Setting up our attack run on the Death Star:
We’re through the first third of our Syracuse Orange football opponent preview series. With the stage properly set for four Dome games, finished against FCS offering Holy Cross, SU now enters the “prove-it” portion of the campaign. This next opponent is the first of three road games in a row and five out of the next six away from their fans.
Kicking off the second Hunt for Orange October is a team that showed tons of upside in what ended up as the most-successful season in program history:
UNLV Rebels
School: The University of Nevada – Las Vegas
Nickname: Rebels
Mascot: None – Hey Reb! retired in 2021
#BRAND Slogans: #UNLVFB, #BEaREBEL
Alternate #BRAND Slogan Suggestions: #LandSharkFootball, #CosmoCowboys or “The Vanguard of Vegas Sports”
Recommended Blog: Mountain West Connection
Conference: Mountain West
History vs. Syracuse: There’s a first time for everything, right? If it wasn’t for some late schedule adjustments, the Rebels and Orange would have remained winless against each another. That will change for one of them in the programs’ first ever meeting this fall.
Coach: Barry Odom, second season. Odom has spent the bulk of his coaching career with Missouri – after lettering all four years there as a linebacker, he came back to his alma mater and joined their staff in 2003. Odom worked his way up the defensive hierarchy, and after a brief departure for Memphis, he returned a second time to be their defensive coordinator. After just one year in that position, he was promoted to head coach in 2016. The Tigers played .500 ball over four seasons, causing him to depart for Arkansas to coach their safeties. UNLV hired him prior to the 2023 campaign.
2023 Record: 9-5 (6-2)
Recapping Last Season:
The Rebels started off red-hot, winning six of their first seven games. The only blemish was at the eventual National Champions in Ann Arbor – aside from that, there was no stopping the UNLV offense, who scored 40+ points in five of those six wins. Fresno State came out on-top in a one score game before Las Vegas won the next three, leaving just the season finale. This is where the Rebs’ greater aspirations fell apart. San Jose State held on for a Week 13 win, then Boise State demolished them 44-20 in the Mountain West Championship. The Guaranteed Rate Bowl was more of the same: a defensive dissection at the hands of Kansas to close out what, all things considered, is still a very promising campaign.
The offense put up over 1,500 more total yards than it did in 2022 – a huge indication that Brennan Marion’s “GoGo” system had most opponents befuddled. Freshman Jayden Maiava stepped up when starter Doug Brumfield was injured in Week 3, and the Vegas native never looked back, throwing for 3,085 yards and a 17/10 TD/INT ratio. Nearly half of those yards went to junior Ricky White, who finished his breakout season with 88 catches and 1,483 receiving yards (3rd-most in Division 1). The backfield had three quality backs splitting touches, with senior Vincent Davis Jr. handling the most work and Jai’Den Thomas and Donavyn Lester both seeing action in short yardage and goal-to-go situations. The O-Line deserves a MAJOR shoutout too – Maiava was sacked just 11 times, or an average of once per game, despite not being a super mobile QB. Overall, the group was just outside the Top-20 nationally in total offensive production.
Despite being a defensive-minded coach, Odom has a lot more work to do with that side of the ball. Sure, LB Jackson Woodard coming out of nowhere to have 116 tackles (22nd nationally) is a huge plus, but when the Rebs allow over 400 yards per game, even their offense can barely keep up. The Raiders may have Max Crosby, but their roommates were sorely lacking in the pass-rush department. What they weren’t lacking in is aggressive coverage: the starting CB pair had five picks each. That’s nothing to gloss over, but the priority on takeaways ended up hurting the unit more than it helped down the stretch against patient foes. Jose Pizano went 26/29 in his one and only year kicking for UNLV.
2024 Season Outlook:
The Rebels will travel to Houston, Kansas, and Oregon State (MW partner this season) in non-conference play while also welcoming Utah Tech and Syracuse to the Sin City. The conference schedule has home games versus Fresno State, Boise State, San Diego State, and Nevada, along with road games against Utah State, Hawai’i, and San Jose State.
Maiava is now chasing the California Lights at USC and Brumfield retired early due to medical concerns, leaving the QB spot wide open. Remember last week how I said Orange fans should remember Matthew Sluka? It’s because this is where the closest thing college football currently has to a Lamar Jackson-type ended up. With one RB returning, two transferring in, and two highly-rated freshmen joining the room, there’s potential for a lot of creative play calls. Oh, and that incredible wideout who set the program record for single season receiving yards? He’s back too. This unit is primed for another onslaught.
The defense features nine upperclassmen transfers who should create some competition, especially in the secondary. Cameron Oliver, one of the aforementioned corners, returns and is joined by former 5-star Tony Grimes, who becomes the highest-rated recruit to ever join UNLV. S Jalen Catalon, once a starter at Texas with 99 tackles and five turnovers, could make a huge impact up top if he stays healthy.
Syracuse Game Date: Friday, October 4
Location: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
Odds of Orange Victory: 60%
Very Early Outlook vs. Syracuse:
Moving the game to primetime shouldn’t have much impact on SU coming off their FCS game. Still, the Rebels have to have this circled as “upset” on their calendar. This has the makings of a shootout not seen since SU hosted NC State back in 2018 – as it should be when their opponent’s whole conference looks at Iowa and says, “let’s all be the complete opposite of that.” O.G. and White not hitting triple digit yards would be a shock.
I named the Orange slight favorites as talent-wise, they do have a few advantages, but this should come down to who makes the first big mistake with the ball. Neither offense will get in their own way much so a single errant pass or hesitation to throw it away could be disastrous. For everyone on the East Coast – get ready to sleep in on Saturday because this is one you should stay up late for.