‘Players are gutted’: Loss to Syracuse painful for UNLV football

This isn’t the obituary for the UNLV football season. 

The Rebels’ 44-41 loss in overtime Friday at home against Syracuse may have squashed hopes of reaching the College Football Playoff, but it doesn’t diminish what the program has accomplished and the direction it is headed.

If anything, the manner in which the Rebels fought back from a pair of double-digit deficits to narrowly lose in a heartbreaker reaffirms just how special the upcoming weeks — and seasons — of UNLV football could potentially be.

UNLV had Syracuse stopped in overtime, but a late hit call on the Rebels extended the drive and Orange running back LeQuint Allen scored the game-winner a few plays later.

Yes, this one hurts. Real bad. They should have won.

It’s important to look at the big picture: Jockeying for a spot in the playoff signals a new era for UNLV. Remember, the program’s standard for decades had been beating UNR and trying to muster six wins to become bowl eligible.

“We understand this game won’t define us,” coach Barry Odom said. “It is how we respond that will. The players are gutted because they invested so much and came up short.”

The nonleague loss drops UNLV’s overall record to 4-1, but it is still undefeated in league and one of the favorites to win the Mountain West title. The Rebels will make a bowl game this season for the second straight year — the first time that’s happened in program history.

Being disappointed because the team came up a hair short means the bar of success has been raised and the expectations altered. This team scratched and clawed its way back into the game and deserves praise for not backing down.

“We got punched, and we responded,” Odom said. “I was not surprised by the response our team had. We have a tough, tough team — both mentally and physically.”

Another silver lining: UNLV fans packed Allegiant Stadium to show their support. The attendance of 31,329 was the third largest for a UNLV game in Allegiant history. The best was 35,193 for Iowa State in 2021 — but that was mostly Iowa State backers.

The roar of the crowd was so profound it felt like those glory days rooting for Jerry Tarkanian’s Rebels on the basketball court. It’s so refreshing to see the support for the hometown university.

And it’s well deserved.

For the first time in program history, the Rebels played with a number next to their name on the scorecard, ranked No. 25 by the Associated Press.

And No. 25 UNLV looked the part, battling back and forth against a respectable Syracuse squad with a notable quarterback, and arguably giving the game away.

It was a remarkable comeback.

Not only did the Rebels trail 14-0 after the first quarter, they looked awful in allowing Syracuse to push them around. Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord completed 11 straight passes to open the game, surely aided by UNLV’s struggles to rush the quarterback or gain traction in the secondary.

Then, the Rebels made adjustments. They showed fight. They showed that same grit they had a few weeks ago on the road against Kansas, where they somehow won despite being outplayed early and not being able to complete passes.

It started with Jai’Den Thomas’ 42-yard run in the second quarter down to the Syracuse 10-yard line, an electric, physical run that brought the crowd to its feet. The run changed the tone of the game in showing UNLV wouldn’t be a pushover.

Hajj-Malik Williams hooked up with Kaleo Ballungay for a touchdown pass a few plays later, and UNLV would score 21 unanswered points for a 21-17 halftime lead.

That wasn’t the most impressive comeback of the night.

Syracuse scored a pair of touchdowns 36 seconds apart early in the third quarter for a 31-21 lead, and UNLV again looked like it was going to lose. 

But Ricky White blocked a punt and true freshman Charles Correa, a local product from Bishop Gorman, scooped up the ball in the end zone to even the score at 31-all. Again, the electricity in the stadium was unlike anything I’ve seen for this program in nearly five decades of living here.

“The city of Las Vegas has been wonderful to us,” said Odom, the program’s second-year coach. “The energy helped us, and I was very thankful for what we have done in 21 months to turn this into that. We will only grow (the fan support) from here.”

Syracuse responded by bringing the ball deep into UNLV territory in the fourth quarter, but Jackson Woodard intercepted a pass at the Rebel 6-yard line to set up a 94-yard scoring drive. 

Williams’ third touchdown pass of the game went to White for 9 yards with 2:58 to play — which left too much time on the clock for Syracuse. The Orange forced overtime with a McCord touchdown pass to Jackson Meeks with 23 seconds remaining.

There’s plenty of opportunities to nitpick about how the end of the game went. The Rebels didn’t use any of their timeouts in the second half, dropped at least one interception, and had that untimely penalty.

But, like Odom says, the way UNLV responds to the lessons from a tough loss will define the season. Buckle up, everyone, the next three months of Rebel football could be as thrilling as Friday night.