3 takeaways: UNLV overcomes mistakes to slip past Northern Illinois

Talk about a grand escape.

UNLV’s football team on Halloween night had to fight off winless Northern Illinois for a 31-24 victory at Allegiant Stadium.

That’s right. The Rebels as a 24½-point favorite needed everything they had and then some to survive the Huskies.

“I can’t give the Northern Illinois coaches and players enough credit for how hard they played and how their players competed,” UNLV coach Dan Mullen said. “The intensity their players brought. … For us, we made a lot of big plays that we needed to win the game. We also made a lot of critical mistakes.

“We have six penalties, all in the second half, for 75 yards. Which is like six for 200 because of the yardage it takes off. Just unbelievable the mistakes we made. Just awful, and we need to get it cleaned up. But down the stretch on both sides of the ball, we were able to make plays we needed to win the football game and battle it out.

“As we know in this conference, the margin for error is really small and you have to play really well every week and if you don’t and make the errors that we made, don’t be shocked with how the game goes.”

Here are three takeaways from the UNLV victory:

1. What does it mean?

The Rebels are now 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the Mountain West, keeping up with New Mexico (4-0) and Wyoming (4-1) as the three teams with one or fewer league losses.

The Cowboys, who had a bye this week, meet UNLV at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday night.

After that, the Rebels travel to New Mexico on Nov. 14.

It’s a fair question: Did the Rebels come into their latest game underestimating Northern Illinois (0-8, 0-3)?

“You can say that a little bit with how we played,” running back Jai’Den “Jet” Thomas said. “I just believe we all have to come together.”

2. Defense when needed

Not good: The Rebels allowed Northern Illinois to roll up a season-high 493 yards, including 253 on the ground. Mullen’s team, however, held the Huskies to seven second-half points and came up with big stops down the stretch.

One was via an interception deep in UNLV territory by defensive back Mumu Bin-Wahad.

“We didn’t hurt ourselves in the (second half),” Mullen said. “We were missing tackles, missing gaps, not getting off blocks in the first half. Obviously, the interception was a big, big play for us. And then we had a fourth-down stop at the end of the game that was huge and we were able to run out the clock. Those are winning football plays.

“I don’t think we played real hard. That’s really disappointing. That’s on me. We’re trying. I just don’t think we were playing with the strain we need to play with, especially on defense in the first half. Maybe all across the board.

“There were some opportunities to put that game away, but we didn’t. We have to be better at that. We had some opportunities in the fourth quarter to go up 14 and really put the pressure on them and we didn’t.”

3. Arnold’s night

UNLV quarterback Jackson Arnold got things done with both his arm and feet.

He completed 19 of 29 for 264 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions while also rushing 13 times for 86 yards.

“I thought he played pretty well,” Mullen said. “I thought he missed a few throws but made a couple really good throws. Made the big throws that we really needed. I thought his overall decision making was really good. He ran the ball pretty well and kept us in the right play calls and right situations. He played fairly well.”

Arnold certainly began the game in fine fashion, completing a 75-yard scoring pass to Kayden McGee on the evening’s first snap.

Another explosive play came from Thomas. He was held to nine yards in the first half but went for a 60-yard score on his first touch following intermission.

“Really, it’s just a testament to my offensive line,” Thomas said. “Given the opportunity for me to be patient and just listen to the coaches and be ready. Just see the hole and hit it.”

Contact Ed Graney at [email protected]. Follow @edgraney on X.