Jackson Arnold throws 3 TD passes, UNLV hands Northern Illinois its 10th straight loss, 31-24

UNLV Athletics

By: Associated Press

Posted

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.