LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV (9-2/5-2) stayed alive for a potential spot in the Mountain West Championship game with a 38-10 win over
Hawai'i (7-4/4-3) on Friday night before the biggest crowd of the year at Allegiant Stadium (37,106).
UNLV improved to 5-0 when it scores first this fall as
Ramon Villela nailed a 44-yard field goal on the opening drive. The Rainbow Warriors then took their only lead of the night on a 72-yard pass play. The Rebels responded with an eight-yard score from
Anthony Colandrea to
Jaden Bradley to put the home team in front for good. It marked UNLV's first touchdown in the last five games and head coach
Dan Mullen's squad never looked back in reaching the 30-point mark for a school-record 10th time in 2025.
The Rebel defense dominated, blanking UH completely in the second half. Fifth-year senior captain LB
Marsel McDuffie led the way with eight tackles while DB
Aamaris Brown added five takedowns, including 1.5 sacks, while safety
Jake Pope corralled his first collegiate interception, which his team converted into a touchdown.
UNLV won its third straight over the Rainbow Warriors and took a 5-4 lead in the series since it became known as the Ninth Island Showdown in 2017, featuring the beloved golden pineapple Island Showdown Trophy. UH still leads the overall series 19-16.
REBEL OF THE GAME:
Junior QB
Anthony Colandrea was tremendous again, completing 81-percent of his pass attempts for 253 yards and three touchdowns to three different receivers. His 21 TD passes this fall rank fifth in school single-season history and his total of 2,780 yards through the air is in sixth place.
STAT OF THE GAME:
UNLV out-gained the high-powered Hawai'i offense 470-231 in total yards as the Rainbow Warriors never reached the red zone.
QUOTABLE:
"That was a great win for us tonight as a team. We talked about senior night, our last home game of the year. We wanted to come out and play our best game of the season. Why not come out and do that? Why not play to the level we can play at? I thought for the most part that we did that. Our defense had an unbelievable night. We had one blown coverage on the first series on the 70-yard play. That was about it. Our guys executed. We keep talking about eliminating mistakes. We had the one mistake that cost us, but the rest of the night was just a dominant performance against one of the best offenses in the league.
"This is a big win for our team. There is a standard of which we expect to play and we want to keep improving. We want to be playing our best football at the end of the year. We are going to enjoy this win tonight, give the guys two days off, and get ready for another huge rivalry game next week. And then if we can compete at the end of the year, hopefully we have a chance to play for a championship and play our best football right when the days get shorter, the nights get longer, and the games get bigger."
-UNLV Head Coach Dan Mullen
NOTABLE:
--UNLV honored 29 seniors before the game on Senior Night
--The Rebels have now won 16 of their last 21 games at Allegiant Stadium
--UNLV improved to 9-2 for the second consecutive season
--The Rebels completed their home season with a 5-1 mark
--Pope's interception gave UNLV 13 on the season
--Colandrea completed passes to eight different receivers in the first half alone
--UNLV's 24 points were its most scored in the first half since also posting 24 at Wyoming on October 4
--The Rebels had 17 first downs at halftime compared to just five for the 'Bows
--UNLV finished with 29 first downs compared to 12 for UH
--The Rebel defense held Hawaii to just 3-of-10 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth
--The home team has now won this matchup 14 of the last 17 years
--Among FBS teams, only UNR is as old a Rebel rival as Hawai'i (1969)
--UNLV improved to 15-16-1 all-time on Fridays, including 2-0 this season
UP NEXT: UNLV will complete the regular season with a trip to in-state rival UNR next Saturday. The annual Battle for the Fremont Cannon will kick off at 6 p.m. PT on CBS Sports Network.
