UNLV Rebels Head Coach Dan Mullen Says Team Took 'A Huge Step' Against Sam Houston

The UNLV Rebels football team looked much better in their second game of the season against the Sam Houston Bearkats than they did in their opener when they snuck away with a 38 - 31 win over the Idaho State Bengals. On Friday, they convincingly beat the Bearkats by a score of 38 - 21. They played better on both sides of the ball. It was a major step in the right direction for the Mountain West Conference champion hopefuls.

The defense played much better than they did in the opener and cut down on the mistakes. The biggest improvement may have been on the offensive line, a group that did a much better job in pass protection than they did in Week 0. Once again, Quarterback Anthony Colandrea, running back Jai'Den Thomas, and wide receiver Jaden Bradley stole the show on offense. While on defense, defensive back Aamaris Brown is making an early case to be the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year.

Head coach Dan Mullen was pleased with the victory and happy about the improvements the team made from one week to the next; however, he is not simply content with the win. He understands that there are still things that the team needs to improve on, and he's determined to make those fixes. Following the game, Mullen spoke about how the team had improved significantly in their second game, but still needed to stay focused on continuing to improve and reducing mistakes.

UNLV Rebels Head Coach Dan Mullen On His Takeaways From The Week 1 Victory over Sam Houston

“Here's the issue. I'm so pleased, because I think we're really coming together," Mullen said. "We took a huge step from last week and I think that's a big deal for us. But as we did last week, when we're good, on both sides of the ball, we're really good, and then we have some errors. We're just that focus and attention to detail for four quarters, just focusing on every individual snap. But there were so many positives for us to build on if we can focus on eliminating some of those mistakes. We also have to do a better job of coaching. We sputtered at different times during that game and that frustrates me. That’s on our coaching staff. We have to keep the rhythm going.”