INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Despite losing its starting quarterback after three games and its head coach 10 days ago, UNLV had its best season in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

The 24th-ranked Rebels picked up their 11th win and first bowl win in 24 years on Wednesday night when they pulled away in the second half to beat California 24-13 in the LA Bowl.

“That’s exactly how we wanted to finish it. I mean, not many people can say they had 11 wins in a season,” said linebacker Jackson Woodard, the game’s defensive MVP.

Hajj-Malik Williams passed for two touchdowns and Kylin James ran for another for the 11-3 Rebels, who won in a bowl game for the first time since beating Arkansas in the 2000 Las Vegas Bowl. It also gave the Rebels 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.

“It means a lot. I’ve done this so many times that it’s a big deal for players to experience. It’s important for them to feel it, get the reward and establish the legacy,” Alexander said.

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.

“My head was in the clouds and (special teams) coach (James) Shilbest said, ‘Hey, do you want to run it?’ I mean, I didn’t know where the ball was and said go. I saw it every day in practice for a year or two,” Alexander said. “I think I was looking the wrong way, but I saw how it was going and said, ‘Okay, good.'”

De Jesus, the game’s offensive MVP, 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.

Williams took over as UNLV’s starting QB when Matthew Sluka left the program after three games due to a name, image and likeness dispute.

CJ Harris made his first start at Cal and completed 13 of 20 passes for 109 yards in 2 1/2 quarters before getting injured. 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.

Cal had a chance to take the lead before halftime. UNLV 1 had a second-and-goal before Martin lost two yards on a run and Harris was sacked for a 9-yard loss, leaving them to settle for Ryan Coe’s second field goal.

“The game ended with the fake punt they scored, we had the ball at the 2-yard line and couldn’t quite get it into the end zone,” coach Justin Wilcox said. “Unfortunately we had a turnover that resulted in a touchdown. Missed field goal. … But of course the fake punt was a difficult one, so very unfortunate that we couldn’t quite get it done.”

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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