RENO (UNLVRebels.com) – The coldest Battle for the Fremont Cannon on record turned into another heated battle as visiting UNLV (4-8/2-6) emerged with a 33-30 overtime victory over UNR (7-5/4-4) Saturday afternoon at Mackay Stadium.
The victory also gave UNLV Athletics three points and a 9-3 lead in the Silver State Series presented by IBEW and Nevada Donor Network.
Rebel quarterback Kenyon Oblad showed surgical precision while throwing for three touchdowns, the last one being the game-winner to fellow-freshman Steve Jenkins on third-and-four at the 19-yard line after the Wolf Pack had taken its first lead of the game on a 42-yard field goal to open overtime.
With a temperature of 29 degrees at kickoff, the Rebels started out scorching hot, taking a 17-0 lead in the first quarter powered by an 80-yard scoring romp by the league's leading rusher Charles Williams. The Rebels led 24-13 at halftime but, after a scoreless third quarter, UNR rallied with two touchdowns during the last seven minutes to tie things at 27 before the OT theatrics.
In a game with no turnovers, the UNLV defense was led by a couple of senior DBs -- cornerback Jericho Flowers posted a game-high 15 tackles with two pass breakups while linebacker Javin White contributed 11 tackles and a key quarterback sack and pass breakup.
Tony Sanchez closed his five-year career at the school by becoming only the third UNLV head coach to earn more than two victories over the in-state rival. His 3-2 mark against the Pack joined John Robinson (5-1 from 1999-2005) and Tony Knap (3-1 from 1976-81) while Sanchez's final overall record settled at 20-40.
STAT OF THE GAME:
This marked the first overtime game played between UNLV and UNR and the smallest margin of victory (three points) since the very first meeting was decided by just two points in 1969 (UNR 30-28 in Reno).
REBEL OF THE GAME:
Kenyon Oblad was sensational, completing 13 of his first 14 pass attempts en route to a 16-of-22 day for 229 yards and no turnovers. He has thrown at least one touchdown pass in all eight starts as a Rebel and at least two scoring throws in all but one of those outings.
QUOTABLE:
"Our guys are going to play hard and that's one thing I'm really proud of. When you look back, I don't know if there's a time you can say we didn't play hard. We told the team going into overtime that we have just a couple snaps left in the season, we have a great chance to add to the history of this rivalry and let's go out on our terms. Really proud of our seniors. These guys have been around four or five years and now have won three cannons after we had just one in the previous 10 years."
-UNLV Head Coach Tony Sanchez
REBEL NOTES:
-Junior RB Charles Williams posted his sixth 100-yard game of the season and ninth of his career with 138 net yards on 20 carries. He finished the season with 1,237 yards (seventh-most in school history) and 11 touchdowns
-Daniel Gutierrez made both of his field goal attempts, including a key, career-long 50-yarder in the fourth quarter, to finish 11 of 14 on the year. It marked the 21st field goal of 50 yards or longer in UNLV history and the first since Evan Pantels' 53-yarder in 2017
-Senior punter Hayes Hicken finished with an average of 43.6 yards on five attempts and closed his career with the third-highest average in UNLV history at 43.7.
-Steve Jenkins became the third different Rebel to turn in a 100-yard receiving day, finishing with 140 yards on five receptions. Along with his game-winner in OT, Jenkins went 75 yards on a pass from Oblad in the second quarter to halt a streak of 13 straight points by UNR
-UNLV improved to 6-10 all-time in overtime games
-The Rebels won only their second OT game on the road (won 23-20 at Arizona State in 2008)
-UNLV won its final game of the season in back-to-back years for the first time since 2002-03
-The Rebels improved to 7-14 all-time in games played in Reno, including taking three of their last four trips to Mackay Stadium
-Paired with last week's 38-35 victory over SJSU, UNLV won back-to-back games by three points or less for the third time in history (1976 won 21-19 over Montana and 28-26 over South Dakota and 2008 won 23-20 in OT at ASU and 34-31 in OT over Iowa State)
