UCLA Bruins at UNLV Rebels Game Thread
The Bruins make just their second regular season visit ever to Las Vegas to face the Rebels.
Tonight, the UCLA Bruins visit UNLV for the time since 2015. Gone is Sam Boyd Stadium which was more akin to a high school field than an FBS stadium. The Rebels now play at Allegiant Stadium, just off the Vegas strip. Unlike the Raiders who have a grass field which slides in and out of the domed stadium, the Rebels actually prefer to play on artificial turf, which gets rolled out onto the concrete stadium floor after the Raiders’ grass is outside.
While the Bruins won both sides of the home-and-home a decade ago and, normally, the outcome of a UCLA game against a Mountain West team should never be in doubt, we are not in normal times. UCLA football is not what it was a decade ago. Former UNLV head coach Barry Odom built UNLV up very quickly before leaving for Purdue. Dan Mullen has brought in a lot of talented guys as well. How good are these Rebels? Some people think they could make the College Football Playoff this year. The same is being said about the Utah Utes who crushed the Bruins last week. All that is to say that tonight’s game could be another long one in what may be shaping up as a season full of long games.
Let’s look at the keys to tonight’s game.
Keys to the Game
1. Run the Ball
The Bruins were completely and totally unable to run the football against Utah. If UCLA wants to win, then they are going to have to find a way to move the ball on the ground.
2. Play Some Defense, Any Defense
The UCLA defense looked lost every time they were on the field last weekend. Given how poorly the offense played last week, the Bruins will not be able to win unless they can find a way to stop the UNLV rushing attack this evening. Heck, any defense at all would be better than last week.
3. Stay on Target
Last weekend, new Bruin signalcaller Nico Iamaleava showed a propensity for floating the ball over the heads of his receivers. The fact was that he couldn’t have hit the ocean with a beach ball last Saturday. Instead, it would have just floated over the ocean all the way to somewhere in Asia.
Nico’s passing accuracy must improve if the Bruins are going to compete tonight. A 50% completion rate just isn’t going to cut it.
Listen to the Game With TMB!
Today’s game is on CBS Sports Network with Rich Walz, Robert Turbin and Jordan Giorgio calling the game. If you would rather listen Josh Lewin and Matt Stevens call today’s game, you can listen to the game online while chatting in the TMB game thread. Just right click on the link and open it in another tab so you can have it playing while you chat in the comments below. That way, you can listen to Josh Lewin, Matt Stevens and Wayne Cook call today’s game.
Join your fellow Bruins discussing today’s game in the comments section below, but before you get there, here’s how to watch tonight’s game:
UCLA Football (0-1)
Opponent: UNLV Rebels (2-0)
Series Record: UCLA leads, 2-0
When: 5:00 pm PT, Saturday, September 6, 2025
Where: Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, NV
Live TV: CBS Sports Network with Rich Walz, Robert Turbin and Jordan Giorgio
Live Stream: CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports and the Paramount+ apps
Radio/Audio:
KABC-AM 790 in Los Angeles with Josh Lewin, Matt Stevens and Wayne Cook
Satellite Radio: Sirius Ch. 162 and (UCLA Call)Online: UCLABruins.com
Live Stats: UCLA StatBroadcast
Rebroadcast (All times PT):
None
Go Bruins!!!
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Oh we are absolutely getting into tarmac territory.
It’s great that ucla fought back but they shouldn’t have been down 23-0 against a MWC team.