UNLV vs Northern Illinois: NCAA Football - Week 9 - 2026 | Rebels Survive Winless Huskies on Halloween

Game Summary: UNLV Rebels vs Northern Illinois Huskies

First Quarter

It took one snap for UNLV to get on the board. Arnold rolled to his right on the first play from scrimmage and found Kayden McGee around the 30, and McGee ran the rest of the way for a 75-yard touchdown 11 seconds into the game.

Northern Illinois answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that Telly Johnson Jr. finished with a 20-yard touchdown run to tie it 7-7. UNLV went 73 yards on 12 plays before stalling, and Ramon Villela kicked a 20-yard field goal for a 10-7 lead with 4:34 left in the quarter. The Huskies went right back down the field, and Dickens hit DeAree Rogers from 12 yards out with 53 seconds left to make it 14-10 Northern Illinois.

Second Quarter

The first play of the second quarter went the wrong way for the Rebels when Brady Kerperin intercepted Arnold and returned it 21 yards to the UNLV 41. Northern Illinois turned the short field into a 27-yard field goal from JJ Schlenhardt and a 17-10 lead with 10:15 left in the half.

UNLV needed seven plays to answer, going 75 yards and finishing the drive with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Jackson Arnold to Keyan Burnett that tied it 17-17. The Huskies got to the UNLV 30 on their next possession before Elias Rudolph sacked Dickens for an 8-yard loss, and Schlenhardt missed a 47-yard try with 2:51 to go.

The Rebels used almost all of that time. They went 71 yards on 11 plays, and Arnold hit Taeshaun Lyons for a 2-yard touchdown with 20 seconds left to send UNLV into the locker room up 24-17. Arnold was 12 of 16 for 223 yards and three touchdowns at the half, and he added 68 rushing yards on 11 carries while Thomas was held to 9 yards on six carries.

Third Quarter

The UNLV defense forced a punt on the first possession of the second half when Dickens threw three straight incompletions near midfield, and the offense needed just 80 seconds to cash it in. Thomas took his first carry of the half up the middle and went 60 yards untouched for a touchdown, finishing a four-play, 89-yard drive and putting the Rebels up 31-17 with 11:18 left in the quarter.

That lead lasted less than two minutes. Taron Dickens hit George Dimopoulos on a short pass over the middle, and Dimopoulos outran everybody for a 61-yard touchdown that made it 31-24 with 9:31 left in the third. Neither team scored again.

UNLV had a chance to stretch it back out late in the quarter. A pass interference call moved the Rebels to the Northern Illinois 46, but on the next snap Champ Smith III picked off Arnold at the Huskies’ 1-yard line with 2:59 left.

Fourth Quarter

Northern Illinois took that turnover and drove 86 yards over 11 plays, reaching the UNLV 13 early in the fourth. Bin-Wahad stepped in front of a Dickens pass at the 10 and returned it 53 yards to the Northern Illinois 37 with 12:52 left.

The offense couldn’t do anything with the short field. A holding penalty wiped out a 23-yard Jackson Arnold run and UNLV punted, but Matt Choules dropped it at the Huskies’ 1-yard line. After a Northern Illinois punt and another Rebels three-and-out, Choules boomed a 60-yard punt to keep Northern Illinois backed up.

The Huskies got one more real chance, driving from their own 31 to the UNLV 26. A holding call took away a 9-yard Dickens run and pushed them back to the 36, and Schlenhardt missed from 54 yards with 2:06 left. Arnold ran for 27 yards on the next possession, Thomas picked up a first down with back-to-back runs, and UNLV knelt it out at the Northern Illinois 14.

Bottom Line

This one was a lot closer than the line said it would be. Northern Illinois outgained UNLV 493-473, ran for 240 yards and held the ball for 35:09, and the Rebels turned it over twice to the Huskies’ once. Dan Mullen‘s team got enough big plays to survive it anyway.

Arnold finished 20 of 30 for 269 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions, and he ran 13 times for 86 yards. Jai’Den Thomas carried 16 times for 114 yards, and his 60-yard score was the 35th rushing touchdown of his career, third most in program history. McGee caught five passes for 112 yards. Tony-Louis Nkuba led the defense with nine tackles, Bin-Wahad had eight tackles to go with the interception, and Choules averaged 51.7 yards on three punts.

UNLV can lock up a spot in the Mountain West championship game by winning out, and that run starts at home. The Rebels host Wyoming on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 p.m. PT at Allegiant Stadium on CBS Sports Network.

Post-Game

Mullen liked the big plays and not much else. “We made a lot of big plays that we needed to to win the game. We also made a lot of critical errors,” Mullen said. He was just as blunt about a run defense that gave up 240 yards: “We got to play better. We got to be better up front defensively.”

Thomas gave the credit for his 60-yard run to the guys up front. “It’s a testament to my O-line,” Thomas said. “…when I see the hole, just hit it.” (Quotes via The Sporting Tribune.)

Catch up on every game in our UNLV Rebels football hub, relive the loss at Air Force that snapped UNLV’s three-game win streak, and revisit the night the Rebels defense handed North Dakota State its first loss.

TOP PERFORMERS

TEAM STATS

Attendance: 22,382 at Allegiant Stadium

Next up: The Rebels host the Wyoming Cowboys on Saturday, Nov. 7, at Allegiant Stadium. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. PT on CBSSN.

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Photography by Tanesha Towns (@taneshatownsphotography) for Franchise Sports Media

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