Courtesy of UNLV

PHOENIX (UNLVRebels.com) – Playing a 14th game for the first time in program history, UNLV (9-5/6-2) football fell to Kansas (9-4/5-4) 49-36 Tuesday night in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl before a raucous crowd of 26,478 fans at Chase Field.

The Rebels started fast in their first bowl game in a decade by scoring on their first drive as Vincent Davis Jr. posted his seventh rushing touchdown of the season to give UNLV an early 7-0 lead. Davis, in fact, was the team’s only available regular running back in the game because of multiple injuries and a transfer.

KU built a 28-7 lead in the second quarter before the Rebels rallied with 17 straight points. Jose Pizano hit a 40-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter and then Jayden Maiava threw touchdown passes to tight end Shelton Zeon from five yards out and then 37 yards to All-American receiver Ricky White.

After Jayhawk QB Jason Bean threw the fourth of his bowl-record six touchdown passes in response, wide receiver Jacob De Jesus ran for an 11-yard touchdown to pull the Rebs to within five before KU eventually pulled away. UNLV’s final score of the night came on a 50-yard catch and run by Senika McKie.

UNLV, which still finished with its most wins since 1984, fell to 1-2 all-time vs. Kansas and 3-2 in bowl games.

REBEL OF THE GAME:
Defensive back Cameron Oliver was the most effective defender on the field Tuesday in a game that featured nearly a 1,000 combined offensive yards, totaling five tackles (four solo), grabbing two interceptions, forcing a fumble and posting another pass breakup. He became the first Rebel to have more than one interception in a bowl game.

STAT OF THE GAME:
All-America wide receiver candidate Ricky White III caught seven passes for 97 yards to tie the UNLV record for receptions in a season with 88, joining Ryan Wolfe (2008) and Randy Gatewood (1994). White closed his junior campaign with 1,483 yards, which is 137 yards more than the previous school record for one campaign.

QUOTABLE:
“(Considering) the number of bowl games that I have been to over my career, this is as first class as any of them. All of the folks that volunteered and have prepared all year for this bowl game to make it an unbelievable experience for our student-athletes, our staff, and our families — I am so thankful for them. The city of Phoenix was wonderful. All of the things that went into it, the resort that we stayed at, the practice facilities, the transportation, the service, it was unmatched and I’m so thankful for that.

“Credit to Kansas and Coach Leipold. They have a really good football team and they made tremendous plays tonight to win the game. We didn’t play well enough. Defensively, we have given up big plays, which has really been an Achilles heel for us all year and it was again tonight.

“The work now for us, we’ve got a long way to go. We hit some great things this year but weren’t good enough in the Mountain West Championship Game and we certainly weren’t good enough tonight to win against really good opponents. We know who we are and we know where we are going and how to get there.”
-UNLV Head Coach Barry Odom

NOTABLE:
–Jaxen Turner’s fifth interception of the season is the most by a Rebel since Will Chandler picked off five passes in 2010
-Oliver’s pair of picks meant he joined Turner with five on the year
–Johnathan Baldwin’s 11 total tackles tied the school record for a bowl game (held by three other players)
–Jacob De Jesus, pressed into triple-duty as a WR, RB and KR, finished with a game-high 195 all-purpose yards (95 receiving, 60 on KORs and 40 on rushes)
–Marshall Nichols’ 57-yard punt that pinned KU at the two-yard line was a UNLV bowl record, besting the 56-yarder by Logan Yunker vs. North Texas in the 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl
-Nichols’ 52.7-yard average on three attempts shattered UNLV’s record for a bowl game (45.0 by Brad Faunce in 1994 Las Vegas Bowl)
-Maiava’s 291 yards passing broke Randall Cunningham’s UNLV bowl-game record (270 vs. Toledo in 1984 California Bowl)
-Maiava’s 24 completions were also a Rebel bowl record (22 by Caleb Herring vs. North Texas in 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl)
-Maiava’s three touchdown passes tied Jason Thomas’ school mark set vs. Arkansas in the 2000 Las Vegas Bowl
–Jose Pizano, kicking on grass for the first time this season, missed a 52-yard attempt in the second quarter, marking just the third miss of the season by the First Team All-American. He hit his next attempt, however, to close his lone season as a Rebel at an eye-popping 26-of-29
-Pizano’s 40-yard field goal, in fact, was the longest ever in a bowl game by a Rebel, besting the 38-yarder by Nick Garritano vs. Central Michigan in the 1994 Las Vegas Bowl
-The sideline reporter for ESPN was Las Vegas native Stormy Buonantony, marking her first assignment for the channel covering her hometown team
-The Rebels played their first-ever Tuesday game and have now competed at least once on every day of the week, compiling a 20-26-1 in non-Saturday contests
-UNLV played on a grass field for the first time since Nov. 5, 2022, at San Diego State
-The Rebels played football in an active MLB stadium for the first time since 2002 in San Diego when the Padres stilled called Qualcomm Stadium home