Colorado State builds huge lead, cruises to 42-23 win at UNLV

Randall Cunningham was at the UNLV game on Saturday, and Rebels could’ve used him. At 53 years old. Seriously, he could have helped. At least in the first half.

On the day the legendary UNLV quarterback was honored for his upcoming induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, the Rebels (3-5, 2-2) were easily handled by visiting Colorado State (4-4, 2-2) in a game that was over by halftime.

The Rams racked up 298 yards of first half offense and took advantage of a pair of UNLV turnovers to build a 35-0 lead at the break. The Rebels mustered just 72 yards of total offense in the first half, and quarterback Dalton Sneed was dreadful. The freshman completed just one pass before halftime, matching his interception total.

UNLV showed some life in the second half. The Rebels rattled off 17 unanswered points punctuated by a David Green 2 yard run to close the gap to 35-17 with over 12 minutes remaining. An unsuccessful onside kick attempt followed, and Rams quarterback Nick Stevens needed just one play to find receiver Michael Gallup from 35 yards out to push the CSU lead back to 42-17.

Stevens was remarkably efficient all afternoon, completing 21 of his 28 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns. Gallup led all receivers on Saturday catching 7 of those passes totaling 91 yards.

Sneed once again impressed on the ground, but never got anything going through the air. His 109 yards rushing was good for the game high, but he completed just 7 of his 23 passes for 185 yards. Devonte Boyd caught three balls and led the Rebels with 62 receiving yards.

UNLV continues Mountain West Conference play next week when they travel to San Jose State for a 7:30 pm PT kick. Colorado State has next week off before hosting Fresno State on November 5th.