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LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – No. 19 UNLV (10-2/6-1), which just reached double-digit wins for only the third time in program history (1974, 1984), travels to face No. 10 Boise State (11-1/7-0) in the 2024 Old Trapper Mountain West Championship Friday night on FOX.
The game will be a rematch of last year’s title tilt held in Las Vegas as head coach Barry Odom has directed his team to back-to-back championship games after the program had zero such appearances prior to his arrival.
UNLV comes in riding its second four-game win streak of the season after a 38-14 victory over in-state rival UNR in the 50th Battle for the Fremont Cannon.
After moving up two spots to a program-record No. 19 in the AP and Coaches polls on Sunday, the Rebels await Tuesday’s new listing in the CFP Committee Rankings after coming in No. 22 last week.
UNLV’s only two losses this season were by a combined eight points (including one in OT) to two currently ranked opponents (the No. 10/10 Broncos and No. 23/25 Syracuse).
The Rebels have won a school-record eight consecutive road games dating back to last season.
At 19-7, Odom is the first UNLV coach to be at least 10 games over .500 at the school since Tony Knap retired with a 47-20-1 mark in 1981.
The Rebels are 10-2 in true road games under Odom after only winning eight total road games in the previous six seasons (8-25).
UNLV is tied for fifth in the nation in turnover margin at plus-14 as the Rebel D has forced at least one turnover in 24 of 26 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 91 total points off TOs while allowing just 28 such points from opponents.
REBELS vs. BRONCOS NOTES…
This will mark the first time these teams play in Boise since 201.
BSU’s five-point win over UNLV in Las Vegas on Oct. 25 gave it a 10-3 lead in the overall series and the Rebs are looking for their first win over the Broncos since America’s Bicentennial.
The two schools played for six straight seasons in the 1970s but ended the series when UNLV, which was a football independent, moved up to D-I status in 1978.
In a unique twist, these schools share a former head coach who left each side as the all-time winningest for both programs.
Tony Knap, who died in 2011 at the age of 96, was 47-20-2 over six seasons at UNLV after leaving BSU, where he was 71-19-1 from 1968-75 (Chris Petersen passed Knap for wins in 2011).
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