When will the losing stop for the Rebels?

The UNLV Rebels were defeated 24-17 on Saturday when they visited with the Roadrunners, of the University of Texas, San Antonio.

This loss marks the 11th consecutive loss for the Rebels, dating back to the 2020 season, under head coach Marcus Arroyo. This is their longest losing streak since they lost 16 games in a row during the 1997-98 seasons, including an 0-11 season in 1998.

Since that previous losing streak, many things have changed. The Rebels are on their fifth head coach since then. The Rebels, who were then in the Western Athletic Conference, are now in the Mountain West Conference.

UNLV has seven games remaining on their schedule for the 2021 season. Three games are on the road. Of these seven games, they’re only projected to play one more ranked team this season, which will be on Nov. 19 when they visit San Diego State.

The Rebels were led by their freshman quarterback, Cameron Friel, on Saturday. Friel, who played in his third straight game, finished the day with 307 passing yards and one passing touchdown. The offensive line struggled to protect Friel throughout the game. They allowed six sacks on the day, one of them resulting in a fumble by Friel.

Junior wide receiver Steve Jenkins led the Rebels in the receiving department. He had five catches for 114 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. Senior running back Chuck Williams had 15 carries for 48 rushing yards in the game. This was the third game of the season that Williams was held to less than 50 rushing yards. Williams only had two such games over the previous two seasons, since taking over as the starting running back in the 2019 season.

University of Texas’ offense was led by their senior quarterback Frank Harris. Harris finished with 278 passing yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target, junior wide receiver De’Corian Clark, finished with seven catches for 109 yards and one touchdown. Joshua Cephus added in eight catches for 84 yards and a touchdown as well.

UNLV has a much-needed bye week coming up this weekend. With the bye week, the Rebels are hoping quarterback Doug Brumfield can get healthy and get back onto the field. When healthy, he has been their starting quarterback since week two, however, he has missed a lot of time due to injuries.

The Rebels’ next game will be on Saturday, Oct. 16, when they host the Utah State Aggies. The Aggies, who also have a bye this week, will be coming into the game with a 3-2 record for the season and a 1-1 conference record. They are currently on a two-game losing streak after having lost 34-20 to BYU this past weekend. The Aggies have won five straight matchups between these two teams. The Rebels’ last win was in the 2008 season, 27-17.

Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Contact Sports Editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com