GAME 1: Season Opener
(#RV/RV) UNLV REBELS (0-0/0-0 Mountain West)
Vs.
Idaho State (0-0/0-0 Big Sky)
DATE: Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025
KICKOFF: 1:03 pm PTÂ
SITE:Â Â Allegiant Stadium (61,500/Artificial) Las Vegas
TV:Â Â SSSEN/MW Network (Matt Neverett, Caleb Herring & Steve Cofield)
RADIO:Â ESPN 1100 AM & 100.9 FM (Matt Neverett, Caleb Herring & Steve Cofield)
TICKETS:Â UNLVTickets.com
SATURDAY PREVIEW...
UNLV (0-0), which received votes in both the AP and Coaches' poll, opens its 58th season of football by hosting Idaho State (0-0) in the earliest game in Rebel history ... The Rebels, who are the first team in MW history to improve their win total four consecutive seasons, are also the first program in FBS history (1978) to improve in four straight seasons by multiple victories (finished with 0 in 2020, 2 in '21, 5 in '22, 9 in '23 and 11 last fall) ... To become just the fourth program in FBS history to improve their win total in five straight years, UNLV will have to  do it with a largely new cast as the Scarlet & Gray comes into 2025 with the fewest returning starters in the FBS with just two (RB Jai'Den "Jet" Thomas on offense and LB
Marsel McDuffie on defense) ... Things get started earlier than ever for the Rebels as the school last month received permission to move this game from Sept. 13 to Aug. 23 so that the historic world-championship boxing match between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford can be held at the Rebels' home venue, Allegiant Stadium, as part of Mexican Independence Day festivities ... This marks only the second Week Zero appearance for UNLV in what will be the earliest kickoff in school history, beating the Aug. 27, 2022, game -- also vs. Idaho State ... New head coach Dan Mullen is 11-2 all-time in season openers at his two stops leading Mississippi State and Florida, including five straight wins ... UNLV head coaches are 6-7 all-time in their debuts at the school ... UNLV is 27-30 overall in lid-lifters, including 21-10 when they happen at home ... UNLV has won 10 of its last 14 games at Allegiant Stadium ... The broadcast will appear on the Silver State Sports & Entertainment Network (SSSEN), which can be viewed on Cox channel 77 or over the air at 5.2 or on YouTubeTV or Fubo ... Fans can also stream the game via the Mountain West Network.
REBELS vs. BENGALS NOTES...Â
UNLV leads 7-2 in a series that dates back to Rebel Football's second-year of existence as Bill Ireland's squad got by ISU 35-31 in 1969 ... The following season, UNLV traveled to Pocatello and played the first collegiate game staged in Holt Arena (then called the ISU Minidome) on Sept. 26, 1970 ... All nine meetings between these schools have been won by the home team ... UNLV is 32-14 all-time vs. teams that currently make up the Big Sky Conference.
