LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV (0-1) held a third-quarter touchdown lead before
Memphis (1-0) scored the final 13 points to win 27-21 in a high-profile Week Zero matchup Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium.
The third-biggest opening night crowd at home in school history (31,384) watched as the Rebels went ahead by seven points three different times in the back-and-forth affair that was televised nationally on FOX.
New UNLV quarterback
Jackson Arnold was scintillating in the first half, completing 17-of-21 attempts for 203 yards and a touchdown through the air while rushing for 40 net yards and another score on the ground to lead the Rebels to a 14-7 advantage at the break despite a missed field goal attempt. The former Auburn transfer would finish the night 25-of-37 for 291 yards and two touchdowns -- one to
Tavian McNair for 38 yards and one to
Kayden McGee for 22 yards.
The hosts outgained the Tigers in total yards (460-418) and had three more first downs on the night. A lot of those came from star running back
Jet Thomas who finished with 44 on the ground and 54 through the air on a team-leading six receptions.
Senior safety
Jake Pope finished with 13 total tackles while
Denver Harris forced the only turnover on the night, forcing and recovering a fumble in the second quarter.
STAT OF THE GAME:
UNLV only converted two of its four red zone trips into points while Memphis went 3-for-3 inside the opponent 20-yard line to figure prominently in the six-point loss.
QUOTABLE:
"There were some critical errors and some things we need to be better at. The game came down to red-zone scoring, which is a huge part of playing to win. If you look at that game, when we had several different red-zone opportunities, we came up short on fourth down twice and missed a field goal in the red zone. Give Memphis credit. They did a really good job -- they came in and played a hard-fought game. Our guys gave a pretty good effort out there today, but there are some areas that we have to take some big steps forward with some new faces out there and make some improvements and be a little bit more consistent in our performance."
"I want to thank all of our fans. It was a great turnout and great atmosphere for game one. It's great to see the support. I don't think people realize how much that does to continue to help build our program forward. We are all in this together, and that crowd support from the fans and the city was amazing."
-UNLV Head Coach Dan Mullen
NOTABLE:
--This marked the first-ever meeting between the schools and also the first time UNLV faced a team that was a member of the American Conference at the time of the game
--The Rebels fell to 2-1 in Week Zero games
--UNLV has now scored at least 20 points in each of its last 35 regular-season games, which is by far the longest streak in the nation
--The Rebels have rushed for at least one touchdown in 28 consecutive games, which is the second-longest active streak in the FBS behind Jacksonville State's 29
--UNLV hosted an FBS opponent to kick off a season for the first time since welcom9ing Minnesota of the Big Ten in 2012
--
Jackson Arnold's first pass attempt at UNLV resulted in a 14-yard completion to
Taeshaun Lyons
--The crowd of 31,384 marked the third-biggest for a UNLV home-opener, trailing only two games hosting a ranked Wisconsin team (42,075 in 2002 and 38,250 in 2007). The previous largest home-opening game at Allegiant Stadium was 25,723 vs. Idaho State last season.
--Redshirt freshman
Tavian McNair's first career catch went for a 38-yard touchdown
--UNLV lost a season-opening game for the first time since 2021
UP NEXT: UNLV will head on the road to open Mountain West play at Hawaii next Saturday at 7 p.m. PT. The game will be shown nationally on The CW.
