INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Hajj-Malik Williams passed for two touchdowns, Kylin James ran for another and No. 24 UNLV pulled away in the second half to secure a 24-13 victory over California in the LA Bowl on Wednesday night.

UNLV won in a bowl game for the first time since 2000 and for the first time outside of the Las Vegas Bowl. It also gave the Rebels (11-3) 11 wins for the first time as an FBS program.

Del Alexander, an assistant when UNLV last won a bowl game, was the interim head coach after Barry Odom left for Purdue on Dec. 8.

Dan Mullen, who will take over the UNLV program next season after being hired last Thursday, was in attendance.

Cal (6-7), which hasn’t had a winning season since 2019, was missing quarterback Fernando Mendoza and leading wide receiver Nyziah Hunter after both entered the transfer portal.

UNLV took a 7-3 lead in the first quarter when Williams connected with Kayden McGee on a 49-yard touchdown strike. The freshman came up with a post pattern behind Cal’s secondary, caught the ball at the 13 and easily ran into the end zone for his first collegiate TD.

The Rebels regained the lead 14-10 early in the second quarter when Jacob De Jesus took a shovel pass from 12 yards and did a backflip after scoring. The touchdown came after a successful fake punt when Marshall Nichols threw the ball to Cameron Oliver, giving the Cal 9 a 52-yard lead.

De Jesus also had a 38-yard punt return in the fourth quarter, setting up a Caden Chittenden field goal.

UNLV had a 14-13 lead at halftime, but extended its lead to eight when James went 23 yards up the middle with 2:13 left in the third quarter. The Rebels regained possession after Jett Elad recovered the ball after Cal quarterback EJ Caminong fumbled down a sideline.

Williams was 5 of 18 for 96 yards while Jai’Den Thomas had 18 carries for 72 yards.

CJ Harris made his first start at Cal and completed 13 of 20 passes for 109 yards in 2 1/2 quarters. Caminong came the rest of the way and was 6 of 19 for 57 yards.

Jayden Ott rushed for 84 yards on 11 carries.

The Golden Bears’ only touchdown came with 19 seconds left in the first quarter when Josiah Martin ran 29 yards on a return to give Cal a brief 10-7 lead.

Takeaways

Cal: The Golden Bears entered UNLV territory just once in their eight second-half drives.

UNLV: The victory should also mean the Rebels will be in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time. A Mountain West team has won three of the four LA Bowls.

Next

Both teams are scheduled to open the 2025 season away from home on August 30th. UNLV will be at Sam Houston State and Cal will face former Pac-12 foe Oregon State.

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