Three weeks into the season, UNLV is unbeaten. Dan Mullen is 3-0 in his Las Vegas debut. Allegiant Stadium just witnessed the Rebels take down UCLA, their first win over a Big Ten program in 22 years.
And yet, the story is not about history. It’s about a quarterback who now carries the weight of a city, a program, and maybe even a College Football Playoff dream.
Anthony Colandrea is no longer just a quarterback competition survivor. With Alex Orji out for the year after a gruesome injury against UCLA, Colandrea is the one who has to be everything. Efficient. Explosive. Relentless.
He doesn’t just have to play well; he has to play well. He has to play like the Mountain West Player of the Year.
From Battle to Burden
All summer long, I wrote that this quarterback battle wasn’t about who threw the prettiest deep ball in practice. It was about who could actually run Dan Mullen’s system.
Mullen’s offense is not a playbook. It’s a stress test. It demands quarterbacks who can make quick decisions, punish light boxes, and adjust tempo at the line. It’s not for the faint of heart.
Back in Part 3: Quarterback Development and System Fit, I broke down Mullen’s adaptability, how he won with Trask, Tebow, Prescott, and Fitzgerald by giving them pre-snap clarity:
Box count decides run vs. pass.
Safety depth dictates where the ball goes.
Leverage tells you when to pull, pitch, or throw.
That framework is why Colandrea now has the keys. He’s the rhythm passer. The point guard who can distribute quickly and efficiently. He’s not Orji’s sledgehammer, but he doesn’t have to be. In Mullen’s world, efficiency is the weapon.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Through three weeks, Colandrea has been exactly that. Efficient. Deadly efficient.
Idaho State: 15-of-21, 195 yards, 1 TD; added 93 rushing yards.
Sam Houston: 19-of-23, 249 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT; added 23 rushing yards and a rushing TD.
UCLA: 15-of-21, 203 yards, 3 TD; added 59 rushing yards.
That’s 647 passing yards, 6 touchdowns, only 1 interception, plus 175 rushing yards with a completion rate of 75 percent.
It’s why he’s already collected back-to-back Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week awards, the first UNLV quarterback ever to do so in the same season. It’s why the Davey O’Brien Foundation put him on its “Great 8” list after he carved up UCLA.
But awards don’t win championships. Consistency does.
Why “Good” Isn’t Good Enough
Here’s the reality: UNLV’s ceiling doesn’t change unless Colandrea plays at a conference MVP level.
With Orji sidelined, there is no Plan B. No short-yardage hammer. No dual-QB rotation. The Rebels live and die with No. 10.
That means he can’t afford the UVA version of himself, the one who threw 20 interceptions in two seasons. He has to be the disciplined, tempo-driven passer we’ve seen in August and September. He has to extend drives with quick reads, punish defenses that cheat the box, and run just enough to keep linebackers honest.
If he does that? The Mountain West isn’t the ceiling. The CFP is.
Why the Stakes Are Bigger Than Ever
This isn’t just another fast start. UNLV has gone back-to-back 3–0 starts to the season for the first time since 1984. The program has been and will continue to be nationally ranked. Allegiant Stadium is finally feeling like a fortress.
Dan Mullen is the first UNLV coach to start 3–0 since Tony Knap in 1976. And with the expanded CFP, the Group of Five’s best team has a seat at the table.
But let’s not sugarcoat it: none of that matters if Colandrea doesn’t sustain this. This isn’t about being a good story. It’s about proving UNLV belongs in December, playing for titles.
As I wrote in Part 4: From Arroyo to Odom to Mullen, the Rebels spent a decade wandering between abstract schemes and conservative game plans. Mullen brought structure. Leverage. Quarterback control.
As I argued in Part 5: Tempo, Tags, and the Art of Adaptation, the system evolves on a weekly basis. It only evolves, though, if the quarterback drives it.
Now? It’s all on Colandrea.
The Final Word
Anthony Colandrea has already made Rebel history: two straight MW Offensive Player of the Week honors, a win over a Big Ten opponent, and the kind of statistical start that puts him on the national radar. The only previous UNLV quarterbacks to earn more than one MW weekly nod during their careers were Omar Clayton (2008 and '09) and Jason Thomas (2000 and '02).
However, this is the moment when efficiency must become dominance. Where good turns into great. Where the quarterback becomes the program.
For UNLV to win the Mountain West and to crash the CFP, Colandrea doesn’t just need to play quarterback. He needs to become the Mountain West Player of the Year.
The AC is turned up. Now we find out how high it can go.