LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – After falling behind 17-0 in the first half, first-place UNLV (4-1/2-0) football scored the next 24 and held on for a thrilling 31-20 victory over New Mexico (2-3/0-2) Friday night before 21,605 fans at Allegiant Stadium.
 
The Rebels won for the fourth time in their first five games of a season for the first time since 2003 and improved to 2-0 in Mountain West play for just the second time since the league was formed in 1999 (2013).
 
The 17-point comeback tied for the fifth-largest in school history and was buoyed by Super Senior All-America candidate kicker Daniel Gutierrez who connected on three straight field-goal attempts – including from 47 and 50 yards – to help UNLV pull to within 17-9 at halftime.
 
Quarterback Doug Brumfield ran for the team's first touchdown and then threw a two-point conversion to Ricky White that tied the game at 17 midway through the third quarter. Early in the fourth period, the Rebels took their first lead on Aidan Robbins' three-yard rush that was his ninth total score of the season. Cameron Oliver's 21-yard pick-six put the final touches on the 11-point win.
 
REBEL OF THE GAME:
Super Senior LB Austin Ajiake, who came in leading the team in tackles, again led the way with a game-high dozen total takedowns, including two TFL, as the Rebel defense stiffened in time to turn the game around.
 
STAT OF THE GAME:
After no defensive scores since 2017, UNLV now has two in the last three games and both came from the same player. Cameron Oliver's interception return was his second taken to the end zone at the end of the game this season (North Texas).
 
QUOTABLE:
"How about the Rebels? I'm still fired up! That's such a huge deal for our group, it's just a character building win and that's the bottom line. It was ugly and there were a lot of things against us early on, and to rally like that, to play like that in the second half, to play complimentary football in a situation like that, I mean our crowd and our stadium … we can feel that. We handled adversity (and) this is a huge step forward in resilience."
-UNLV head coach Marcus Arroyo
 
REBEL NOTES:
-Gutierrez's trio of field goals were all longer than 40 yards
-The 50-yarder marked his fourth career kick measuring 50 yards or longer
-DE Adam Plant Jr., who came in tied for third in the MW with five TFL, notched 1.5 more to give him 6.5 through five games
-The Rebels posted 7.0 TFL overall on the night
-UNLV's two interceptions gave it 11 on the season, which is already two more than the team had all of last year
-UNLV and UNM each had two turnovers, which allowed the Rebels to maintain their turnover margin at plus-nine
-Elijah Shelton's first QB sack as a Rebel gave UNLV 12 on the season – by 10 different players. Only Adam Plant Jr. has more than one (three)
-The Rebels lost their first fumble of the season
-UNLV has now won eight of the last 11 meetings with the Lobos to take a 14-12 overall lead in the series
-The Rebels snapped an eight-game losing streak in non-Saturday games, dating back to their win at UNM on Friday, Nov. 17, 2017
-UNLV improved to 9-11-1 all-time in games played on Friday
 
NEXT FOR THE REBELS:
UNLV heads to San Jose State for a second consecutive Friday night game. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally by CBS Sports Network.