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LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – No. RV/RV UNLV (7-2/3-1) returns home for the first time in three weeks to host San Diego State.
The Rebels are attempting to start 8-2 overall for the second consecutive season under head coach Barry Odom after winning their school-record seventh consecutive road game last Saturday, 29-27, at Hawai’i.
UNLV has won its first five road games in a season for the first time ever.
The Rebs only won as many as five road games in a season just one time previously as the 1984 squad went 5-1 away from Las Vegas. UNLV, which made its first-ever appearance in the Coaches Poll on Sept. 15 (reaching as high as No. 23) and then joined the AP version for the first time two weeks later, is again receiving votes in both polls this week.
UNLV won its first four games this fall for the first time since 1984 when Randall Cunningham was playing QB. The 16 wins in 23 games under Odom represent the most victories over any two-season span since the Rebels went a combined 16-7-1 in 1984 and ‘85.
The Rebels are 9-2 in true road games under Odom after only winning eight total road games in the previous six seasons (8-25). All-American WR Ricky White III leads the nation with his school-record four blocked punts this season, which is more than any other FBS TEAM in 2024.
UNLV is tied for third in the nation in turnover margin at plus-12 as the Rebel defense has forced at least one turnover in 21 of 23 games under DC Michael Scherer.
The Rebels, who have not committed more than one turnover in any game this fall, have scored an eye-popping 74 total points off TOs while allowing just 14 such points from opponents.
Caden Chittenden, who leads the nation with 2.22 field goals PG, needs just two more to tie the league’s freshman single-season record of 22 set by redshirt frosh Matt Araiza of San Diego State in 2019.
REBELS vs. AZTECS NOTES…
UNLV has played SDSU more than any other original MW team (32 times) and the Aztecs lead the series 22-10.
The programs, however, did not meet last season after facing off during the previous 24 years. Four of the last five meetings in this series have been decided by one score as the Rebels look to defeat the Aztecs at home for the first time since 2013.
UNLV Director of Player Development & Community Engagement Hunkie Cooper, a UNLV Athletics Hall of Famer, previously spent eight seasons coaching WRs at SDSU.
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