2017 UNLV Rebels football team

2017 UNLV Rebels football
Conference	Mountain West Conference
Division	West Division
Record	5–7 (4–4 MW)
Head coach	Tony Sanchez (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Barney Cotton (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Kent Baer (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Sam Boyd Stadium (Capacity: 35,500)

2017 Mountain West Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Mountain Division
No. 22 Boise State xy$		7	–	1					11	–	3
Colorado State		5	–	3					7	–	6
Wyoming		5	–	3					8	–	5
Utah State		4	–	4					6	–	7
Air Force		4	–	4					5	–	7
New Mexico		1	–	7					3	–	9
West Division
Fresno State xy		7	–	1					10	–	4
San Diego State		6	–	2					10	–	3
UNLV		4	–	4					5	–	7
Nevada		3	–	5					3	–	9
Hawaii		1	–	7					3	–	9
San Jose State		1	–	7					2	–	11
Championship: Boise State 17, Fresno State 14
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2017 UNLV Rebels football team represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rebels were led by third-year head coach Tony Sanchez and played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium. They were members of the West Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 5–7 and 4–4 in Mountain West play to finish in third place in the West Division. Following the season, head coach Tony Sanchez shook up his staff after releasing Kent Baer (defensive coordinator/linebackers) and Andy LaRussa (special teams/safeties).

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	6:00 p.m.	Howard*	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV	Stadium	L 40–43	15,667
September 9	4:00 p.m.	at Idaho*	Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID	ESPN3	W 44–16	10,156
September 23	9:00 a.m.	at No. 10 Ohio State*	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	BTN	L 21–54	106,187
September 30	7:30 p.m.	San Jose State	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV	ESPNU	W 41–13	15,009
October 7	7:45 p.m.	No. 19 San Diego State	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV	ESPN2	L 10–41	19,770
October 14	11:00 a.m.	at Air Force	Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO	ATTSNRM	L 30–34	26,679
October 21	3:00 p.m.	Utah State	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV	ATTSNRM	L 28–52	18,157
October 28	7:00 p.m.	at Fresno State	Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA	ATTSNRM	W 26–16	27,922
November 4	3:00 p.m.	Hawaii	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV (Island Showdown)	Stadium/SPEC HI	W 31–23	16,278
November 10	7:30 p.m.	BYU*	Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV	ESPN2	L 21–31	19,811
November 17	6:30 p.m.	at New Mexico	Dreamstyle Stadium Albuquerque, NM	ESPN2	W 38–35	14,744
November 25	12:00 p.m.	at Nevada	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV (Battle for the Fremont Cannon / Governor's Series)	ATTSNRM	L 16–23	17,359
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

Schedule Source: 2017 UNLV Rebels Football Schedule

Game summaries

Howard

Howard at UNLV

1 2 3 4 Total • Bison 7 14 7 15 43 Rebels 6 13 14 7 40 Date: September 2, 2017 Location: Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV Game start: 6:06 p.m. PDT Elapsed time: 3 hours and 29 minutes Game attendance: 15,667 Game weather: Temperature: 108 °F (42 °C) • Weather: Clear and Hot • Wind: 5 MPH ESE Referee: Vidal Jones TV announcers (Stadium): Tony Cordasco and Joe Arrigo

See also: 2017 Howard Bison football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

UNLV's season-opening loss to Howard represented the largest upset in college football history in terms of point spread. Howard was a 45 point underdog to UNLV, and pulled the upset on the back of quarterback Caylin Newton, brother of NFL quarterback Cam Newton, who had 330 total offensive yards in the game.

at Idaho

UNLV at Idaho

1 2 3 4 Total • Rebels 7 3 24 10 44 Vandals 0 3 7 6 16 Date: September 9, 2017 Location: Kibbie Dome Moscow, ID Game start: 5:05 p.m. MDT Elapsed time: 3 hours and 6 minutes Game attendance: 10,156 Game weather: Temperature: 70 °F (21 °C) • Weather: Played Indoors • Wind: None Referee: Jason Autrey TV announcers (ESPN3): Peter Young and Darius Walker

See also: 2017 Idaho Vandals football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–4	2016	ID, 33–30 OT

at Ohio State

UNLV at Ohio State

1 2 3 4 Total Rebels 0 7 7 7 21 • No. 10 Buckeyes 16 28 10 0 54 Date: September 23, 2017 Location: Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH Game start: 12:01 p.m. EDT Elapsed time: 3 hours and 17 minutes Game attendance: 106,187 Game weather: Temperature: 93 °F (34 °C) • Weather: Clear Skies • Wind: ENE 8 MPH Referee: Ron Snodgrass TV announcers (BTN): Kevin Kugler, Matt Millen and Lisa Byington (sideline)

See also: 2017 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

San Jose State

San Jose State at UNLV

1 2 3 4 Total Spartans 3 10 0 0 13 • Rebels 14 21 6 0 41 Date: September 30, 2017 Location: Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV Game start: 7:30 p.m. PDT Elapsed time: 3 hours and 18 minutes Game attendance: 15,009 Game weather: Temperature: 86 °F (30 °C) • Weather: Clear • Wind: 9 MPH SW Referee: Kevin Hassell TV announcers (ESPNU): Roy Philpott and Tom Ramsey

See also: 2017 San Jose State Spartans football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–15–1	2016	SJSU, 30–24

San Diego State

San Diego State at UNLV

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 19 Aztecs 3 17 7 14 41 Rebels 3 7 0 0 10 Date: October 7, 2017 Location: Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV Game start: 7:50 p.m. PDT Elapsed time: 3 hours and 10 minutes Game attendance: 19,770 Game weather: Temperature: 79 °F (26 °C) • Weather: Calm and Clear Skies • Wind: 2 MPH E Referee: Kevin Boitmann TV announcers (ESPN2): Clay Matvick and Kirk Morrison

See also: 2017 San Diego State Aztecs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–17	2016	SDSU, 26–7

at Air Force

UNLV at Air Force

1 2 3 4 Total Rebels 17 10 3 0 30 • Falcons 0 7 13 14 34 Date: October 14, 2017 Location: Falcon Stadium Colorado Springs, CO Game start: 12:08 p.m. MDT Elapsed time: 3 hours and 7 minutes Game attendance: 26,679 Game weather: Temperature: N/A • Weather: N/A • Wind: N/A Referee: David Alvarez TV announcers (ATTSNRM/Stadium): Brad Thompson, Sherdrick Bonner and J. J. Raterink (sideline)

See also: 2017 Air Force Falcons football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–14	2016	AF, 48–21

Utah State

Utah State at UNLV

1 2 3 4 Total • Aggies 7 21 7 17 52 Rebels 14 14 0 0 28 Date: October 21, 2017 Location: Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV Game start: 3:08 p.m. PDT Elapsed time: 3 hours and 10 minutes Game attendance: 18,157 Game weather: Temperature: 75 °F (24 °C) • Weather: Breezy and Clear Skies • Wind: 6 MPH N Referee: Michael VanderVelde TV announcers (ATTSNRM/Stadium): Drew Goodman, Sherdrick Bonner and Caleb Herring (sideline)

See also: 2017 Utah State Aggies football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–15	2014	USU, 34–20

at Fresno State

UNLV at Fresno State

1 2 3 4 Total • Rebels 3 6 7 10 26 Bulldogs 9 0 7 0 16 Date: October 28, 2017 Location: Bulldog Stadium Fresno, CA Game start: 7:08 p.m. PDT Elapsed time: 2 hours and 50 minutes Game attendance: 27,922 Game weather: Temperature: 77 °F (25 °C) • Weather: Clear and Crisp • Wind: 2 MPH Referee: Daniel Romeo TV announcers (ATTSNRM/Stadium): Drew Goodman, Sherdrick Bonner and Brad Thompson (sideline)

See also: 2017 Fresno State Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–13	2016	UNLV, 45–20

Hawaii

Hawaii at UNLV
(Island Showdown)

1 2 3 4 Total Rainbow Warriors 0 6 7 10 23 • Rebels 7 0 21 3 31 Date: November 4, 2017 Location: Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV Game start: 3:00 p.m. PDT Elapsed time: 3 hours and 35 minutes Game attendance: 16,278 Game weather: Temperature: 75 °F (24 °C) • Weather: Beautiful and Clear • Wind: 16 MPH S Referee: Kevin Hassell TV announcers (Stadium/SPEC HI): Robert Kekaula and Rich Miano

See also: 2017 Hawaii Rainbow Warriors football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–15	2016	UNLV, 41–38

BYU

BYU at UNLV

1 2 3 4 Total • Cougars 0 14 14 3 31 Rebels 0 7 7 7 21 Date: November 10, 2017 Location: Sam Boyd Stadium Whitney, NV Game start: 7:30 p.m. PST Elapsed time: 3 hours and 18 minutes Game attendance: 19,811 Game weather: Temperature: 67 °F (19 °C) • Weather: Breezy and Clear • Wind: 8 MPH SSW Referee: Scott Campbell TV announcers (ESPN2): Adam Amin, Dusty Dvoracek and Molly McGrath (sideline)

See also: 2017 BYU Cougars football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–16	2014	BYU, 42–23

at New Mexico

UNLV at New Mexico

1 2 3 4 Total • Rebels 10 14 3 11 38 Lobos 0 14 7 14 35 Date: November 17, 2017 Location: Dreamstyle Stadium Albuquerque, NM Game start: 7:35 p.m. MST Elapsed time: 3 hours and 20 minutes Game attendance: 14,744 Game weather: Temperature: 58 °F (14 °C) • Weather: Mostly Cloudy • Wind: W 17 MPH Referee: Stephen Baron TV announcers (ESPN2): Adam Amin, Dusty Dvoracek and Molly McGrath (sideline)

See also: 2017 New Mexico Lobos football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
11–11	2014	UNM, 31–28

at Nevada

UNLV at Nevada
(Battle for the Fremont Cannon / Governor's Series)

1 2 3 4 Total Rebels 0 13 3 0 16 • Wolf Pack 6 3 7 7 23 Date: November 25, 2017 Location: Mackay Stadium Reno, NV Game start: 12:08 p.m. PST Elapsed time: 2 hours and 56 minutes Game attendance: 17,359 Game weather: Temperature: 62 °F (17 °C) • Weather: Partly Cloudy • Wind: SE 4 MPH Referee: Michael VanderVelde TV announcers (ATTSNRM/Stadium): Drew Goodman, Sherdrick Bonner and Brad Thompson (sideline)

See also: 2017 Nevada Wolf Pack football team and Fremont Cannon

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
16–26	2016	NEV, 45–10