Following the 2025 season, Jai’Den Thomas could person transferred to a caller programme aft posting a career-high 12-touchdown season. Instead, the “Jet” chose to play his elder twelvemonth wherever helium began: arsenic a Rebel.
As UNLV collected its first triumph of the 2026 season implicit the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors connected Saturday nighttime successful Honolulu, Thomas played a cardinal relation successful pushing the Rebels implicit the decorativeness enactment successful their Mountain West opener.
The elder moving backmost rushed for 143 yards connected 20 attempts, including a 50-yard touchdown that sealed the crippled precocious successful the 4th quarter.
Thomas’ touchdown accounted for the lone points the UNLV discourtesy scored successful the 2nd half, erstwhile the Rebels had 5 possessions and held the shot for conscionable implicit 2 minutes successful the 3rd quarter.
It marked the 10th clip successful Thomas’ vocation that helium has rushed for much than 100 yards successful a crippled and the archetypal clip since Dan Mullen took implicit arsenic UNLV’s manager that helium has recorded astatine slightest 20 rushing attempts.
His erstwhile precocious since the opening of the 2025 play was 16 carries against Wyoming past October.
Most of Thomas’ harm came successful the 2nd half. The erstwhile first-team All-Mountain West honoree rushed for 44 yards connected 10 attempts successful the opening 30 minutes earlier exploding for 99 yards connected the crushed successful the 2nd half, averaging astir 10 yards per carry.
Mullen credited Thomas for continuing to tally hard passim the crippled earlier yet breaking the play that enactment the Rebels successful presumption to unafraid the victory.
“In the end, helium pounded away, he’s your feline offensively,” Mullen said connected the postgame vigor amusement connected ESPN Las Vegas. “You know, he’s gonna tally hard. He’s yet gonna interruption one, which helium did astatine the end.”
While Thomas provided the precocious spark, backmost Jackson Arnold besides made an interaction with his legs arsenic the Rebels leaned connected their rushing onslaught passim the game, totaling 248 yards.
UNLV struggled successful the passing attack, with Arnold completing 8 of 18 attempts, but the Auburn transportation finished with 89 yards connected the crushed and 2 rushing touchdowns. Both scores came successful the archetypal fractional and helped UNLV physique an aboriginal pb it ne'er relinquished.
Mullen praised Arnold for his physicality.
“Jackson Arnold ran pugnacious tonight, carnal guy,” Mullen said. “That is simply a tough, carnal and gutsy triumph by the team.”
The moving crippled arsenic a full was helped by an violative enactment that had plentifulness of questions entering the “Ninth Island Showdown” pursuing the confirmed absence of starting halfway Austin Boyd.
The Rebels allowed 1 sack crossed 61 full plays, an betterment from the six sacks the violative beforehand allowed successful UNLV’s season-opening nonaccomplishment to the Memphis Tigers.
Despite the accumulation connected the ground, Mullen knows the Rebels inactive person enactment to bash offensively arsenic they hole to look the North Texas Mean Green adjacent Saturday.
“We’ve got to play better. We’ve got to beryllium amended particularly offensively each crossed the board,” Mullen said. “We gotta manager the guys better.
“I’m disappointed a small spot much offensively with the coaching, which a batch of that is connected maine … but it is large to triumph the pineapple, it is large to bring it location for us.”
UNLV has present won 4 consecutive “Ninth Island Showdowns” and 2 consecutive games successful Honolulu, portion avoiding an 0-2 commencement to the season.
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