Dec. 3, 2000

Box Score

HONOLULU (AP) - Jeremi Rudolph and Kevin Brown each topped the 100-yard mark in rushing and quarterback Jason Thomas added an additional 126 yards on the ground and passed for 124 yards more as Nevada-Las Vegas hung on Saturday to defeat Hawaii 34-32 and assure itself of a postseason bowl game.

With the victory, the Rebels (7-5) will play in either the Las Vegas Bowl or the Silicon Valley Classic.

It was a dominant offensive show displayed by UNLV, which finished with 431 yards on the ground and Thomas rounding out the attack with his passing.

Rudolph carried 26 times for 151 yards and a touchdown and Brown had 139 yards on 19 carries. Thomas ran for a score and passed for two more.

But it was the failure of Hawaii to convert on a 2-point conversion with 1:58 left in the game that saved the Rebels from spending the postseason at home.

UNLV had built a 34-26 lead with 6:25 left on Thomas' 1-yard pass to Nate Turner, but, after Hawaii was forced to punt, Thomas fumbled and Nate Jackson returned it to the UNLV 3 from where Tim Chang passed to Afatia Thompson to make it a two-point game.

However, Chang's game-tying pass attempt was out of Craig Stutzmann's reach.

Chang, a high school senior a year ago, turned in an outstanding performance for the Warriors (3-9). He became only the second freshman to surpass the 3,000-yard mark in a season, completing 25-of-50 for 353 yards. He finished with 3,041 yards.

In addition to his pass to Thompson, Chang passed for two other scores - hitting Ashley Lelie from 24 yards out and Neal Gossett from 63 yards.

UNLV never trailed in the game, although the score was tied three times and Hawaii crept to within 27-26 in the final period on Eric Hannum's fourth field goal of the game with 10:13 remaining.

The game got off to a quick start with the scored knotted at 7 after only 3:42 had been played. UNLV got its points after an interception on the first play of the game, but the Warriors came back with a 66-yard march, capped by the Chang-Lelie hookup.

The Rebels had a golden opportunity to add on its next possession, but Brown fumbled Thomas' lateral at the Hawaii 2 yard line to blunt the threat.

It was 17-all at the half with the TDs coming on Thomas' run and the Chang-Lelie connection.

Dillon Pieffer and Hannum exchanged 3-pointers in the third quarter before UNLV moved ahead for good on Thomas' 44-yard scoring run.

Hannum added another pair of field goals to make it 27-26, but Thomas and Turner hooked up to make it 34-26 and set the stage for the Hawaii score that fell short.