Another Bronco Beatdown: UNLV’s 2nd-Half Meltdown Marks 4th Loss to Boise in Two Years

Different year, same result.

UNLV (6-1, 2-1 MW) rolled into Boise with momentum, swagger, and a seven-game win streak and left with another reminder that the program still isn’t ready for the Mountain West’s measuring stick.

The Rebels’ unbeaten start evaporated under the blue turf glare as Boise State (5-2, 3-0) rolled up 558 yards and scored 28 unanswered after halftime, turning what had been a 28-24 game into a 56-31 blowout.

The loss marks UNLV’s fourth defeat to Boise in the last 24 months, and the program’s seventh straight loss in Boise since the series began. The Rebels haven’t beaten the Broncos anywhere since 1976.

For 30 minutes, UNLV went punch-for-punch with Boise State on the blue turf. The Rebels’ offense looked sharp, the tempo was balanced, and the young quarterback, Anthony Colandrea, played with poise beyond his years. But just like in so many UNLV-Boise matchups before, the cracks started forming long before halftime.

Boise opened the scoring early, marching 60 yards in six plays to take a 7-0 lead after Sire Gaines punched in a two-yard touchdown. UNLV’s opening possessions sputtered a quick three-and-out, then a stalled drive ending in a punt before Ramon Villela put the Rebels on the board with a 38-yard field goal midway through the first quarter.

The Broncos immediately answered with a 35-yard touchdown run from Cameron Bates, taking a 14-3 lead and setting a physical tone that never really shifted.

The second quarter began with a giant momentum swing. Laterrance Welch picked off Maddux Madsen, giving UNLV the ball deep in Boise territory. The Rebels capitalized as Jai’Den “Jet” Thomas powered in from a yard out to cut the deficit to 14-10. But the celebration didn’t last long.

Boise went right back down the field, scoring on a 7-yard strike to Latrell Caples to restore the lead, 21-10. Colandrea and the offense answered with arguably their best drive of the season, six plays, 75 yards, capped by a 35-yard touchdown to Jaden Bradley, pulling back within four at 21-17.

The Broncos once again had a quick reply, as Dylan Riley ripped off a 49-yard touchdown run to make it 28-17. But to their credit, UNLV didn’t fold. Colandrea led a crisp two-minute drill just before halftime, finishing it himself with an 8-yard touchdown scramble to make it 28-24 at the break.

UNLV went into halftime down just four with a legitimate chance to pull off the upset. But what came next, from play-calling to execution, turned all that promise into another nightmare in Boise.

The second half opened with everything still in front of UNLV. Down 28–24, the Rebels had the ball, momentum, and a defense that had just forced a rare Boise punt. What followed was the turning point of the game and maybe the season so far.

On their opening drive of the third quarter, UNLV faced 4th-and-1 at its own 37. Dan Mullen and offensive coordinator Corey Dennis had a choice: trust their offense, which had just scored on three of the last four possessions, or play it safe.
They punted.

That conservative call flipped the energy instantly. From that moment on, Boise State owned the night.

The Broncos needed just three plays to go 68 yards, capped by Maddux Madsen’s 20-yard touchdown to Sire Gaines, to extend the lead to 35-24. The air went out of UNLV’s sideline.

The next Rebel drive stalled after a sack and another short punt, and Boise immediately struck again. This time, Madsen found Chris Marshall for a 32-yard touchdown, the Broncos’ fifth consecutive scoring possession stretching back to the first half. Boise had scored twice in under five minutes of game clock, and UNLV had no answers.

Then came the backbreaker. With under a minute left in the quarter, Anthony Colandrea’s pass toward Koy Moore was jumped by A’Marion McCoy, who returned it 60 yards for a pick-six. In the span of nine minutes of game time, the Rebels went from driving to take the lead to trailing 49-24.

That was the ballgame.

Boise outgained UNLV 156-93 in the quarter, averaging 13 yards per play to the Rebels’ 4.9. The Broncos did it with ease, two touchdown passes and a defensive score, while UNLV’s offense spun in circles.

There was no adjustment, no spark, no Jet Thomas. The star running back barely saw touches in the second half, while Colandrea shouldered nearly every carry and throw. Boise feasted on the predictable play-calling, bringing pressure off the edge and daring UNLV to beat them deep, a challenge Dennis’ offense never met.

The third quarter wasn’t just a turning point; it was a meltdown in slow motion.
The punt. The passivity. The pick-six. The collapse.

All of it added up to another familiar story on the blue turf.

The fourth quarter in Boise didn’t flip the script - it finished it.

After a miserable third quarter where the Rebels watched a winnable game slip into a 49–24 blowout, UNLV opened the fourth with a glimmer of hope. Jaylon Glover ripped off a 37-yard burst down the middle to put the Rebels inside the Boise 20, their best field position since the first half. But the drive died the same way so many did on Saturday, stalled by conservative calls and failed execution. On 4th and 8, Anthony Colandrea’s throw to JoJo Earle fell incomplete, a turnover on downs that felt symbolic of the night.

Boise responded with another soul-crushing march. Maddux Madsen methodically led the Broncos 82 yards in nearly eight minutes, capping it with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Malik Sherrod. It was Boise’s third straight touchdown drive since halftime (not counting the pick-six) and the one that officially broke UNLV’s will, stretching the lead to 56–24.

By then, the blue turf might as well have been quicksand. UNLV’s defense had nothing left, no pressure, no adjustments, no “dudes” to make a stop.

The Rebels tacked on a cosmetic score late, as Colandrea found Troy Omeire for a 17-yard touchdown with 2:45 left. It made the stat sheet look respectable, 31 points, 476 total yards, but the damage had long been done.

Boise knelt out the clock, sealing its 16th consecutive home victory and UNLV’s seventh straight loss all-time on the blue turf.

If you’re looking for one sequence that summed up Corey Dennis’s night as offensive coordinator, it came early in the third quarter: 4th-and-1 at your own 37, down 28-24, momentum in hand… and you punt.

That was the moment UNLV blinked.
From there, Boise outscored the Rebels 28-7, and the offense never recovered its rhythm.

For a team that prides itself on tempo, balance, and aggression, Saturday’s approach felt like it came from another playbook entirely. Dennis’s calls were cautious when the game demanded confidence: bubble screens on third-and-medium, inside zones into loaded boxes, and no vertical shots until the game was already gone.

And the question everyone in Rebel Nation was asking: where was Jet Thomas?

The junior back, one of the most explosive players in program history, and fresh off surpassing 2,000 career rushing yards, was barely featured after halftime. He finished with just 11 carries for 38 yards and one short touchdown, despite averaging over eight yards per touch in recent weeks. When UNLV’s offense bogged down, Thomas was standing on the sideline while the Rebels rotated backs and called designed runs for Colandrea.

That’s not a “pitch count.” That’s a mistake.

Boise’s defense never had to adjust because they knew exactly what was coming: empty sets, quarterback scrambles, and quick outs. The downhill power run that defined the Rebels’ early-season success vanished. Even when Jaylon Glover ripped off a 37-yard run to open the fourth quarter, Dennis immediately went away from the run on the next snap.

There was no plan to set up shots, no rhythm in personnel groupings, and no sense of identity. It felt like play-calling by panic, not purpose.

Thomas has earned more than to be an afterthought. When the Rebels needed someone to settle the offense, the guy nicknamed “Jet” was grounded.

There’s no way to spin it: this isn’t 2024, and this UNLV defense has no dudes. Interceptions aside, Aamaris Brown can’t mask what’s missing, nor can Marsel McDuffie. This defense lacks a true tone-setter. No Green Dot leader like Jackson Woodard is flying downhill, no Jalon Catalon running the secondary, no Cam Oliver or Fisher Camac setting the edge and forcing the offensive tempo. Boise exposed that void with ease, torching Paul Guenther’s passive zone for 11 explosive plays and turning every coverage bust into a highlight reel.

Dylan Riley ran wild for 201 rushing yards, and quarterback Maddux Madsen carved up the secondary for 253 yards and four touchdowns. UNLV’s tackling angles were bad, gap fits were blown, and blitz discipline was nonexistent. It looked like a defense playing without confidence or clarity.

The numbers don’t lie: Boise averaged 9.8 yards per play and scored on six of its final eight drives. Guenther’s so-called “NFL-level” scheme means nothing when players can’t communicate or execute at the college level.

Seven games in, “learning the system” isn’t an excuse anymore. This isn’t last year’s group that grew stronger every week. This defense is trending in the opposite direction quickly. UNLV has surrendered 1,161 yards over the last two games. That’s not just bad, it’s unacceptable.

It’s the same line UNLV fans have heard for twenty years, and it doesn’t change the reality that Boise State has now physically dominated the Rebels three straight times.

Mullen’s team has talent. There’s speed at receiver, depth at running back, and a quarterback who can create when everything breaks down. But there’s no clear identity. The offense sputters under conservative fourth-down calls, and Paul Guenther’s bend-then-break defense keeps bending until it snaps.

Against the Mountain West’s elite, that combination is fatal. UNLV isn’t being out-schemed; it’s being out-toughed.

The margin for error is gone.
So is the win streak.

UNLV enters its final bye week before hosting New Mexico on November 1 at Allegiant Stadium. The Rebels’ margin for error in the Mountain West title race is now gone, and the film from Boise is a harsh reminder that “winning ugly” only lasts so long. Until this team finds leaders on defense, trust in its tailbacks, and the courage to go for it when it matters, the blue turf will keep haunting them.

Boise State 56, UNLV 31.
Same result. Different excuse.