Sept. 20, 2009
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes
Hawaii at UNLVGame Notes (Sept. 19, 2009)
UNLV broke a two-game losing skid vs. Hawaii with a 34-33 victory. The Rebels have now won three of the last four games vs. the Warriors played in Las Vegas. UH, which will welcome UNLV back to Honolulu in 2010, still leads the all-time series 12-7.
Saturday marked the first one-point victory for UNLV since a 49-48 overtime win against Wyoming on Nov. 2, 2002, in Las Vegas. It was the program's first one-point victory in regulation since getting by New Mexico 23-22 on Sept. 21, 1991, in Albuquerque.
The Rebels improved to 2-1 for the second consecutive season after failing to win at least two of their first three games the previous four years.
UNLV improved to 10-7 vs. WAC teams since it left the league after the 1998 season to join the new Mountain West Conference.
Omar Clayton threw at least one touchdown pass for the 12th consecutive game, which ranks third in MWC history. Clayton also tied his career high with three scoring throws vs. the Warriors.
Clayton threw for a career-high 340 yards on Saturday, besting the 327 he had against UNR in 2008. His 28 completions were also a career-high (26 at BYU in 2008) as were his 43 attempts (40 at BYU in 2008).
Clayton continued his rapid move up the UNLV career passing yards list on Saturday. The junior moved from 12th into 10th place with 3,235 yards after appearing in just 19 games as a Rebel.
Ryan Wolfe's 130 receiving yards marked his 11th career 100-yard game, which extended his school record and moves him to within one of tying for third in MWC history (SDSU's Jeff Webb in 2001-05) and six behind the league record of 17 (BYU's Austin Collie 2004, 2007-08).
Wolfe's nine receptions gave him 232 in his career, which moved him into third in MWC history. He is now 18 behind second place and 30 behind record holder J.R. Tolver (SDSU 1999-2002). Wolfe became the first player in UNLV history and only the fifth in MWC history break the 3,000-yard mark in receiving. The senior now has 3,023.
Sophomore WR Phillip Payne caught a career-high eight passes for 94 yards. His game-winning touchdown with 36 seconds left was his second score of the game, which tied his career-high set at Arizona State in 2008.
Senior place-kicker Kyle Watson broke the school record for consecutive extra points by making all four of his attempts vs. Hawaii. The former transfer has now made all 49 such attempts of his career, including 12-12 in 2009.
Terrance Lee led the UNLV defense with a career-high nine total tackles to go with two pass breakups.
Hawaii QB Greg Alexander threw for 477 yards but only 136 after halftime. He became the first player to pass for at least 400 yards vs. UNLV since New Mexico's Casey Kelly finished with 408 in 2003.
