DENTON, Texas (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV (1-2/1-0) was unable to dig itself out of a huge first-half hole and fell at
North Texas (1-1/0-0), 44-6, Saturday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 20,331 at DATCU Stadium.
Fighting through searing, 102-degree heat, the Rebels supplied the Mean Green with a pair of fumbles on their side of the field and ended the second quarter one-yard short of the end zone en route to falling behind 20-3 at halftime despite having more first downs (10-9) than their opponent.
Ramon Villela nailed a 39-yard field goal in the second quarter to get his team on the board to mark the team's first three-pointer of the season. He also hit a 37-yarder in the third quarter.
Starting quarterback
Jackson Arnold, who graduated from Denton Guyer High School, finished 18-of-27 for 194 yards passing in his return home.
UNLV came into the day having won a Mountain West-record six straight road games against non-conference opponents.
QUOTABLE:
"The defense played good early, then comes out and plays terrible in the second half. The offense never got it going. So, we've got a lot of things to fix as a team."
-UNLV Head Coach Dan Mullen
STAT OF THE GAME:
After coming in with zero lost turnovers this season, UNLV committed two in the first quarter alone, leading to a pair of UNT scores. Another lost fumble in the third quarter and a late interception made it 4-0 in takeaways in favor of the Mean Green.
NOTABLE:
--UNLV fell to an American Conference team for the second time in three weeks after previously never having a played a team that was a member of the league at the time of the game
--UNT improved to 2-5 vs. UNLV as it downed the Rebels for the first time in regular-season play
--UNLV failed to score a touchdown for the first time since falling 48-3 at home to Iowa State on Sept. 18, 2021
--The Rebels returned to play at North Texas for the first time since 1999, which was the first game of John Robinson's career at the school
--UNLV saw a pair of impressive streaks end in the loss as the Rebels failed to score at least 20 points in a regular-season game for the first time since 2023 at Michigan – a streak of 36 games, which was by far the longest streak in the nation
--The Rebels also failed to rush for a touchdown, which snapped a 29-game streak, which ranked second in the FBS
--Former Oregon State transfer
Taz Reddicks led UNLV with five catches for 75 yards
--Former Holy Cross transfer linebacker
Cam Santee paced the Rebels with eight total tackles
UP NEXT: UNLV will get a week off before heading to Akron on Sept. 26. Time and TV information for that game will be announced on Monday.
