Season concludes as Nevada keeps Fremont Cannon

RENO — For 17 seniors who made the trip to Mackay Stadium on Saturday, it was their final time in a UNLV football uniform.

They had hoped to beat their in-state rival, reclaim the Fremont Cannon and get ready for a potential bowl berth.

That was until UNR rallied to win 23-16.

“It was sad,” said UNLV senior defensive tackle Mike Hughes Jr., a Palo Verde High School graduate. “You’ve got seniors leaving on a bad note. You’ve got guys that wish they could’ve done it for us. It’s not about me right now when it comes to my college career being over, it’s more of getting those (younger) guys’ heads up and understanding, ‘You’ve got to build on this.’ My message for the whole team is, ‘Come back stronger and harder.’ ”

UNLV for the first time has increased its victory total for the third year in a row, but Hughes and his fellow seniors wanted so much more.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it was a failure of a season,” Hughes said. “We’ve picked it up every year, but when you’re a senior, you can’t take slow progress. You’re pushing for as much as you can get.

“At the end of the day, if I left it better and they actually build on it, I’ll be happy. But we’ll only talk about that next year.”

Fading away?

UNR defensive end Korey Rush told the Reno Gazette-Journal he felt the tide shifting from the Rebels late in the game.

“I felt like they gave up a little bit toward the end,” Rush said. “I felt they were a little lifeless toward the end.”

Standout season

Rebels junior Lexington Thomas rushed for 63 yards against the Wolf Pack, giving him 1,336 yards overall and the fourth-best single-season total in school history. His 2,484 career yards ranks sixth, and he is within reach of Tim Cornett’s school mark of 3,733 yards set from 2010 to 2013.

UNLV’s run game, though, didn’t finish as strong as it began. The Rebels rushed for more than 300 yards in four of their first seven games but were held to fewer than 200 in four of the final five. UNR limited UNLV to 164 yards rushing.

“We’ve got to get a little more physical,” Rebels coach Tony Sanchez said. “We weren’t as tough a run team as we were at the beginning of the year with some guys (on the offensive line) out. It shows that depth is still a little bit of an issue.”

Among the best

UNLV wide receiver Devonte Boyd, from Basic High, caught two passes for 33 yards in his final game.

He closes with 198 career receptions for 3,242 yards.

He finished third in UNLV history behind leader Ryan Wolfe’s 283 receptions from 2006 to 2009 and Casey Flair’s 202 from 2005 to 2008.