AKRON, Ohio – Jake Pope said earlier this week UNLV’s football team needed to win Saturday to get the bad taste of losing out of its collective mouths.
Mission accomplished.
The Rebels came into InfoCision Stadium and dominated Akron 38-10.
Pope, UNLV’s senior safety, also said it wasn’t about just getting to 2-2 on the season and putting behind the 44-6 loss to North Texas in the team’s previous game. It was about making a statement and beating the Zips handily. And the Rebels did.
Jackson Arnold completed 17 of 29 for 290 yards and three scores for the Rebels while star running back Jai’Den “Jet” Thomas scored three times. He rushed 15 times for 113 yards and caught three passes for 54 more.
The Rebels (2-2) held a 14-10 halftime lead via two scoring passes from Arnold to Thomas. The first came from 40 yards and the second from 2 yards out.
Akron won the opening toss and actually chose to receive. Maybe it knew something. The Zips, thanks to penalties for roughing the passer and a face mask by UNLV, marched 75 yards in eight plays over 3:02 to take an early 7-0 lead.
Thomas would score his third touchdown of the game on a 16-yard run to cap off a five-yard drive that saw UNLV go 75 yards to open the second half.
The lead grew to 31-10 when Arnold found Taz Reddicks from 59 yards out. Reddicks caught four passes for 116 yards.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.
