The UNLV Rebels football program is a college football team that represents the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The team is a member of the Mountain West Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The program, which began on September 14, 1968, plays its home games at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada.
Contents
History
Early history
In 1967, Nevada Southern University announced that they would field a collegiate football program beginning on September 14, 1968, and announced that the team would be a Division II Independent and that Bill Ireland would be the program's first head coach. The Rebels played their first game of their inaugural season against the St. Mary's Gaels at Cashman Field in Las Vegas. The Rebels won the game, defeating the Gaels 27–20 in front of 8,000 fans. The Rebels remained undefeated until the last game of the season, losing to the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen, 13–17, as the Rebels finished their inaugural campaign 8–1. The following year, the Rebels played their first game against in-state rival Nevada, losing to the Wolf Pack 28–30. UNLV gained revenge, defeating Nevada the following year, 42–30, in the first year that the Fremont Cannon was awarded. On September 25, 1971, the Rebels played their first game against a Division I school, when they played Utah State of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA), ultimately losing 7–27. On October 23, 1971, the Rebels opened their new home, Las Vegas Stadium, against Weber State, losing 17–30. At the end of the 1972 season with a disappointing 1–10 record, Ireland announced he was stepping down, leaving the Rebels with a 26–23–1 record.
Ireland was replaced by Ron Meyer before the start of the 1973 season and Meyer led the Rebels back to powerhouse status with an 8–3 record, including their first victory over a major college opponent, thrashing Marshall 31–9. The Rebels continued their strong campaign, breaking the national Division II top-10 and announcing their first All-American, running back Mike Thomas, who ran for the Division II national rushing title with 1,741 and setting nine school records in the process. The Rebels' success continued in 1974 with the only undefeated season in school history, finishing 11–0 and ranking second in the national Division II polls, the highest any Rebels football team has ever placed. The Rebels embarked on their first post-season journey in a national quarterfinal against Alcorn State, defeating the Braves 35–22 in Las Vegas. The Rebels memorable season ended in the national semifinals in the Grantland Rice Bowl, losing to Delaware 11–49. Meyer left the program in 1976 to take the head coaching position at collegiate powerhouse SMU.
The move to Division I
Former Boise State coach Tony Knap took over the Rebels in 1976, after Ron Meyer's departure. Knap was able to continue the Rebels prior success under Meyer, with a 9–3 record, a ranking of 7th in the nation and a berth in the Division II playoffs, ultimately losing to Akron 6–27 in the national quarterfinals. After ten years as a Division II independent, the program made the jump to the Division I level in 1978, independent of any conference affiliation. On September 9, the Rebels played their first game as a Division I school, losing to Washington State 7–34. The Rebels defeated their first major college opponent away from Las Vegas, with a 33–6 victory over Colorado State in Fort Collins. At the end of the season, the Rebels made a trip to Yokohama, Japan, to compete against college football powerhouse Brigham Young, losing 28–24. Even with the hard end to the season, the Rebels still produced a memorable year, going 7–4 in their first campaign at the Division I level. The 1981 season proved to be the last in Knap's tenure at UNLV, as he retired from coaching after a year of accomplishments, including the Rebels' first appearance in the ABC's Regional Game of the Week (a 21–45 loss at Wyoming), a 45–41 upset of 8th-ranked BYU in Provo, Utah, and securing the programs 100th win (27–20 at UTEP) in El Paso, Texas.
The 1982 season was a big year in UNLV football history as the program hired its fourth head coach, Harvey Hyde and the Rebels became affiliated with a college athletic conference when they joined the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (PCAA). The Rebels' first PCAA game was a 27–29 loss to Pacific on October 2. It took the entire season before the Rebels won their first conference game, a 42–23 victory against Cal State Fullerton on November 27. The Rebels won their first conference championship in 1984 as the Randall Cunningham-led Rebels finished 11–2, including the program's first trip to a bowl game, a 30–13 victory over Toledo in the California Bowl in Fresno, California. Hyde stepped down after the 1985 season and a 5–5–1 record when the NCAA discovered that several players on the 1983 and 1984 Rebels were ineligible. The Rebels were forced to forfeit their entire 1983 and 1984 seasons, including the California Bowl.
Wayne Nunnely became the program's fifth head coach on September 20, 1986, and he coached the Rebels to a 17–7 victory over Wisconsin in front of the first sellout crowd in Silver Bowl Stadium history, a then record 32,207 fans. One of Nunnely's key players was Elbert "Ickey" Woods, the first Rebel and PCAA running back to win the national Division I rushing title, as he rushed for 1,658 yards and was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1988 NFL draft.
1999–present
In 1999, the Rebels left the WAC with seven other schools to form the Mountain West Conference, and announcing that the program had hired collegiate and professional coach John Robinson as their eighth head coach. The school lost their conference opener on September 25, 14–52, to Utah, and won its first Mountain West victory on October 9, 35–32, over Wyoming. In week two, the team trailed Baylor 24–21 with ten seconds remaining and no timeouts left. Opting to run the ball rather than take a knee, Baylor's offense fumbled, allowing UNLV's Kevin Thomas to recover and return the ball 99 yards for a touchdown and a dramatic 27–24 Rebel victory. In 2000, the Rebels started by upsetting undefeated Air Force 34–13 on September 30, in the first time that ABC came to Las Vegas for a Rebels football game. The Rebels then ended a five-game skid to rival Nevada, defeating the Wolf Pack 34–13 in front of the largest crowd to see a game in the Battle for Nevada. The season went down to the wire as the Rebels had to pull out a 34–32 victory on the road against Hawaii to clinch their third berth in a bowl game. The Rebels were chosen as the Mountain West representative for the Las Vegas Bowl on December 20. The Rebels would continue their undefeated streak in bowl games as they defeated Arkansas 31–14 in front of a Las Vegas Bowl record 29,113 fans. They finished the season 8–5.
Before the 2001 season, the Rebels were ranked No. 25 in Sports Illustrated's preseason Top 25 and No. 24 in Football Digest's rankings. Quarterback Jason Thomas was named a candidate for the Heisman Trophy, ranking as high as No. 7. Although the Rebels seemed good on paper, the team did not gel and ended the season a disappointing 4–7. On October 5, 2002, the Rebels defeated rival Nevada 21–17 for Robinson's 200th career coaching victory. Robinson retired after the 2004 season, having led the Rebels to a bowl game and five consecutive victories over rival Nevada.
On December 6, 2004, the Rebels hired Utah assistant coach Mike Sanford as the ninth head coach. In his first three years, Sanford failed to win more than two games and had back-to-back 2–10 seasons, finishing last in the Mountain West all three years. Sanford failed to beat Nevada all five years he coached at UNLV. Still, the program sent former Rebels Eric Wright and Beau Bell to the NFL draft.
The Rebels finished the 2008 season with a 5–7 record after starting the season 3–1. This was the best win–loss record UNLV had since going 6–6 in 2003. It also marked the first time UNLV did not finish last in their division since 2004. Their 23–20 victory over No. 15 Arizona State was the first time the Rebels had beaten a ranked opponent since 2003.
Conference affiliations
NCAA College Division independent (1968–1972)
NCAA Division II independent (1973–1977)
NCAA Division I-A independent (1978–1981)
Big West Conference (1982–1995)
Pacific Coast Athletic Association (1982–1987)
Big West Conference (1988–1995)
Western Athletic Conference (1996–1998)
Mountain West Conference (1999–present)
Conference championships
UNLV has won two conference championships, with one forfeit. Their 1984 Big West Conference title was forfeited due to using ineligible players.
† Forfeited due to ineligible players.
Bowl games
UNLV has played in seven officially sanctioned bowl games, with six of them being in Division I (FBS) and one being in Division II. The Rebels have an official bowl record of 3–3 due to the subsequent forfeit of the 1984 California Bowl win due to NCAA sanctions on ineligible players.
† forfeited
UNLV traveled to Yokohama, Japan, and played in front of 27,500 spectators at Yokohama Stadium in the 1978 Nikkan Yokohama Bowl on December 2, 1978, against the BYU Cougars in a game that is not officially recognized as an NCAA bowl game.
Playoff appearances
NCAA Division II
The Rebels made two appearances in the NCAA Division II playoffs. They had a combined record of 1–2.
Head coaches
UNLV has had 14 head coaches in 58 years of college football. Four of them (Harvey Hyde, Jeff Horton, John Robinson, and Barry Odom) have won Conference Coach of the Year awards.
Rivalries
Nevada
The Battle for Nevada
UNR leads the series 28–23 as of the conclusion of the 2025 season.
Hawai'i
Ninth Island Showdown
Beginning in 2017, the annual game between UNLV and Hawai'i, "Ninth Island Showdown" or, "The Battle for the Golden Pineapple" gained a rivalry trophy when the California Hotel and Casino donated the "Golden Pineapple" to the winner of the game. Las Vegas has long been a popular destination for Hawaiians for both pleasure and relocation, so much so that it has been dubbed "the Ninth Island", with the Cal Hotel in particular aggressively marketing itself to Hawaiian tourists. Hawai'i is one of UNLV's two protected Mountain West Conference rivalries (along with Nevada) when the conference shifted to one division in 2023, meaning they will play every year. The 'Bows lead the all-time series between the two schools 19–17 as of 2026.
San Jose State
The Friendly Rivalry
San Jose State leads the series 20-8-1 as of conclusion of the 2025 season. The rivalry stems back to the days when both the San Jose State Spartans and the UNLV Rebels athletics programs were both in the Big West Conference, in the 1980s. In the mid-1990's the Spartans and Rebels were both a part of WAC, Western Athletic Conference, and are division rivals in the Mountain West today. Recently dubbed 'A Friendly Rivalry' by some media in 2022 for the close friendly relationship ex-Rebels Head Coach Marcus Arroyo and Spartans Head Coach Brent Brennan have.
Retired numbers
The Rebels has only retired one single number.
College Football Hall of Fame
John Robinson is mostly known for his 6 Rose Bowl victories and 4 National Championships while at USC. In 1999 Robinson was hired to coach football at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. After a 2–0 start in 1999, the second win coming at Baylor, Robinson's first UNLV team finished only 3–8. The Rebels rebounded to win eight games in 2000, including a 31–14 victory over Arkansas in the Las Vegas Bowl, Robinson's only bowl appearance with the Running Rebels. In 2002, Robinson was chosen as the university's athletic director, but he stepped down from that position a year later to concentrate on the coaching position. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.
Randall Cunningham was a 1983 and 1984 College Football All-America Team selection as a punter. In 1984, his senior year, he led the Rebels to an 11–2 season (adjusted to 0–13 when it was found out several players were ineligible).
National and Conference Awards
National
HERO Sports G5 Special Teams Player of the Year
College Football Network Freshman Specialist of the Year
Conference
Pacific Coast Athletic Association
Big West Conference
Western Athletic Conference
Mountain West Conference
All-Americans
UNLV has had 2- Consensus 1st Team All-American, 10- 1st Team, 9- 2nd Team, 5- 3rd Team, 1- 4th Team, 3- Honorable Mention, 1- Academic All-American and 6- Freshman All-American, in program history as of the end of the 2024 season.
Individual school records
Source:
Rushing records
Most rushing attempts, career: 769, Tim Cornett (2010–13)
Most rushing attempts, season: 274, Mike Thomas (1973)
Shortest route to 100 yards, 4 attempts Shaquille Murray-Lawrence (August 29, 2013) vs. Minnesota Gophers
Most rushing attempts, game: 37, Ickey Woods (November 7, 1987) vs. Long Beach State and (November 21, 1987) vs. Pacific
Most rushing yards, career: 4,201, Charles Williams (2016–21)
Most rushing yards, season: 1,741, Mike Thomas (1973)
Most rushing yards, game: 314, Mike Thomas (November 3, 1973) vs. Santa Clara
Most rushing touchdowns, career: 40, Lexington Thomas (2015–18)
Most rushing touchdowns, season: 20, Mike Thomas (1973)
Most rushing touchdowns, game: 4, 5 times, most recently by Jai'Den Thomas (September 23, 2023) vs. UTEP
Longest run from scrimmage: 91 yards (83 m), Dalton Sneed (October 1, 2016, vs. Fresno State)
Most games with at least 100 rushing yards, career: 18, Lexington Thomas (2015–2018)
Most games with at least 100 rushing yards, season: 9, Ickey Woods (1987) and Mike Thomas (1973)
Most games with at least 200 rushing yards, career: 5, Mike Thomas (1973–74)
Passing records
Most passing attempts, career: 1,029, Randall Cunningham (1982–84)
Most passing attempts, season: 506, Jon Denton (1996)
Most passing attempts, game: 61, Jon Denton (November 23, 1996, at San Jose State)
Most passing completions, career: 596, Randall Cunningham (1982–84)
Most passing completions, season: 277, Jon Denton (1996)
Most passing completions, game: 35, Nick Sherry (August 29, 2013, at Minnesota)
Most passing yards, career: 8,020, Randall Cunningham (1982–84)
Most passing yards, season: 3,778, Sam King (1981)
Most passing yards, game: 503, Jon Denton (November 16, 1996, vs. San Diego State)
Most passing touchdowns, career: 59, Randall Cunningham (1982–84)
Most passing touchdowns, season: 25, Jon Denton (1996)
Most passing touchdowns, game: 5, 4 times, most recently by Caleb Herring (November 30, 2013, vs San Diego State)
Longest pass completion: 94 yards (86 m), Armani Rogers to Devonte Boyd (September 9, 2017, vs. Idaho)
Most games with at least 200 passing yards, career: 24, Randall Cunningham (1982–84)
Most games with at least 200 passing yards, season: 11, Sam King (1981)
Receiving records
Most receptions, career: 187, Ryan Wolfe (2006–09)
Most receptions, season: 88, Ricky White III (2023), Ryan Wolfe (2008) and Randy Gatewood (1994)
Most receptions, game: 23, Randy Gatewood (September 17, 1994, vs. Idaho) (also an NCAA record)
Most receiving yards, career: 3,495, Ryan Wolfe (2006–09)
Most receiving yards, season: 1,483, Ricky White III (2023)
Most receiving yards, game: 363, Randy Gatewood (September 17, 1994, vs. Idaho)
Most touchdown receptions, career: 26, Phillip Payne (2008–11)
Most touchdown receptions, season: 14, Devante Davis (2013)
Most touchdown receptions, game: 4, Tyleek Collins (October 27, 2018, vs. San Jose State), Devante Davis (November 30, 2013 vs. San Diego State), Henry Bailey (September 17, 1994, vs. Idaho) and Nathaniel Hawkins (October 30, 1971, vs. New Mexico Highlands)
Most games with at least 100 receiving yards, career: 14, Devonte Boyd (2014–17)
Most games with at least 100 receiving yards, season: 8, Jim Sandusky (1981)
Rebels in the pros
Isaako Aaitui – Nose tackle
Waymon Alridge – Canadian Football League player
Shaquille Murray-Lawrence -Canadian Football League
Johan Asiata – Offensive lineman
Glenn Carano – Quarterback
Hunkie Cooper – Wide receiver/defensive back, an Arena Football League Hall of Famer.
Randall Cunningham – Quarterback
Randy Gatewood – Wide receiver
Joe Hawley – Center
Rocky Hinds – Quarterback
Robert Jackson – cornerback Cleveland Browns
Carlton Johnson – Arena Football League player
Suge Knight – Defensive end, better known as co-founder and CEO of Death Row Records
Admiral Dewey Larry – USFL and CFL player
George J. Maloof, Jr. – cornerback, better known as a casino mogul
Kenny Mayne – Quarterback, better known as an ESPN SportsCenter anchor
Rodney Mazion – American football and baseball player
Keenan McCardell – Wide receiver
Torry McTyer – cornerback Cincinnati Bengals
Future non-conference opponents
Announced schedules as of January 15, 2026.