LAS VEGAS (AP) — Jackson Arnold threw three touchdown passes, Jai’Den Thomas had 114 yards rushing and a touchdown on 16 carries, and UNLV beat Northern Illinois 31-24 on Saturday night, the Huskies 10th consecutive loss.
Northern Illinois (0-7, 0-4 Mountain West Conference) is winless since a 45-3 win at UMass on Nov. 12, 2025.
Arnold was 20-of-30 passing for 269 yards, threw two interceptions and added 86 yards rushing on 13 carries for UNLV (5-3, 3-1).
JJ Schlenhardt kicked a 27-yard field goal that gave the Huskies a 17-10 lead with 10:15 left in the first half, but Arnold hit Keyan Burnett with a 31-yard touchdown pass about 3 minutes later and then threw a 2-yard scoring strike to Taeshaun Lyons with 20 seconds left to make it 24-17 at halftime.
Taron Dickens threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to DeAree Rogers and connected with George Dimopoulos for a 61-yard TD that capped the scoring with 9:31 left in the third quarter. Telly Johnson Jr. added a 20-yard rushing TD for Northern Illinois.
On the first play from scrimmage, Arnold threw a deep pass as he was rolling to his right that was caught at the 30 by Jayden McGee, who raced to the endzone for a 75-yard touchdown. McGee finished with four receptions for 106 yards
Thomas burst up the middle and raced untouched for a 60-yard rushing touchdown less than 4 minutes into the second half to give UNLV a 14-point lead. Thomas has 35 career rushing TDs, third most in program history, and his 40 total touchdowns are tied for second at UNLV.
Up next
Northern Illinois: Plays next Saturday at San Jose State.
UNLV: Hosts Wyoming next Saturday.
-
WATCH: UNLV community welcomes Dan Mullen as new head football coach
Dan Mullen returns to the sidelines in Las Vegas after spending the last three seasons as an ESPN college football analyst. He previously coached at Florida and Mississippi State.
UNLV Rebels will enter the season with new head coach Dan Mullen
The UNLV Rebels will enter the new season with a new head coach. Dan Mullen was hired in hopes of continuing the past two years of making history on the field.
Dan Mullen to become UNLV's next football coach, AP sources say
The 52-year-old Dan Mullen replaces Barry Odom, who left for Purdue on Sunday after going 19-8 and helping the Rebels receive back-to-back bowl invitations for the first time in program history.
Here are the Mountain West teams UNLV football will face in 2025
UNLV football will play four Mountain West teams in 2025 that it did not face this season, as the conference announced future opponents on Tuesday.
