No. 24 UNLV overcomes slow start to lead San Jose State

Jai’Den Thomas rushed for 135 yards and a touchdown to lead No. 24 UNLV over host San Jose State 27-16 in a rainy game Friday night.

UNLV’s Haj-Malik Williams completed 11 of his 20 passes, throwing for 131 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Ricky White III led the Rebels (9-2, 5-1 Mountain West) with seven receptions for 98 yards, while Kaleo Ballangay’s lone catch went for a 5-yard touchdown.

Thomas rushed for a 25-yard touchdown with 1:44 left in the third quarter, giving UNLV a 20-16 lead and putting the visitors on their feet for good. Kaylin James added the insurance with a 7-yard run with 8:29 left in the game.

San Jose State (6-5, 3-4) took a 16-10 lead at halftime after the Rebels collapsed in the first two quarters. The Spartans scored all of their points in the second quarter, with 10 of them coming directly from UNLV’s misfortunes.

A poor read by Williams led to an interception, with Isaiah Revis returning the ball 33 yards to give San Jose State a 7-3 lead with 13:26 remaining in the second quarter. Shortly after, the Rebels gave up their only touchdown of the game, a 33-yard completion from Walker Eget to Matthew Coleman that made the score 14-10.

Things continued to snowball for the rebels. On UNLV’s next possession, long snapper Ben Leask sent the ball over punter Marshall Nichols’ head and out of the end zone for a safety, sending San Jose State into the locker room at halftime with a six-point lead.

As bad as UNLV played in the second quarter, San Jose State was just as bad or worse the rest of the game. Caden Chittenden made it big for UNLV in the second half, kicking a Mountain West freshman-record 53-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 16-13.

The boosts San Jose State received on defense and special teams weren’t enough to complement the offense. Eget completed just 4 of 22 passes for 81 yards, a significant improvement from the previous two weeks, when he threw for 395 yards against Oregon State and 446 yards against Boise State. Eget had one pass and no interceptions on Friday.

San Jose State wide receiver Nick Nash was held to 9 yards on one catch. Nash entered the game as the national leader in receptions (95) and receiving yards per game (128.2).

UNLV outscored San Jose State 338-112 in net length and 207-31 on the ground.