Know Wyoming’s Foe: UNLV Rebels

LARAMIE -- Dan Mullen's primary focus over the last two weeks has been on defense.

Wyoming's and his own.

UNLV's first-year head coach has plenty of reason for concern, too, especially when it comes to the latter.

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While his offense is putting nearly 40 points a game on the scoreboard, the other side of the ball is allowing more than four touchdowns an outing to go along with 427.8 yards of total production.

The Rebels' non-conference schedule didn't exactly feature the who's who of college football, either.

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The offensive output from Sam Houston State, UCLA and Miami (Ohio) -- UNLV's last three opponents -- can all be found on the final page of the NCAA's official stat-keeping website. That trio has combined for just 20 touchdowns. UNLV alone has crossed the goal line 17 times through four weeks.

Merge the overall records of those three above: 1-11. The RedHawks, who fell at home 41-38 to the Rebels two weeks ago, last Saturday blanked FCS foe Lindenwood.

What's the issue?

Is it the new system? Is it the 60-plus transfers the program brought in over the offseason?

Losing Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year Jackson Woodard to graduation certainly hasn't helped matters. In fact, UNLV lost all six of their leading tacklers from a season ago.

Mullen said these early shortcomings land directly on the shoulders of the coaching staff.

"To me, a guy being where they're supposed to be is coaching, right? Asking a guy to jump over someone's head to do a backflip and catch a ball, that's not really coaching. You don't coach that," the 53-year-old told the local media on Monday. "Are you in the gap you're supposed to be in with the proper technique you're supposed to use? That's coaching and teaching. So, I think that was the biggest deal for us."

Reps, reps and more reps, Mullen added, will only benefit a unit that has been together for a short period of time.

"Hey, if you can do it right once right, you do it right every time. You don't, do it until you get it right," he continued. "Do it until you can never do it wrong. If we give up plays because they jump over us and make a spectacular play, or they have a guy that's just a talented player that makes three guys miss or runs us over, that's one thing. You know, the other parts are things that we can control.

"There are times in that game (Miami) we just didn't fit (gaps) real well. When we did, you saw in the second half, they didn't move the ball an inch."

After back-to-back losses to Big-XII foes Utah and Colorado, Wyoming's defense ranks sixth in the conference, allowing 359 yards an outing. Devon Dampier accounted for 316 yards of total offense and two touchdown tosses in a 31-6 setback against the Utes in Laramie. Fellow quarterback Kaidon Salter added four scores and 390 more in the Buffs' 37-20 victory in Boulder.

Despite all of that damage, via a mobile signal caller -- just like Anthony Colandrea, who will be under center Saturday night in Laramie -- Mullen said he can see why the Cowboys possess one of the top defenses in the conference.

"Very, very stout, physical defense up front with the ability to stop the run," he said, adding Wyoming gives up just 18.7 points a night. "They're going to give you a lot of different looks -- both fronts and coverages on the back end -- to try to confuse the quarterback. They play extremely hard and have some skill guys on the back end that can cover."

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The aforementioned Colandrea, a junior transfer from Virginia, is completing 72.2% of his passes. He has already thrown for 940 yards and eight touchdowns.

That's not all.

On the ground, he's amassed 229 yards on a team-high 46 carries, complimenting the league's top rusher Jai'Den "Jet" Thomas, who is averaging a staggering 8.7 yards per carry.

Five Rebel receivers average more than 12 yards per catch. Jaden Bradley sits atop the leaderboard, hauling in 20 balls for 355 yards and a pair of touchdown grabs.

"It's going to be a challenge for us that, you know, we're going to have to come in and execute and play clean for four quarters," Mullen said. "I mean, if you kind of have some of the hiccups we've had during the season, they're going to shut you down there. They will be that talented that they'll just completely shut us down. So we're going to have to be consistent and perform."

Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. inside War Memorial Stadium and the game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

Meet the Rebels:

* Head coach: Dan Mullen (1st year) 4-0 overall record

* Offensive coordinator: Corey Dennis (1st year); Defensive coordinator: Paul Guenther (1st year)

* Record in 2024: 11-3 overall, 6-1 in Mountain West Conference

* Offense in 2025: Average 38.3 ppg, 450.5 ypg (206.3 rush, 244.3 pass)

* Defense in 2025: Allow 28.3 ppg, 427.8 ypg (152.2 rush, 275.5 pass)

* Key Returners/ Newcomers - Offense in 2025: Anthony Colandrea (QB - 78-108, 940 yds, 8 TD, 3 INT; 46 rush, 229 yds, TD), Jai'Den Thomas (RB - 45 rush, 393 yds, 5 TD; 8 catch, 23 yds), Keyvone Lee (RB - 24 rush, 113 yds, 2 TD), Jaden Bradley (WR - 20 catch, 355 yds, 2 TD), Troy Omeire (WR - 12 catch, 130 yds, TD), Daejon Reynolds (WR - 7 catch, 98 yds, 1 TD); Var'Keyes Gumms (TE - 7 catch, 95 yds, TD)

* Key Returners - Defense in 2025: Marsel McDuffie (LB - 29 tackles, sack, 2 PBU, 2 INT, FR), Jake Pope (DB - 25 tackles), Jaheem Joseph (S - 22 tackles, 0.5 sack, PBU, FF, FR), Blesyng Alualu-Tuiolemotu (LB - 19 tackles, PBU), Aamaris Brown (DB - 18 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 PBU, 4 INT, 2 TD), Tre Fulton (DB - 15 tackles, FF), Andrew Powdrell (DB - 15 tackles), Justin Flowe (LB - 9 tackles, PBU), Lucas Conti (DL - 8 tackles, 0.5 sack)

- University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players