FRISCO, Texas – UNLV turned three takeaways into a field goal in Tuesday’s 17-10 Frisco Bowl loss. A fumble on first-and-goal and a penalty that erased a touchdown wasted chances to score before Ohio ran out the final 4:45.
The Bobcats finished 9-4 with their seventh straight bowl victory. UNLV finished Dan Mullen’s first season 10-4 after a 6-0 start and losses in the Mountain West championship game and the bowl.
“I didn’t do a good enough job of preparing us for this game,” Mullen said in UNLV’s postgame account.
Ten wins did not make this finish easier to accept. UNLV had an all-conference quarterback, a back approaching 1,000 yards and a defense that kept handing the offense another possession. It spent most of the night waiting for those advantages to become a touchdown. By the time one finally came, the Rebels needed a stop against the part of Ohio’s team they had not controlled: its running game.
Mullen also credited Ohio with executing the game it wanted. His postgame comments Tuesday paired that acknowledgment with a pledge to keep building a program that competes for championships every year. UNLV had reached the conference final again, but Ohio controlled the bowl finish. The Bobcats had a running game to protect the lead and a defense that kept taking away scoring chances.
The opening possession ended with Ohio receiver Miles Cremascoli partially blocking UNLV punter Cam Brown’s punt. Ohio took over at its 47, and Bobcats running back Sieh Bangura ran for 27 yards before UNLV cornerback Laterrance Welch intercepted Ohio quarterback Parker Navarro at the UNLV 3.
Welch’s interception was his fifth of the season, giving UNLV a player with at least five for a third consecutive year, according to the school’s postgame notes. The cornerback had kept the Bobcats from scoring on that possession. His defense of the pass offered the offense a chance to move out from its own goal line with the game still scoreless.
UNLV quarterback Anthony Colandrea drove out from there with a completion to receiver Jaden Bradley and an Ohio targeting penalty. Running back Jai’Den Thomas gained 17 on third-and-4 to reach first-and-goal at the Ohio 9. Ohio defensive end Ike Ackerman then sacked Colandrea, forced a fumble and recovered at the 18.
Linebacker Marsel McDuffie supplied the second takeaway before the quarter ended, recovering a fumble at UNLV’s 26. Colandrea found receiver Koy Moore for an apparent 42-yard touchdown, but an illegal-downfield penalty on offensive lineman Will Thomas erased it. The Rebels punted.
After halftime, UNLV’s first points came from its third takeaway. Receiver Kayden McGee recovered a muffed punt at the Ohio 30, but a 2-yard rushing loss and two incompletions left kicker Ramon Villela to make a 50-yard field goal. The kick set a UNLV bowl record and cut the lead to 14-3.
Villela had to supply the distance because the offense had gone backward from where McGee recovered the ball. His kick beat the previous UNLV bowl long of 48 yards, set by Caden Chittenden against Cal the year before. It was exceptional work by the kicker inside a possession that asked far too much of him.
Before halftime, Ohio drove 84 yards in 10 plays, ending with Navarro’s 5-yard touchdown run. A missed extra point kept it 6-0.
That drive included another chance for UNLV to leave the field. On fourth-and-2 at the Rebels’ 19, Navarro threw incomplete toward receiver Chase Hendricks, but defensive lineman Tunmise Adeleye was flagged offside. Ohio received a first down at the 14 instead of surrendering possession. Bangura then gained seven yards, and Navarro finished on third-and-1. A stop had been available; a penalty kept the scoring drive alive.
Hendricks had already changed the field with a 42-yard reception during the possession. His work gave Ohio something beyond handoffs, making UNLV defend a throw downfield before the Bobcats returned to the running game near the goal line. Navarro did not need a passing touchdown to help create the first six points.
UNLV next turned the ball over on downs in Ohio territory. Another late-half possession reached the Bobcats’ 33 before Ohio defensive back DJ Walker intercepted Colandrea at the 2 with 32 seconds left. The Rebels were scoreless at halftime in a bowl for the first time.
The failed fourth-down possession showed how several smaller losses accumulated. Thomas gained six and four yards to open the drive, then lost two. Colandrea found Bradley for 12 yards on third down to cross midfield, but the Rebels again made the next conversion harder. A JoJo Earle false start changed third-and-6 to third-and-11. Bradley’s next catch gained six, leaving fourth-and-5.
Colandrea completed the fourth-down throw to DaeDae Reynolds, but Ohio safety Jalen Thomeson stopped him after one yard. A completion counted on the passing line; the Bobcats got the ball. Thomeson did not have to intercept the pass to win the possession. He kept the receiver from reaching the line UNLV needed.
The next drive contained productive work from Thomas and tight end Nick Elksnis. Thomas caught a 13-yard pass on third-and-10, and Elksnis gained 18 after a holding penalty had pushed the Rebels backward. Both plays recovered ground that earlier snaps had surrendered. Walker’s interception ended the drive anyway, leaving those recoveries without points.
Ohio opened the second half with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Navarro converted third-and-1, Bangura scored from 23 yards and a two-point pass to receiver Chase Hendricks made it 14-0.
Bangura finished with 149 yards on 19 carries without a negative rush. Navarro added 43 net rushing yards to Ohio’s 207 total on the ground.
Ohio had a back who could advance the ball without handing the defense a favorable next down. Bangura’s 19 attempts averaged nearly eight yards, and his longest run was 31. His night was more sustained than one breakaway carrying an otherwise ordinary rushing total. The Rebels had to handle him repeatedly, and the last possession required them to stop both him and Navarro.
Bangura credited Ohio’s offensive line after the game, then explained how Navarro’s running helped him. The back did not have to supply the entire threat on the ground, and the quarterback remained available when UNLV pursued him.
“Then you add Parker (Navarro) in, who can run the ball and take pressure off me all night,” Bangura said in Ohio’s postgame account.
After Villela’s field goal, UNLV had a chance to take control of the next possession, too. Ohio committed a delay-of-game penalty, then Andrew Powdrell and Isaiah Patterson stopped Navarro for a two-yard loss. The Bobcats faced third-and-15 and punted after a six-yard run. UNLV took over at its 40 late in the third quarter.
Ohio’s defenders kept UNLV from building on Villela’s field goal. Linebacker Charlie Christopher led Ohio with seven tackles, while Adonis Williams Jr. ended UNLV’s possession with a third-down sack. The Rebels had started that series at their own 40 after the defense forced a punt. Jack Fries broke up the opening throw to Moore, Earle gained four, and Williams dropped Colandrea for a four-yard loss. UNLV finished the series exactly where it began.
Hendricks’ receiving helped Ohio gain ground without depending on another carry. His four catches pushed him past 1,000 yards for the season, following Coleman Owen’s 1,000-yard year in 2024. Ohio’s postgame account noted the consecutive seasons for its receivers. UNLV had to defend that production alongside the backfield, even though Navarro never threw a touchdown pass in the game.
Ohio then used 14 plays and 7:47 to cover 61 yards, including Navarro’s fourth-and-1 conversion.
Defensive lineman Cohen Fuller’s third-down sack held Ohio to a field goal. Ohio kicker David Dellenbach made the 45-yarder for a 17-3 lead with 10:49 left.
Fuller reached Navarro on third down after Ohio had used nearly eight minutes. The field goal left UNLV needing two touchdowns, and the offense had to cover the field before it could ask for another stop. Ohio’s kickoff threatened even that possibility, requiring a recovery from a teammate before Colandrea could start the comeback attempt.
Bradley fumbled the kickoff return after DJ Morton forced the ball out, and Kamuela Ka’aihue recovered at the UNLV 21. That recovery kept Ohio from taking over with a chance to put the game away. Colandrea then moved the Rebels 79 yards in 12 plays, finding JoJo Earle for 11 yards and Troy Omeire for nine before adding runs of 11 and 17 yards. The latter put UNLV at the Ohio 2.
From there, Ohio made UNLV use all four downs. Colandrea threw incomplete under Christopher’s pressure, Jaylon Glover gained a yard and Keyvone Lee lost one. Mullen called timeout before Colandrea ran in from two yards on fourth down. Villela’s extra point made it 17-10 with 4:45 left. The Rebels had their touchdown, but a drive lasting 5:57 had left their defense one possession to keep the season alive.
They did not get the ball back. Bangura and Navarro moved the chains, a facemask penalty on defensive lineman Tunmise Adeleye added 15 yards, and Navarro gained seven on third-and-3 to the UNLV 29. Ohio could kneel out the game.
Ohio finished with 350 total yards, 69 more than UNLV. Navarro completed 11 of 15 passes for 143 yards and did not throw in the fourth quarter. Hendricks caught four passes for 87 yards. The two teams each converted four of their 11 third-down opportunities overall. Ohio held the ball for 32 minutes to UNLV’s 28, with the last possession consuming every remaining chance for a second Rebel score.
UNLV gained 281 yards, 97 rushing. Colandrea completed 19 of 30 for 184 yards with an interception and no passing touchdowns, and ran for 28 net yards. Thomas’ 51 yards on 11 carries pushed him past 1,000 for the season. Bradley caught four passes for 62 yards, his seventh straight game with at least three receptions.
The result also ended UNLV’s unbeaten bowl record against Mid-American Conference opponents. The Rebels had beaten Toledo in the 1984 California Bowl and Central Michigan in the 1994 Las Vegas Bowl, according to the school’s postgame notes. Ohio supplied a different outcome, using its ground game to deny UNLV a final chance after its first touchdown.
McDuffie’s final appearance carried a personal connection to the setting: he played high school football in nearby Grand Prairie. His nine tackles led all players, and the fumble recovery added another possession to the last game of his UNLV career. He finished the season with 112 tackles. The Rebels needed more than another productive night from their veteran linebacker to send him out with a win. Safety Jaheem Joseph added seven tackles, helping a defense that could not force one final Ohio punt.
