UNLV outlasts Cal in an LA Bowl that sees both offenses struggle

19.12.2024 08:59

DailyNews.com

UNLV wide receiver Jacob De Jesus flips after running for a touchdown during the first half of the LA Bowl against Cal on Wednesday night at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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INGLEWOOD — In an era of college football when transfer portal movement completely overshadows bowl season, UNLV was an unexpected outlier. Despite the departures of head coach Barry Odom and offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, just four players had entered the portal prior to Wednesday night’s LA Bowl.

Credit Jackson Woodard for the collective loyalty. Soon after learning of Odom’s move to fill the head coaching vacancy at Purdue, the Rebels’ senior linebacker and team captain spent hours on the phone with additional team leaders, convincing them to finish what they had started.

“I just made a lot of phone calls, and said, ‘We’re gonna go do this,’” Woodard said. “We obviously lost in the Mountain West (Conference) championship (game), which was gut-wrenching. But it’s hard to describe what this team went through in the last week and a half to come out and stay together.”

Coincidentally, Cal was also in the minority, with just six players in the portal. There wasn’t as strong an alignment on the Golden Bears’ side, however, as some veterans, according to head coach Justin Wilcox, had decided to play a limited number of reps.

Those differing approaches proved crucial as the UNLV stalwarts who started the game stuck it out for all four quarters, while the Golden Bears were decimated by in-game business decisions. Cal (6-7) did not score a point in the second half as 24th-ranked UNLV (11-3) turned a one-point halftime advantage into a 24-13 win. It marked the Rebels’ first bowl game victory since 2000, the victory bringing them to 11 wins for the first time in 40 years and the first time ever as an FBS program.

“Not many people can say they won 11 games in a season,” said Woodard, who was named the Defensive Player of the Game. “This is exactly how we wanted to finish it.”

One Cal player who didn’t exit the game on his own accord was quarterback CJ Harris. With Golden Bears starter Fernando Mendoza in the portal and second-stringer Chandler Rogers questionable, fifth-year sophomore Harris stepped right in, keeping the team afloat through 2½ quarters.

Then, on Cal’s third drive of the second half, freshman EJ Caminong took Harris’ place. Harris was seen walking to the locker room with a towel draped over his head and Wilcox said after the game that he sustained an injury. Harris had completed 13 of 20 passes for 109 yards before his departure. Caminong was unable to build on his performance. He completed just 6 of 19 attempts and committed a turnover on his second drive when he threw a risky backward pass that UNLV cornerback Jett Elad scooped up, and with it, grabbed the momentum of the game.

On the following play, Kylin James ran for a 23-yard score, the only touchdown of the second half.

Apart from that play, UNLV’s second-half offense looked just as lifeless as Cal’s did. Quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams threw two touchdowns in the first half, but he completed just one pass in the second half, finishing 5 of 18 for 96 yards.

The Rebels’ offensive struggles were masked by a defense that pitched a second-half shutout and a special teams unit that came through with a trick punt and returns that set up multiple scoring situations.

Early in the second quarter, the Rebels lined up to punt on fourth-and-7 from their 39-yard line. Instead, punter Marshall Nichols used both hands to push a pass to Cameron Oliver for a 52-yard gain to the Cal 9. They capped that drive with senior Jacob De Jesus taking a shovel pass 9 yards for a touchdown that he celebrated with a backflip in the end zone.

In addition to 38 receiving yards and that touchdown, De Jesus accounted for 123 return yards and was named the Offensive Player of the Game. His 38-yard punt return set the Rebels up for a 48-yard Caden Chittenden field goal that put the game on ice with 6:01 left.

“Jacob was special back there,” interim head coach Del Alexander said. “He’s one of the best punt returners that I’ve seen and coached.”

De Jesus’ impact on special teams provided a much-needed spark for an offense that couldn’t string together drives in Marion’s absence. The Rebels patched together play-calling through a collaborative approach with the coaching staff meeting before each series and funneling decisions through offensive analyst Kenneth Merchant.

“It was just a matter of everybody being on the same page,” Alexander said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”

It didn’t help that the Rebels’ leading receiver, Ricky White III, who was expected to play, didn’t suit up.

With White in street clothes on the sideline, underclassmen stepped up, such as Kayden McGee, who hauled in a 49-yard touchdown pass on a post route for the game’s opening touchdown.

Following the game, both Woodard and De Jesus expressed an understanding toward White’s last-minute opt-out. Wednesday, however, wasn’t about whether that decision was justified or not. It was a rightful conclusion to a season for a team whose bones have remained intact despite so many off-field obstacles popping up (UNLV’s original starting QB, Matthew Sluka, left the program three games into the season because of an NIL dispute).

“We fought through so much adversity and just went through so many things,” De Jesus said. “We wanted to go out with the win and end the season off, you know, the way we should, because this season has been a great season.”

NOTES

UNLV running back Jai’Den Thomas had 18 carries for 72 yards. … Cal’s Jayden Ott rushed for 84 yards on 11 carries. … Dan Mullen, who will take over UNLV’s program next season after being hired last Thursday, was in attendance. … Cal hasn’t had a winning season since 2019.

Sights and Sounds of the 2024 LA Bowl: UNLV beats Cal

UNLV outlasts Cal in an LA Bowl that sees both offenses struggle

NOTES

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