GAME 2: ROAD OPENER
(#RV/RV) UNLV REBELS (1-0/0-0 Mountain West)
At
Sam Houston (0-1/0-0 Conference USA)
DATE:Â Friday, Aug. 29, 2025
KICKOFF:Â Â 6:30 pm PTÂ
SITE:Â Shell Energy Stadium (22,000/Natural Grass) Houston
TV:Â CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Robert Turbin & Tiffany Blackmon)
RADIO: ESPN 1100 AM & 100.9 FM (Matt Neverett, Caleb Herring & Steve Cofield)
FRIDAY PREVIEW...
UNLV (0-0), which received votes in both the AP and Coaches' preseason polls, heads out of town for the first time this season with a first-ever meeting with Sam Houston (0-1) on Friday night ... The Rebels are 14-15 all-time on Fridays, including going 3-0 on the road on that night during the 2024 regular season ... The game, which was moved to Houston's MLS stadium because of construction on the Bearkats' home facility in Huntsville, TX, more than 70 miles away, will be shown nationally by CBS Sports Network ... Both of these teams opened in Week Zero over the weekend and this will mark the first time in school history that the Rebels play more than one game in the month of August ... The program is 6-6 in August, including last week's 38-31 home victory over Idaho State ... UNLV will actually play a game in the city of Houston for the second consecutive August as it opened the 2024 season with a 27-7 victory at UH ... 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 entered 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) ... UNLV has won four consecutive road games vs. non-conference opponents dating back to 2023 ... The Rebels, in fact, went 10-3 in true road games the last two seasons after only winning eight total road games in the previous six seasons (8-25).Â
REBELS vs. BEARKATS NOTES...Â
This marks the first of two first-time opponents for UNLV in its next two outings, along with Miami ... The Bearkats are slated to return the game in Las Vegas on Sept. 17, 2033 ... A program-record 18 current Rebels hail from the Lone Star State, including last week's starting QB,
Alex Orji, from Sachse, TX ... UNLV is 9-4 all-time vs. teams that currently make up Conference USA, including winning the most recent meeting vs. UTEP in El Paso in 2023, 45-28.
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