GAMEDAY FINAL: UNLV 31, Wyoming 17 Special Teams Thunder and a Fourth-Quarter Closer Lift Rebels to First-Ever FBS 5-0 Start

(Photo Credit - Paloma Villacana)

All week, the frame was altitude, history, and a Wyoming defense that doesn’t blink. UNLV arrived at War Memorial Stadium 4-0 and receiving votes in both polls, chasing its first win in Laramie since 2003 and its first-ever 5–0 start at the FBS level. Kick at 7,220 feet.

The non-conference run taught a little bit of everything. Idaho State was a scare and a late escape. Sam Houston was business-like. UCLA felt like a program win in the moment. Miami (OH) was a place of chaos and resilience. Through it all: 4–0 without perfection. The stars driving the bus, QB Anthony Colandrea (MW’s most efficient passer), RB Jai’Den “Jet” Thomas (MW rushing leader), WR Jaden Bradley (top-3 in MW receiving), and CB Aamaris Brown (MW INT leader), and a defense that was suffocating on third down (21.7% allowed) even as the scoring D lagged.

The scouting report on Wyoming was clear: elite-ish defense (18.8 ppg), offense that needed help (16.8 ppg), and a pass game that wilts under pressure. Our keys were straightforward: protect AC, feed Jet until they commit numbers, win turnovers, and lean on depth at altitude. The market favored UNLV on the moneyline, with sharps backing it, even as tickets were placed on Wyoming +3.5.

Game Day. Snow Day.

It hasn’t always been pretty, just persistent. With snow and hail drifting and wind cutting sideways through a gray Wyoming afternoon, UNLV stacked complementary football and walked out with a 31–17 win to open Mountain West play. The result is more than a road victory at altitude. It’s a marker in program history: the Rebels are 5–0 for the first time since 1974 (then Division II) and 5–0 for the first time at the FBS level. For a program that used to need half a decade to find five wins, this is a new reality. The Rebels don’t chase style points. They expect to finish.

The night turned on two thunderclaps from special teams, made louder by the weather. Conditions swung hour to hour: flurries, slick turf, and a wet ball that punished timing routes and punt protection. Visibility dipped, the hashmarks wore a thin coat of white, and footing favored the side that could win on special teams and situational runs. UNLV did both.

After Wyoming nudged ahead with an Erik Sandvik 36-yard field goal at 12:59 of the first quarter, UNLV answered with a six-play, 67-yard march keyed by explosives Colandrea layered a 24-yard shot to Bradley, Thomas ripped 26 up the gut, and Keyvone Lee finished from six to take a 7–3 lead. Less than three minutes later, special teams detonated the game. Bradley knifed through to block a Bart Edmiston punt; Kayden McGee scooped it at the 16 and rumbled through the snow for a 16-yard touchdown at 6:29. Ramon Villela’s 36-yarder at 1:36 pushed it to 17–3, and just before halftime the roles reversed: McGee blew up another punt at the WYO26, Bradley corralled it at the 13, and dashed in for a 13-yard score with 0:59 left. Between those haymakers, punter Cam Brown flipped the field with a 71-yard moonshot, downed by McGee at the WYO2. In one half, UNLV authored a special-teams avalanche and led 24–3.

Wyoming came out of halftime with its best stretch of the night, slicing 75 yards in five snaps, sparked by a 36-yard catch-and-run to Sam Scott and punching in on a 12-yard Deion DeBlanc run at 12:46 to make it 24–10. The Cowboys threatened to turn it into a snowball, driving to the Rebel 4, but an offensive pass interference erased a touchdown. One snap later, corner Quinton Keyes flipped the quarter with a red-zone interception at the UNLV 2, returning it 35 yards to reset field position at 3:48. From there, Colandrea steadied the possession game with his legs, converting a 3rd-and-10 with a 16-yard keeper and adding 9 and 4 more to carry the ball across midfield as the third expired.

With the margin still at two scores, UNLV played grown-team, four-minute football in the fourth. Starting at 11:51, the Rebels stitched together a 10-play, 69-yard march that bled 5:31 and broke Wyoming’s last stand. Colandrea hit Thomas for nine to start it, Thomas hammered for chain-movers of three and nine, and Colandrea found Bradley for 27 to the 18. The quarterback then kept for 13 to the 4 before flipping a swing to Thomas, who knifed in from eight yards with 6:20 left for 31–10. Wyoming answered with a late touchdown at 1:55, but on the next series, the Rebel defense forced three straight incompletions and a turnover on downs at 1:34. What followed were downhill runs by Glover for five, Thomas for four, Lee for six, and a final kneel at the Wyoming 28 as the snow settled.

Why It Mattered Through the Preview Lens

The box score paints the picture of a team that understood the assignment. Colandrea’s line was modest by design, 11-of-20 for 102 yards and a touchdown, with 11 carries for 33 more, but pristine where it mattered most. Thomas was the gravity piece and the closer, turning 16 carries into 94 yards and adding the clinching score. Bradley, the emerging WR1, stacked 101 all-purpose yards and punctuated the first half with a blocked-punt TD. Defense and special teams drove the bus: two blocked-punt touchdowns, a 71-yard field flip, an interception at the goal line, and a fourth-quarter situational choke.

The milestones are as real as the scoreboard. This is UNLV’s first 5–0 start since 1974 and its first at the FBS level. It’s also another data point in a broader shift: UNLV is now 25–8 since the regime change that followed the old 7–23 era. The identity travels tempo in doses, explosives when available, a defense that keeps you on schedule, and special teams that can tilt a game in one or two snaps. That formula works on the Strip. It worked in Sam Houston. And now it’s worked up a mountain in a snow game in Laramie.

The Final Word (Preview Pick vs. Reality)

The pick was UNLV 35–21. The reality was 31–17, with style points sacrificed to weather and special teams supplying the margin. The bigger takeaway aligns with the preview’s “separation” theme: UNLV looked like the deeper, better-coached team in the phase that travels defense and special teams, and closed like a contender.

By the Numbers

UNLV

Wyoming