Rebels Storm To Victory In Odom's UNLV Debut - University of Nevada Las Vegas Athletics (2024)

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – With a Southern Nevada late-summer monsoon raging outside, the UNLV (1-0/0-0) football team was inside Allegiant Stadium Saturday afternoon storming to a 44-14 season-opening victory over Bryant University (0-1/0-0) in the first-ever meeting between the programs.

New UNLV head coach Barry Odom won his debut in what was the biggest margin-of-victory in a first game by a Rebel head coach since Ron Meyer won his initial game in town by 32 points over what is now known as Arkansas State (38-6) in 1973.

The Scarlet & Gray delighted an announced crowd of 20,347 by scoring on the very first play from scrimmage with a 69-yard rushing touchdown by Pitt transfer Vincent Davis Jr. UNLV would head into halftime leading 24-0 after an 18-yard score from Jai'Den Thomas (the first of two on the day for the true freshman), a 48-yard field goal (the first of a trio of three-pointers by Missouri State transfer Jose Pizano) and a 19-yard scramble to the end zone by quarterback Doug Brumfield as time expired in the second quarter.

The hosts also put up a second 17-point quarter after halftime, highlighted by a short rushing score by William & Mary transfer Donavyn Lester that immediately followed a 96-yard kickoff return by JC transfer receiver Jacob De Jesus that was part of a spectacular overall performance by the Rebs' special teams.

The Bulldogs, who traveled all the way from Smithfield, Rhode Island, finally found the end zone with two short rushing TDs in the second half.

Arkansas transfer linebackerJackson Woodard led all tacklers while JC DB addition Thomas Anderson added eight takedowns to go with an interception and another pass breakup.

REBEL OF THE GAME:
De Jesus' return was the fourth-longest in school history and the longest ever by a Rebel on a play that did not result in a touchdown. He finished just two yards short of posting the program's first kickoff return for a touchdown since Deante Purvis wetn 98 yards vs. Colorado State on Oct. 29, 2011. De Jesus also led the team with 50 receiving yards on four catches to finish with 208 all-purpose yards in his FBS debut.

STAT OF THE GAME:
UNLV piled up five rushing touchdowns, which tied for the eighth-most in school history. The five TDs came from four different rushers.

QUOTABLE:
"A lot of work by a lot of people went into today's opportunity for our student-athletes. To represent our team means a lot to me for us to be able to get to 1-0 today. I wanted it so bad for this group of players just to get started on the right foot. We have a long way to go, we understand that. We can play a lot cleaner in all three phases, but we are thrilled to be 1-0 and I look forward to getting back to work. Now it is a sprint to see how good we can get between week one and week two. I'm thankful for the fans that were here today. We can build this and we will build this into an elite program and an elite college football team in the city of Las Vegas and I'm honored to have the chance to do that."
-UNLV Head Coach Barry Odom

REBEL NOTES:
-Odom was the first UNLV football head coach to win his first game with the program since College Football Hall of Famer John Robinson downed North Texas in 1999
-Odom, who spent four years as head coach of Missouri, improved to 3-2 in season lid-lifters
-UNLV has now won six of its last nine games played at Allegiant Stadium
-Bryant was the first UNLV opponent ever from the Big South Conference
-The Bulldogs were only the second team from New England to play UNLV in football and the first in Las Vegas (Delaware downed UNLV in Louisiana as part of the NCAA D-II playoffs in 1974)
-UNLV improved to 10-4 vs. FCS opponents since the start of the Mountain West in 1999
-New Rebel RB Davis finished with a team-leading 79 yards rushing on just three carries
-De Jesus finished with a 63.3-yard average on three kickoff returns
-Brumfield's scoring run was the 10th of his Rebel career
-Redshirt freshman QB Jayden Maiava, who graduated from Liberty High School in Henderson, made his collegiate debut and completed four-of-six pass attempts for 40 yards and netted 13 rush yards on two carries
-While the Rebel QBs only completed 15 total passes – they were made by nine different receivers
-Adin Hill a goaltender from the Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights was on hand to help with the pregame coin toss
-Connor Fields, a UNLV graduate and former Olympic Gold Medalist in BMX, was honored as today's Alumnus of the Game

NEXT FOR THE REBELS:
UNLV heads out on the road for the first time with a second-ever trip to face the University of Michigan on Saturday starting at 12:30 pm PT. The game will be televised by CBS.