No. 25 UNLV suffers 1st defeat, falls to Orange in OT — PHOTOS

UNLV’s defense faced its toughest test of the season Friday night against Syracuse and quarterback Kyle McCord.

And even though McCord threw a costly interception late in the fourth quarter, the former Ohio State quarterback still had a chance to beat the Rebels’ defense when it counted.

McCord threw a touchdown pass with 23 seconds left in the fourth quarter and led Syracuse on a touchdown on its overtime possession, and UNLV, ranked No. 25 by The Associated Press, fell to the Orange 44-41 in OT in front of an announced crowd of 31,329 at Allegiant Stadium.

UNLV (4-1) settled for a 41-yard Caden Chittenden field goal on its overtime possession. Syracuse (4-1) was aided by a roughing the passer penalty on a third-and-20. The Orange claimed the win on a 1-yard run from LeQuint Allen, his fourth touchdown of the game. Allen bulldozed his way through star UNLV linebacker Jackson Woodard into the end zone.

“We came up short,” UNLV coach Barry Odom said. “Syracuse is a really good team, give them credit. Looking at what this team did, we really didn’t start well and stayed in the fight. I hate it because we got a tough team, got great young men. We’re close, but this will get us closer. I have no doubt about that.”

Hajj-Malik Williams, making his second start at quarterback for UNLV, completed 21 of 25 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns and added 53 rushing yards and a score. Star wide receiver Ricky White III caught 10 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown.

“We understand that this game won’t define us, but how we respond will,” Odom said. “I just hate that we came up short. The players, they’re gutted because they invested so much and we came up short. But we’ll work and we’ll get back at it and make sure that we find a way to play our best ball.”

Midway through the fourth quarter, Woodard intercepted McCord on third down at the UNLV 6, and the Rebels marched down the field and scored on a 9-yard pass from Williams to White with 2:58 left to take a 38-31 lead.

But it was plenty of time for McCord and Syracuse to answer. First, on an end-around on fourth down with just over a minute left, Allen slipped through a Jalen Catalon tackle attempt and picked up the first down. With 23 seconds left, McCord hit Jackson Meeks on a 6-yard touchdown pass on third down to force overtime.

McCord completed 40 of 63 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns, and helped the Orange convert 11 of 18 third downs. The Rebels were flagged nine times for 108 yards.

“We’ve got to learn from the good,” Odom said. “We got to learn from the bad, and then we have to go and apply it. If you don’t, then you don’t learn from your lessons. We’ll be on a mission to get that done.”

Halftime lead gone

UNLV’s 21-17 halftime lead quickly evaporated in the third quarter. McCord hit Allen on a 6-yard pass on the Orange’s first drive of the second half to take a 24-21 lead.

On the Rebels’ ensuing drive, Williams was under pressure while looking for running back Kylin James, but his pass went through the senior running back’s hands and into the arms of Syracuse’s Duce Chestnut.

The Orange struck on the next play, a 21-yard touchdown run from freshman Yasin Willis to go ahead 31-21 midway through the third quarter.

The Rebels elected to kick a 20-yard field goal on a fourth-and-goal from Syracuse’s 2-yard line to make it a seven-point deficit, but came up with another play on special teams to tie the game.

White blocked a Syracuse punt, and the ball rolled over 40 yards into the end zone, where freshman Charles Correa fell on it to tie the game at 31-31 with 28 seconds left in the third quarter. It was the second key special teams play White came up with.

White “does it every day in practice,” Odom said. “He’s very selfless, and he gives us tremendous effort. Those two plays really kept us in the game, which were huge impact plays. We’ve got to understand that we’ve got to have that in our favor.”

First half

McCord methodically picked apart the Rebels on Syracuse’s first drive. He completed his first seven passes for 73 yards and capped the drive off with a 9-yard shovel pass to Allen to put the Orange ahead 7-0 with 8:43 left in the first quarter.

The Syracuse offense went back to work after UNLV’s second drive stalled near midfield following a penalty. A 39-yard completion to tight end Oronde Gadsden II helped the Orange get out of their territory after a deep UNLV punt. The Orange scored a play later on a 3-yard run from Allen.

McCord completed his first 11 passes for 131 yards to help Syracuse hold a 14-0 advantage after the first quarter. The Rebels managed just 47 yards of total offense in the first quarter.

Rebels, Williams respond

UNLV’s offense got a spark from two of its top players on its first drive of the second quarter. First, Williams hit White for an 8-yard completion on third-and-5. Then sophomore running back Jai’Den Thomas broke off a 42-yard run to set the Rebels up with a first-and-goal.

Two plays later, Williams found tight end Kaleo Ballungay on a 6-yard touchdown pass to get the Rebels on the board with 12:13 left in the second quarter.

The Rebels’ defense came up with a stop on Syracuse’s ensuing possession, and Jacob De Jesus returned a punt to the 44-yard line. Williams hit White on a slant on the middle of the field, and White scampered for 53 yards to set UNLV up with a first-and-goal at Syracuse’s 3-yard line.

On the next play, Williams gathered the ball after a high snap and sprinted to the right corner of the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown run to tie the score at 14 midway through the second quarter.

Stuffed punt

UNLV’s best play of the first half came on a special teams play on Syracuse’s ensuing possession. On fourth-and-25 from the Orange 22-yard line, White sprinted to block the punt, and Syracuse punter Jack Stonehouse kept the ball and was tackled by Jett Elad for the turnover on downs.

UNLV scored a play later when Williams found Casey Cain on a fade route in the right corner of the end zone on a 9-yard pass to put the Rebels ahead 21-14 with 5:57 left before halftime.

Williams “stayed poised. He took care of (the ball) and led us like he was supposed to,” offensive tackle Jalen St. John said. “He did what he had to do and made plays when he needed to.”

The Rebels’ defense came up with one more stop before the break on a Syracuse third-and-goal, and the Orange settled for a 21-yard field goal to go into halftime trailing 21-17.

The Rebels return to Mountain West at Utah State at 6 p.m. Oct. 11.

The crowd was the third-most for a UNLV football game in Allegiant Stadium’s history.

“I hated that for our team that we couldn’t pull that one out, and what an unbelievable environment tonight,” Odom said. “I’m really thankful for the city responding the way they did. It felt like a real game. You hate to lose that one, and we understand, we’re disappointed, we had opportunities to win it, and we came up short in a lot of areas.”