Ranked Rebels ready for Friday night's showdown at SJSU

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) –

HISTORY: Friday, November 22, 2024
TO START: 19:05 PT
AREA: CEFCU Stadium (19,000/Artificial) San Jose, CA
TV: FS1 (Trent Rush and Petros Papadakis)
RADIO: ESPN 1100 AM and 100.9 FM (Matt Neverett, Caleb Herring and Steve Cofield)

FRIDAY’S Preview…
Looking to win on the road against the Spartans for the first time since 1993, No. 23 UNLV (8-2/4-1) makes its final trip of the regular season to San José State (6-4/3-). 3) Friday night on FS1.

The Rebels will play a road game as a ranked team for the first time since returning to the polls this week, including a best-ever ranking of No. 23 in the AP… UNLV appeared in the Coaches Poll for the first time on Sept. 15 and for two weeks then participated in the AP edition for the first time before the overtime loss to Syracuse.

This will be the last of a school-record five Friday games this fall.

The Rebels are trying to start the second straight season 9-2 overall under head coach Barry Odom and have won a school-record seven consecutive road games dating back to last season.

It’s the first time UNLV has won its first five road games in a season, and Friday’s win will make it the first Rebel team to go 6-0 in road games.

The only seasons UNLV went undefeated on the road were the inaugural campaign in 1968 and the 1974 NCAA D-II semifinalist season in which the Rebels played just two road games. With a 17-7 record, Odom became the first UNLV coach to hit .500 in 10 games at the school since Tony Knap retired in 1981 with a 47-20-1 mark.

The 17 wins in 24 games under Odom represent the Rebels’ most wins in two seasons since the 18-6 combined mark in 1983-84. The Rebels are 9-2 (8-25) in true road games under Odom after winning just eight road games in the previous six seasons. All-American WR Ricky White III leads the nation with four blocked punts this season; That’s more than any other FBS TEAMS in 2024.

The Rebel D has forced at least one turnover in 22 of 24 games under DC Michael Scherer, while UNLV ranks fourth in the nation in plus-13 turnover margin.

The Rebels, who have not committed more than one turnover in any game this fall, managed to score an eye-popping 81 total points in TOS, while only managing to take 14 points from their opponents.

PK Caden Chittenden, who shares the national lead with 2.2 FG PG, tied the freshman single-season record of 22 set by San Diego State’s Frosh Matt Araiza in 2019.

REBELLIONS AGAINST SPARTANS NOTES…
SJSU leads the all-time series 20-7-1 and has won four straight against the Rebels; seven of them in a row in San Jose… First-year SJSU HC Ken Niumatalolo coached TEs at UNLV under John Robinson from 1999-2001. .. SJSU DL coach Bojay Filimoeatu was a member of the Rebel roster in 2022.

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