UNLV Rebels Head Coach Dan Mullen Says They Will Be 'Playing By Far The Most Talented Team We’ve Played'

The UNLV Rebels are coming off a big win last week to improve their record to 2 - 0 after wins over the Idaho State Bengals and the Sam Houston Bearkats. This week, they take on a much tougher opponent when the UCLA Bruins come to Allegiant Stadium. They are the only Power 4 team that the Rebels will face in the 2025 regular season. Saturday's game is a win that UNLV needs to get for credibility as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender this season.

The magnitude of this game is not lost on Rebels head coach Dan Mullen, who spoke about the big jump in talent that they will face this week. He knows that his team will have to ramp up the intensity and clean up the mistakes if they are going to be able to pull off a win against a tough opponent in Week 2.

UNLV Head Coach Dan Mullen On Preparing For The UCLA Bruins

“Listen, it’s the same as last week and two weeks ago,” Mullen said. “We had our first game for the program with me as head coach. That was a big deal. We had our first road game. That was really big. You don’t approach it any differently. We don’t change our approach or routine or preparation.

You’re going to see the intensity at practice pick up because players know this is a big game. I’d be disappointed if it didn’t. We know it’s a big game and if you need me to motivate you for that, you’re playing the wrong sport. I mean, you have problems. You should be excited to be on a big stage. It’s kind of a cool deal. But we’re going about it like every single week...

We’re playing by far the most talented team we’ve played so far. That kind of sounds pretty obvious. I think they’re going to come in with a little chip, an edge, trying to make that jump from Week 1 to Week 2.”

Mullen On Cleaning Up Mistakes Against The More Talented Bruins

Mistakes didn’t end up costing us a game, but they could cost us a game down the road. Those types of mistakes will cost us in a game like this week. So attention to detail is something we really need to improve on.”