UNLV and New Mexico collided in a Mountain West match-up inside Allegiant Stadium. It was at that location, where the Lobos of New Mexico pulled off the upset in a thriller, 40-35. UNLV, now sitting at 6-2, is now seeing its road to the Mountain West championship game become a lot harder.
New Mexico is now bowl-eligible for the first time since 2016, pulling off a stunner in the Mountain West. The Lobos now have their own path to pave to a potential Mountain West title game themselves.
Here is how UNLV dropped its first home game of the season and how the Lobos took advantage of a massive opportunity.
UNLV vs. New Mexico 2025 College Football Recap
Lobos Go Up 21
UNLV came out firing after forcing a three-and-out on New Mexico’s opening drive. Anthony Colandrea delivered a statement early, hanging in the pocket and dropping a deep ball to Troy Omeire to flip the field and put the Rebels in scoring position.
But despite the momentum, the drive stalled, and UNLV was stuffed on 4th-and-short at the New Mexico 22-yard line, a promising opening series that ended with frustration and a turnover on downs.
New Mexico took over and immediately rolled the dice on a fourth-and-short, converting thanks to a designed run from Jack Layne. With the drive alive, Layne showed off the other side of his game, dropping a perfectly placed 30-yard slot-fade to Damon Blankston for the game’s opening touchdown.
UNLV found rhythm on its second drive, stacking a few first downs through the air and pushing back into New Mexico territory. But momentum flipped fast as Colandrea and Jai’Den Thomas weren’t on the same page, the exchange of the option hit the turf, and the Lobos jumped on it.
Three plays later, New Mexico cashed in on UNLV’s second mistake. James Laubstien broke loose for 58 yards, flipping the field and putting the Lobos deep inside the UNLV 15-yard line. Laubstien would then sell the play-action and find a wide-open Simon Mapa in the end zone.
Down 14–0, UNLV’s early script was rough: turnover on downs, a fumble, then a punt. New Mexico’s defense swarmed in space, shut down the run, and forced the Rebels into uncomfortable spots. And the Lobos didn’t waste time piling on as they dialed up a screen to Damon Blankston, who turned it into an 80-yard sprint to the house.
New Mexico had come into Allegiant and put up 21 points right away.
Rise and Shine Rebels
Was it the early noon start that had UNLV down 21 points in a hurry? Because in the second quarter, UNLV answered back in bunches.
Colandrea showcased his arm as he dropped a deep strike to Daejon Reynolds, setting UNLV up at the New Mexico 7-yard line. Two plays later, Colandrea rolled right and found Reynolds again in the end zone. A much-needed spark as the Rebels finally got on the board.
New Mexico followed with a three-and-out as UNLV blew up a run on first down, then sniffed out back-to-back receiver screens. The Rebels came right back on offense, leaning into RPOs and quick hitters to the perimeter, using bubble screens to get their playmakers in space and finally start dictating the tempo.
Eventually, that rhythm paid off. Colandrea fired a strike over the middle on a slant to Jaden Bradley, taking UNLV down to the New Mexico five. From there, Kevone Lee punched it in, and suddenly the Rebels had cut the deficit to seven.
The UNLV defense kept the pressure on and then flipped the game. Quandraius Keyes read the out-route perfectly, jumped it, and picked off Layne, taking it back the other way for six.
Just like that, in a blink, the Rebels erased a 21-point deficit and tied it at 21 points apiece.
But the swing didn’t last long. For the second time in the half, UNLV’s defense surrendered an 80-yard touchdown, this time Jack Layne hit a wide-open Keagan Johnson streaking downfield to snatch the momentum right back for New Mexico.
On the next UNLV possession, things unraveled again. As Colandrea scrambled, he was stripped from behind, and the Lobos recovered at the UNLV 48. They turned the short field into three more points heading into the half, pushing their lead back to double digits and capping a wild first half.
Dog Fight In The Desert
UNLV opened the second half with a three-and-out, and momentum slipped again. Just like the first half, the Rebels’ secondary got burned. Jack Layne hit Cade Keith on a 45-yard catch-and-run, flipping the field and putting New Mexico right back inside UNLV territory. The Rebels would hold the Lobos to a field goal, but New Mexico’s lead grew to 34-21.
Colandrea and the Rebels answered with a composed, methodical touchdown drive to stay in it. Colandrea capped it by firing to Var’Keyes Gumms in the end zone, cutting the deficit to 34–28.
It turned into a second-half grind, where getting a stop and controlling the clock became everything. As the two offenses exchanged punts, UNLV’s defense came up with one of the biggest stops of the game, forcing the Lobos to punt from their own three-yard line.
UNLV would start with great field position and work on putting together a drive to give them a lead. However, after converting a third down, it was brought back due to a holding call. The Rebels were unable to follow up and convert the 3rd-and-11.
With the ball sitting in no man’s land at the New Mexico 28-yard line after a seven-yard pickup, UNLV kept the offense out there on fourth down with 7:50 left. They converted, pushed inside the Lobos’ 15-yard line, and then Colandrea delivered one of his best throws of the game.
Falling away, he floated a jump-ball over the defender to Nick Elksnis for the touchdown, giving UNLV a 35-34 lead.
The Final Act
Jack Layne put together a clutch drive for the Lobos, trailing 35-34. He took a big hit on a scramble, bounced back from a sack to convert a third-and-14. Then, he dropped a 25-yard dime to Keagan Johnson for another first down. Layne kept feeding Johnson, hitting him again for 15 yards. That momentum set up a walk-in touchdown on the ground from DJ McKinney. New Mexico went for two and came up short, making it 40-35 with 2:55 left in the game.
Very quickly, the eyes would turn to Colandrea, who found Jai’den Thomas wide open on a wheel route. If the ball was placed a little more in bounds, Thomas may have gone 80 yards untouched for a score. Instead, he had to toe-tap to stay in bounds.
The New Mexico pass rush would crank it up and put UNLV into a fourth-and-five at their own 42-yard line. Colandrea would go over the middle to Koy Moore, but the pass was broken up and incomplete, leading to a turnover on downs.
With two time-outs remaining, UNLV’s defense kept them well in it. Using both time out’s and also having New Mexico have a pre-snap penalty kept UNLV very much in the game. With 57 seconds left reaming, New Mexico would bring out their punter as they felt the 55-yard attempt was to far.
The Lobo punt was placed perfectly at the UNLV two-yard line forcing Colandrea to go 98 yards down five, with no timeouts. UNLV made it as far as their own 11-yard line as the New Mexico pass rush gathered up a sack to ice the game and get the win.
What’s Next?
New Mexico is the first team to come away with a win inside Allegiant Stadium as a visitor this year. What a win it was for the Lobos, as they are now bowl-eligible under first year head coach Jason Eck. Sitting at 6-3, New Mexico may have a chance at a Mountain West title game with more wins, as they get ready to take on Colorado State after their bye week.
As for the Rebels, Dan Mullen’s unit has now suffered back-to-back losses for the first time. UNLV was favored in this ball game at home, but their leaky secondary and poor tackling could not keep them around in this game to reward another 30-point outing from the offense.
UNLV is now out of byes, with them playing way back in week 0, they were rewarded with some extra time off. Now, it will be a four-game sprint to get back in the win column and finish up a hot start with a story book ending. UNLV will take on Colorado state next Saturday on the road, in need of a win to keep their Mountain West championship dreams alive.
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