Another memorable season for the UNLV Rebels is about to come to a close.
On Wednesday, the 24th CFP ranked Rebels (10-3. 6-1) will do battle with the California Golden Bears (6-6, 2-6) in the Art of Sport LA Bowl.
UNLV is in a bowl game in back-to-back years for the first time in program history, and will look to win their first bowl game since 2000, when the Rebels won the Las Vegas Bowl against the Arkansas Razorbacks 31-14.
If the Rebels want to make program history and pave the way for the Dan Mullen era, here are three things that must happen:
Staff management
Both the Rebels and Golden Bears come into this bowl game with serious staff shakeups happening over the last month.
On Dec. 8, Barry Odom left the UNLV program to join the Purdue Boilermakers as their head coach. Odom, who can be considered as the most successful head coach in UNLV history despite his short tenure, amassed a 19-8 record as Rebels head coach and lead the team to an end-0f-season ranking in the College Football Playoff for the first time ever. After Odom’s departure, the Rebels named wide receivers coach Del Alexander as the interim head coach for this game, while offensive coordinator Brennan Marion and defensive coordinator Mike Scherer will retain their current positions. Alexander is most notable for his development of wide receiver Ricky White III during his time at UNLV, but he has done the same at previous stops at Notre Dame and Arizona State, developing Day Two draft picks such as Chase Claypool (2020), Miles Boykin (2019) and Jaelen Strong (2015).
On the other side, the Golden Bears are dealing with staff changes of their own. On Dec. 3, the program stripped offensive coordinator Mike Bloesch of his duties after a disappointing campaign for the Cal offense. While the Golden Bears did hire former Boise State and Auburn head coach Bryan Harsin to serve as their new offensive coordinator, he will not have a role in this game. That is mildly concerning for a team that only scored 26.1 points per game, a mark good for 82nd out of 134 FBS teams. That should serve as a point of emphasis for the Rebels in this game, as they have only given up more than 30 points twice all season (44 to Syracuse, 34 to Utah State).
Transfer advantage
While it is hard to believe that UNLV may boast a talent advantage over a Power Four conference team, the transfer portal may have swung the odds in the Rebels’ favor.
In what came as a shock to Cal fans, starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza decided to enter the transfer portal after a breakout season where he finished 19th in the nation in passing yards with 3,004. It leaves the Golden Bears in a serious bind, as the offensive line has given up the fifth-most sacks in the country (45) and running back Jaydn Ott has taken a step back this season. Cal now has a difficult decision to make for who should start against the Rebels between Chandler Rogers and CJ Harris. Both were used sparingly throughout the season, with neither quarterback throwing more than 25 passes all year, and Rogers suffered an injury against CFP-bound Southern Methodist in Cal’s season finale. That likely points to Ohio transfer Harris, a fifth-year sophomore who has thrown for 904 passing yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions. While the Rebels do have to contend with Ott and a few pieces on Cal’s defense (namely safety Craig Woodson and former UNLV cornerback Nohl Williams), the talent gap that typically exists between the Power Four and Group of Five is nowhere near as wide in this instance.
One last hurrah
For many of the Rebels’ draft-eligible talents, the LA Bowl represents their last in-game opportunity to impress NFL scouts.
White will be the most notable name here, as he has been on scouts’ radars since his breakout 2023 season. He continued to show why many are considering him one of the big sleepers in this class, posting 79 receptions for 1,041 yards and 11 touchdowns, the latter of which is good for fifth in the nation. On top of that, White won Mountain West Special Teams Player of the Year after leading the country with four blocked punts. While White has continued to build his stock, the Rebels have seen multiple defensive players burst onto the scene as well. Linebacker Jackson Woodard was named second-team All-American by the Football Writers Association of America, while safety Jalen Catalon was named third-team All-American by the Associated Press. Woodard is currently seventh in the nation with 124 total tackles, tied for eighth with 17 tackles for loss, and second among linebackers with four interceptions. Catalon, who came to UNLV to reunite with Odom after they worked together at Arkansas, had a strong lone season with the Rebels by finishing third in the country with five interceptions and tying for 25th with 56 solo tackles. UNLV has not had a player drafted since 2010 when the Atlanta Falcons drafted guard Joe Hawley; with a strong game against Cal, the Rebels could have three drafted players in this year alone.
