GAME 8

(#RV/RV) UNLV REBELS (6-1/3-0 MW)
at
(#RV/RV) Fresno State (6-1/2-1 MW)

DATE: Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023
KICKOFF: 7:40 pm PT 
SITE: Valley Children's Stadium (40,727/Artificial) Fresno, CA
TV: FS1 (Alex Faust & Petros Papadakis)
RADIO: ESPN 1100 AM & 100.9 FM (Russ Langer, Caleb Herring & Steve Cofield)
STREAM: FS1   

SATURDAY'S PREVIEW...
Riding its first five-game win streak since 1984, UNLV (6-1/3-0) heads to Fresno State (6-1/2-1) for a key Mountain West matchup late Saturday night ... The game will be shown nationally by FS1, marking the Rebels' first appearance on any Fox channel since 2020 ... UNLV, which is receiving votes in both major polls for the first time since 2003, is bowl-eligible for the first time since playing in the Heart of Dallas Bowl after the 2013 season ... The Rebels earned their sixth victory last week with a 25-23 win at home over Colorado State while the Bulldogs enjoyed a bye ... The last time UNLV was 6-1 was 39 years ago when QB  Randall Cunningham and Fresno native RB Ickey Woods lined up in the backfield together  ...  Barry Odom is the first UNLV head coach to win six of his first seven games at the school since Ron Meyer started 6-1 in 1973 when the program was on the D-II level ... The Rebels have opened 3-0 in conference play for the first time since a 4-0 start in the Big West during the 1994 campaign ... UNLV has started 4-0 at home for the first time since John Robinson's 2000 squad went 6-0 at Sam Boyd Stadium ... Odom is also just the second Rebel coach to win his first three conference games since the program first joined a league in 1982 (Jeff Horton in 1994 as part of the Big West) ... The Rebels already set program records for 40+point games for both consecutive outings (four) and in a season (five) ... UNLV's current total of 22 rushing touchdowns is tied with LSU for second in the nation -- trailing only Air Force's 24 ... The Rebels scored during their first 15 trips inside the red zone this season before being intercepted in the third quarter at UTEP, but still lead the MW and sit fifth in the nation with a success rate of 96.7% (29-of-30) ... UNLV is tied for third nationally in turnover margin at plus-nine, trailing only Penn State (+12) and Oklahoma (+10) ... Rebels earned both MW Special Teams Player of the Week (PK Jose Pizano) and Freshman of the Week (QB Jayden Maiava). 

REBELS vs. BULLDOGS NOTES... 
These programs have played each other as part of three different conferences (Big West, WAC and now MW) and FS leads the overall series 18-7 ... This marks the first time in three years that these teams will play on a Saturday as the last two meetings took place on a Friday night ... Fresno State AHC/LBs coach Tim Skipper served as UNLV's defensive coordinator in 2018-19 ... Bulldog DBs coach J.D. Williams also worked at UNLV in 2015-16.