Nevada-Las Vegas 40, Vanderbilt 37
By MARK ANDERSON
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS - Jose Pizano made a 36-yard field goal with five seconds left to give UNLV a 40-37 victory over Vanderbilt in a wild fourth quarter.
The winning kick was set up when Rebels backup quarterback Jayden Maiava completed a 48-yard pass to Ricky White to Vanderbilt's 18-yard line. That play came after Vanderbilt kicker Jacob Borcila missed a 33-yard field goal to the right with 44 seconds remaining.
Vanderbilt (2-2) trailed 30-17 in the fourth quarterback, but rallied to tie it before both teams traded touchdowns in the final 2:23. Then came the final kicks - one that missed and one that split the uprights.
Maiava completed 19 of 33 passes for 256 yards with a touchdown and interception. He also ran for a 24-yard TD. White caught 12 passes for 161 yards.
Vanderbilt quarterback AJ Swann was 16 of 35 for 296 yards, with three touchdowns and an interception. London Humphreys caught three passes for 102 yards and a TD.
UNLV (2-1) lost starting quarterback Doug Brumfield to injury in the first quarter, and linebacker Jackson Woodard - whose 20 tackles led the Rebels entering the game - was ejected for targeting in the second period. Vanderbilt QB AJ Swann went down late in the first half, though he later returned.
The Commodores dominated early, taking a 17-0 lead after the first quarter while controlling the line of scrimmage. They held UNLV to 11 yards and one first down in that period, setting the tone early with a 37-yard interception return for a touchdown by cornerback Martel Hight.
But then the Commodores were the ones who made the mistakes in the second quarter. A botched punt snap, a mishandled pitch on an end-around and an interception right before halftime helped UNLV storm back to take a 20-17 lead into the break.
UNLV scored 10 points in the third quarter to build on the lead before the Commodores staged their own rally with 13 points in the fourth to tie the game.
September 16, 2023
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
Vandy | UNLV |
| Vandy |
TD |
8:52 |
Martel Hight 37 yd interception return (Jacob Borcila kick) |
7 |
0 |
| Vandy |
FG |
1:14 |
Jacob Borcila 30 yd FG |
10 |
0 |
| Second Quarter |
Vandy | UNLV |
| Vandy |
TD |
13:51 |
London Humphreys 56 yd pass from AJ Swann (Jacob Borcila kick) |
17 |
0 |
| UNLV |
TD |
12:17 |
Jai'Den Thomas 21 yd run (Jose Pizano kick) |
17 |
7 |
| UNLV |
FG |
10:48 |
Jose Pizano 27 yd FG |
17 |
10 |
| UNLV |
TD |
9:38 |
Jerrae Williams 41 yd fumble return (Jose Pizano kick) |
17 |
17 |
| UNLV |
FG |
0:03 |
Jose Pizano 31 yd FG |
17 |
20 |
| Third Quarter |
Vandy | UNLV |
| UNLV |
FG |
10:14 |
Jose Pizano 34 yd FG |
17 |
23 |
| UNLV |
TD |
2:00 |
Jayden Maiava 24 yd run (Jose Pizano kick) |
17 |
30 |
| Fourth Quarter |
Vandy | UNLV |
| Vandy |
TD |
13:35 |
Justin Ball 3 yd pass from AJ Swann (Jacob Borcila kick) |
24 |
30 |
| Vandy |
FG |
9:16 |
Jacob Borcila 32 yd FG |
27 |
30 |
| Vandy |
FG |
4:47 |
Jacob Borcila 44 yd FG |
30 |
30 |
| UNLV |
TD |
2:23 |
Jacob De Jesus 48 yd pass from Jayden Maiava (Jose Pizano kick) |
30 |
37 |
| Vandy |
TD |
1:12 |
Quincy Skinner Jr. 34 yd pass from AJ Swann (Jacob Borcila kick) |
37 |
37 |
| UNLV |
FG |
0:05 |
Jose Pizano 36 yd FG |
37 |
40 |
| Team Stats |
| |
Vanderbilt |
UNLV |
| First downs |
21 |
21 |
| Rushing |
6 |
8 |
| Passing |
13 |
12 |
| Penalty |
2 |
1 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
7-19, 37% |
11-20, 55% |
| 4th down efficiency |
2-3, 67% |
0-0, -% |
| Rushes-Yards |
39-83 |
40-127 |
| Passing Yards |
337 |
276 |
| Return Yards |
136 |
159 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
18-37-1 |
21-37-2 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
3--12 |
2--12 |
| Punts |
3 |
5 |
| Punts-Average |
51 |
42.4 |
| Fumbles Lost |
5-3 |
2-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
2-30 |
10-64 |
| Time of Possession |
30:45 |
28:35 |
| Vanderbilt Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| A. Swann |
16 |
35 |
296 |
3 |
1 |
| K. Seals |
2 |
2 |
41 |
0 |
0 |
| UNLV Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| J. Maiava |
19 |
33 |
261 |
1 |
1 |
| D. Brumfield |
2 |
4 |
15 |
0 |
1 |
| Vanderbilt Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| P. Smith |
13 |
43 |
3.3 |
0 |
| A. Swann |
12 |
22 |
1.8 |
0 |
| S. Alexander |
7 |
15 |
2.1 |
0 |
| C. Gillespie |
3 |
4 |
1.3 |
0 |
| J. McGowan |
2 |
2 |
1.0 |
0 |
| K. Seals |
1 |
2 |
2.0 |
0 |
| J. Ball |
1 |
-5 |
-5.0 |
0 |
| UNLV Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| J. Thomas |
13 |
50 |
3.8 |
1 |
| J. Maiava |
7 |
29 |
4.1 |
1 |
| V. Davis Jr. |
5 |
18 |
3.6 |
0 |
| J. Younge-Humphrey |
4 |
17 |
4.3 |
0 |
| D. Lester |
5 |
16 |
3.2 |
0 |
| T. Conerly |
1 |
4 |
4.0 |
0 |
| J. De Jesus |
1 |
2 |
2.0 |
0 |
| C. Reese |
3 |
1 |
0.3 |
0 |
| D. Brumfield |
1 |
-10 |
-10.0 |
0 |
| Vanderbilt Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| L. Humphreys |
3 |
102 |
34.0 |
1 |
| W. Sheppard |
5 |
97 |
19.4 |
0 |
| J. McGowan |
5 |
81 |
16.2 |
0 |
| Q. Skinner Jr. |
1 |
43 |
43.0 |
1 |
| K. Johnson |
1 |
11 |
11.0 |
0 |
| J. Ball |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
1 |
| J. Sherrill |
1 |
2 |
2.0 |
0 |
| P. Smith |
1 |
-2 |
-2.0 |
0 |
| UNLV Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| R. White |
12 |
165 |
13.8 |
0 |
| J. De Jesus |
3 |
62 |
20.7 |
1 |
| S. McKie |
3 |
26 |
8.7 |
0 |
| Z. Griffin |
2 |
14 |
7.0 |
0 |
| S. Zeon III |
1 |
9 |
9.0 |
0 |
| Vanderbilt Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| M. Hight |
1 |
37 |
| N. Rinaldi |
1 |
13 |
| UNLV Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| J. Baldwin |
1 |
36 |
| Vanderbilt Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| M. Hayball |
3 |
153 |
51.0 |
| UNLV Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| M. Nichols |
5 |
212 |
42.4 |
| Vanderbilt Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| W. Sheppard |
1 |
5 |
5.0 |
| UNLV Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| J. De Jesus |
1 |
22 |
22.0 |
| Vanderbilt Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| L. Patterson |
3 |
10 |
3.3 |
| J. McGowan |
2 |
43 |
21.5 |
| C. Gillespie |
1 |
28 |
28.0 |
| UNLV Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| J. De Jesus |
4 |
101 |
25.3 |
| Vanderbilt Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| J. Borcila |
33 |
| UNLV Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| J. Pizano |
46 |
