LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) -UNLV Rebels set for Mountain West 9th Island showdown against Hawai’i.
SATURDAY’S PREVIEW…
Following its second bye week of the fall, No. RV/RV UNLV (6-2/2-1) heads to face Hawai’i (4-5/2-2) in the annual Ninth Island Showdown sponsored by The California Hotel.
The rare afternoon start on the islands (4 pm HT) for the Rebels will mark the first time a UNLV game at UH will be televised nationally (CBS Sports Network).
The Rebels have won their first four road games in a season for the first time ever and set a school record on Oct. 19 with their sixth-straight away victory at Oregon State.
UNLV has only won as many as five road games in a season just one time as the 1984 Rebels 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, which has started 6-2 for the second straight season, won its first four games this fall for the first time since 1984 when Randall Cunningham was playing QB.
The 15 wins in 22 games under head coach Barry 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 8-2 in true road games under head coach Odom after only winning five total road games in the previous five seasons (5-22).
All-American WR Ricky White III leads the nation with his school-record three blocked kicks this season (all punts).
UNLV is tied for fourth in the nation in turnover margin at plus-11 as the Rebel defense has forced at least one turnover in 20 of 22 games under DC Michael Scherer.
The Rebels have scored an eye-popping 74 total points off turnovers while allowing just 14 such points from opponents.
REBELS vs. RAINBOW WARRIORS NOTES…
Hawai’i leads the overall series 19-14 but the Rebels have won 11 of the last 20 meetings, including last year’s meeting in Las Vegas, 44-20.
Amazingly, the home team has won this matchup in 13 of the last 15 years with only the UNLV 2016 win in Honolulu and the UH 2019 win in Las Vegas bucking the trend.
Six of the last 11 games have been decided by one score.
Among FBS teams, only UNR is as old a Rebel rival as Hawai’i. Both schools first played UNLV in 1969, the second year of the Rebel program.
UNLV has four players who graduated from Aloha State high schools: QB Cameron Friel (Kailua HS), LB Blesyng Alualu-Tuiolemotu (Campbell HS) and DBs Rashod Tanner (Moanalua HS) and Kela Moore (Ewa Beach HS).
UH head coach Timmy Chang faced UNLV twice as a record-setting QB for the Warriors, throwing for a combined 716 yards but losing both times to the Rebels (2000 and 2003).
UNLV DL coach Ricky Logo was an assistant coaching the same position at UH from 2018-19.
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