inside and who attacked the edge. That forced defenses to adjust to the players carrying out the assignments. Mullen cautioned that he was describing a defensive priority, not saying Wyoming runs the same play.
“You’ve got to be physical at the line of scrimmage,” he said. “You’ve got to be where you’re supposed to be with great discipline.”
The Rebels did make enough defensive plays to survive Northern Illinois. They kept the Huskies scoreless after a touchdown with 9:31 left in the third quarter, protecting a seven-point lead while their own offense stalled.
Mullen’s review of the result was blunt. UNLV had not played great defense or won the turnover margin. He considered the kicking game even. A seven-point advantage in red-zone scoring helped the Rebels get through the night.
“We did just enough,” Mullen said.
Injuries have forced UNLV to use more players, but Mullen’s expectations for those replacements have not changed. He said players receiving opportunities have to make plays, and reserves have to prepare for more work than they might expect. That means preparing for a full game even when the expected assignment is only a few snaps, he said.
“The peak of the week should be the game,” Mullen said.
Mullen warned that another game with 20 missed tackles and roughly 150 yards conceded because of them could cost UNLV against Wyoming. He closed that warning plainly: “It’s not gonna go well for us.”
