Jackson Arnold passed for 158 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 110 yards and two scores to lead UNLV to a 39-31 nonconference victory over Cal on Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas.
Arnold also rushed for a 2-point conversion for the Rebels (3-2), who squandered a 17-point halftime lead before rallying to win in the fourth quarter. Kayden McGee caught three passes for 85 yards and a touchdown while Taz Reddicks and Keyan Burnett also caught touchdown passes for UNLV.
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele completed 19 of 27 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown and an interception for Cal (2-3) before leaving late in the first half after his head banged off the turf while getting slung to the ground at the end of a pass attempt by defensive end Elias Rudolph.
Junior Jackson Brousseau, a transfer from Colorado State, finished up and hit 19 of 32 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears, who were flagged 16 times for 147 yards.
Cal jumped out to a 7-0 lead at the 11:30 mark of the first quarter on a 91-yard touchdown pass from Sagapolutele to Taimane Purcell, who caught the pass near the right sideline at Cal’s 25 and spun away from a defender to race untouched down the sideline for the score.
UNLV responded with 24 points to take a 24-7 halftime lead. Arnold teamed up with McGee for a 70-yard touchdown pass to tie it, then gave the Rebels a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter with a 55-yard touchdown run. Ramon Villela booted a 31-yard field goal after the Rebels kept the drive alive with a fake punt and 13-yard run by Matthew Choules to make it 17-7. Arnold capped the spree by hitting Reddicks with a 36-yard touchdown pass with 51 seconds left in the half.
The Bears answered with 18 consecutive points to regain the lead, 25-24. Cal’s rally began with a 53-yard touchdown pass from Brousseau to Carson Perry-Smith and a 2-point conversion pass to Cooper Perry. Chase Meyer booted a 38-yard field goal before Ashten Emory’s 7-yard run gave the Golden Bears the edge with 11:38 left in the game.
Aided by a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty, UNLV drove 80 yards in five plays capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Arnold to Burnett. Arnold ran in a 2-point conversion to put the Rebels back up by seven.
Arnold then accounted for his fifth touchdown of the game with a 2-yard plunge that increased the lead to 39-25 with 3:25 to go.
Brousseau hit Ian Strong with a 10-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds left, but UNLV recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock.
