Rebels upend New Mexico

October 26, 2009 by James Kaikis 

UNLV gains first conference road win in nearly five years

The Rebels won their first road conference game of the Mike Sanford era with a 34-17 win at New Mexico Saturday night.

The win came against a Lobos team that has yet to win a game this season, under a new coaching staff.

UNLV kept their offense on the field for most of the game, controlling the clock for nearly 37 minutes of the game.

The Rebels offense was effective on third downs, converting on 11 of 16. UNLV had 29 first downs, the most in any game this season.

The Rebels had no turnovers for the time since their opening week win against Sacramento State.
UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton completed 20 of 30 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns. Clayton also had 50 yards on the ground.

As for the Lobos, quarterback Donovan Porterie had almost identical numbers to Clayton’s, but instead threw for 219 yards and was unable to keep his team in the game.

The Rebels’ defense, which has been a work in progress during the season, stepped up against the Lobos. The Rebels held the Lobos to 287 total yards, a big improvement from the 611 they gave up two weeks ago against BYU.

Wide receiver Ryan Wolfe set himself atop the Mountain West Conference all-time receptions list, catching 11 passes for 118 yards and a touchdown. He also currently leads the nation in active career receptions. He needs 243 yards to lead the MWC in receiving yards.

The Rebels were effective on the run this game, with 44 rushes by nine different players for 210 yards.
The win keeps Sanford’s job safe for the time being, but the Rebels will head to TCU next week to take on the No. 6 team in the country, which just came off a 38-7 dismantling of the same BYU team that beat UNLV by 38.