Nov. 08, 2014
Final Stats | UNLV Postgame Notes 
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By W.G. Ramirez
Special to UNLVRebels.com
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Air Force (7-2, 3-2 Mountain West) scored on eight of its 13 drives to power past UNLV (2-8, 1-5) 48-21 on Saturday. The Falcons' high-powered rushing game led an offensive charge that saw them outgain UNLV 542-339 with 386 yards coming on the ground.
It was the second consecutive week the Rebels fell to a run-heavy offense after New Mexico rushed for 301 yards on 61 carries last week, and went to the air just seven times. This time, it was Kale Pearson completing 5 of 6 for 115 yards and a touchdown while he also ran for 67 yards on 15 carries and another score.
"He's played really, really good ball," Calhoun said, of Pearson. "He's made good improvement. He's a heck of a competitor - a leader."
The Falcons, who have improved their win total by five victories from last year after finishing 2-10, have won three straight and six of the last seven. Air Force is 7-2 for just the second time since 1998 and for the first time since 2002.
UNLV scored on the game's first possession, moving 75 yards in 13 plays in a little more than five minutes, capped by Blake Decker's 11-yard touchdown scramble.
Air Force, meanwhile, used its highly potent triple-option attack to trudge through UNLV's defense, methodically grinding out scores on all four of its first-half drives, other than kneeling out to end the first half. After a 39-yard field goal by Will Conant got the Falcons on the board, they forced the Rebels to punt and then drove 62 yards in nine plays for their first touchdown to take a 10-7 lead when D.J. Johnson rumbled in from 8 yards out, with 49 seconds left in the first quarter.
After forcing another UNLV punt, the Falcons consumed 6:35 and went 78 yards in 17 plays, culminating with Pearson's 1-yard plunge to extend to 17-7. The Rebels failed to produce after a substantial drive that last 10 plays, and the Falcons wasted no time as Pearson found a wide open Jale Robinette over the middle for a catch-and-run that went 59 yards and gave Air Force a 24-7 lead.
UNLV cut the Falcons' lead to 24-14 on its next drive with 2:14 left in the half, but Air Force wasn't finished. After Jon Lee's spectacular kick return put the Falcons near midfield, they moved quickly over six plays, driving 55 yards for their fourth TD of the half to move ahead 31-14.
"They gave us a couple of looks that we hadn't seen that hurt us," UNLV coach Bobby Hauck said. "We are not playing good enough to win right now, and that's on me. Our guys continue to play hard, they continue to be focused and for whatever reason, I don't think you could point to one thing, but just generally speaking, right now we're not playing well enough to beat a team like Air Force."
Air Force opened the second half with a quick scoring drive, moving 67 yards in just four plays and spanning 1:12, to go ahead of the Rebels, 38-14. The Rebels appeared to have a bit of momentum on their side after driving into Falcons territory, but stalled after Devonte Boyd's outstanding circus catch was ruled out of the end zone on fourth down. UNLV got another chance when it recovered Air Force's fumble at the Falcons' 3-yard line, and two plays later Shaquille Murray-Lawrence plunged in from a yard out to draw the Rebels closer 38-21.
The teams exchanged punts, while UNLV starting quarterback Blake Decker was knocked out of the game during the Rebels' drive, and Air Force marched downfield to punch one in just before the end of the third quarter, as D.J. Johnson's 2-yard plunge into the end zone gave the Falcons a 45-21 lead.
Freshman Jared Lebowitz replaced Decker and looked a bit out of sync in his first-ever appearance for the Rebels, completing just 1 of 3 pass attempts as UNLV was forced to punt on a three-and-out series. The Falcons' rushing assault on UNLV's stop unit continued, as Owens' 55-yard run sparked another scoring drive, this time a 33-yard field goal by Will Conant.
Decker was 18 of 32 for 263 yards and a touchdown for UNLV before getting knocked out of the game.
Wide receiver Devante Davis finished with 114 yards, six receptions and a touchdown. It was the 10th 100-yard receving game of his career and he moved into a tie for third with 21 career receiving touchdowns.
