LAS VEGAS >> UNLV junior linebacker Tau Lotulelei, a 2012 graduate of Maui High School, concedes it will be a lot more fun returning home this summer after gaining some bragging rights thanks to a 41-21 victory over Hawaii on Saturday afternoon at Sam Boyd Stadium.
The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Lotulelei, who finished with a game-high 12 tackles and a quarterback sack, was on the other side after UNLV dropped a controversial 37-35 decision to the Rainbow Warriors last year.
"It’s definitely going to feel great, especially since a lot of my friends are great fans of UH," Lotulelei said with a smile. "So when they bring the game up, I can sort of brag about it this time."
Hey, turnabout is fair play, right?
"Actually, my high school coaches and my friends would talk about it (UNLV’s last second loss at Aloha Stadium in 2014)," Lotulelei said. "They’d say, ‘Oh, you almost had them’ and stuff. It is what it was. But I told them we were going to come back this year and get them back. So it’s exciting."
Several Las Vegas media outlets made it a point leading up to Saturday’s contest to bring up the controversial finish a year earlier. UNLV was penalized 30 yards for celebrating after what appeared to be the game-winning touchdown with 15 seconds left when quarterback Blake Decker connected with tight end Taylor Barnhill for a 7-yard touchdown.
But the Rainbow Warriors, getting a big boost from the celebration penalties and also some questionable timekeeping that had Rebels coaches fuming afterward, pulled it out in dramatic style when quarterback Ikaika Woolsey connected with Marcus Kemp for a 20-yard touchdown with no time remaining.
"We really didn’t talk about last year’s game that much," Lotulelei said. "We’re just really happy and excited to get this one back."
The victory also kept UNLV’s slim bowl hopes — the Rebels would have to win their final three games at Colorado State and Wyoming and at home against West Division-leading San Diego State — to get to the necessary six-win mark. And it also was a milestone of sorts for first-year head coach Tony Sanchez.
UNLV had won only two games in eight of its 11 previous seasons, including just once in five seasons under Bobby Hauck, who "resigned" after returning from the loss at Hawaii last year. Saturday’s win over the Rainbow Warriors bumped the Rebels to 3-6 this year.
"To get to that elusive No. 3 … it seems like we’ve been hanging around in search of it and getting close to it for a long, long time," Sanchez said. "That’s a benchmark. It’s not the goal by any means, but (this year’s team) has made us better, and now we can show it on paper.
"We’re 50 percent better than we’ve been in eight of the last 11 years. That’s a big deal. That number three has been kind of an elusive benchmark here."
A key reason for getting win No. 3 was the play of Decker, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound senior who completed 15 of 24 passes for 258 yards, including touchdown passes of 85 yards to senior wide receiver Aaron Criswell and 75 yards to sophomore wide receiver Devonte Boyd, the latter which extended UNLV’s lead to 24-14 late in the third quarter and proved to be the game-winner.
The touchdown pass to Criswell, which sent the Rebels into the locker room with momentum and a 14-7 halftime lead, was the second-longest TD pass in UNLV history, just 2 yards short of the school record set in 1977 when Carlton Kelley hit Henry Vereen for an 87-yarder against Northern Arizona.
"He had his guy by two or three steps and it was just my job to get him the ball," Decker said. "Our defense had been playing great. To have us go into halftime with that big play was big for our offense to kind of rally around that and get ready for the second half."
"It was big because we wanted to keep (Hawaii) in catch-up mode," Sanchez said. "We’ve done a pretty good job all year coming out after halftime and making those adjustments and putting together a good drive and we did it again this time."
