Jayden Maiava threw a touchdown pass and ran for two touchdowns, Ricky White had eight receptions for 144 yards and UNLV never trailed in its 34-14 win over Wyoming on Friday night.
UNLV (8-2, 5-1 Mountain West Conference), which won seven games in the past three seasons combined, has its most wins since in a season the 2000 team went 8-4. The Runnin’ Rebels play at conference-leading Air Force (8-1, 5-0) on Nov. 18 before returning home to close out the regular season against San Jose State.
Maiava completed 17 of 24 passes for 234 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown to Kaleo Ballungay, and scored on runs of 10 and 1 yard to give a 14-0 lead with 8:49 left in the first quarter. After the Cowboys went three-and-out for its third consecutive drive to open the game, Jai’Den Thomas capped a seven-play, 67-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run that made it 21-0 about 4 minutes later.
Andrew Peasley scored on a 32-yard scramble to get Wyoming (6-4, 3-3) on the board early in the second quarter and Wyatt Wieland scored on a short jet sweep with 2:58 left in the first half to make it a one-score game.
The teams traded punts to open the second half before Maiava led a 13-play, 70-yard drive that culminated with Ballungay’s TD reception. Maiava hit Jacob De Jesus for and 18-yard gain on thrid-and-3, found White for and 11-yard gain on third-and-9, and ran for 9 yards on third-and-5 to keep the drive alive.
Peasley was 11-of-22 passing for 144 yards with an interceptions and added 69 yards rushing on 14 carries for Wyoming. Wieland had five receptions for 72 yards.
