LAS VEGAS — UNLV’s Nolan Kohorst kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired to give UNLV a 39-37 win over Hawaii Saturday night.
LAS VEGAS — UNLV’s Nolan Kohorst kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired to give UNLV a 39-37 win over Hawaii Saturday night.
It was the senior placekicker’s first career game-winning field goal.
With 1:39 remaining, UNLV (4-2, 2-0 Mountain West) started on its own 26-yard line and drove 51 yards in 12 plays to get Kohorst in position to win the game with 5 seconds left on the clock.
Hawaii helped on the final drive. On third and 10 at the UNLV 45, the Rebels were held to a three-yard gain, but Trayvon Henderson was flagged for a facemask penalty to give UNLV a first down at the Hawaii 37.
The Rebels won a fourth consecutive game for the first time since 2000, while they’ve now won three straight and five of six at home against the Warriors (0-6, 0-4).
UNLV almost gave the game away, as the Warriors scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to take a one-point lead.
Trailing 36-17, the Warriors scored three consecutive touchdowns, including a 44-yard strike from Sean Schroeder to Chris Gant with 1:44 left in the game.
UNLV quarterback Caleb Herring completed 34 of 57 pass attempts for 385 yards and one touchdown, while Tim Cornett rushed for 162 yards on 29 attempts and two touchdowns.
Herring, the nation’s leading pass-percentage quarterback, broke UNLV’s record of consecutive pass attempts without an interception (183) — while tying the Mountain West mark — before throwing his first pick of the season on the last play of the first half.
The Rebels broke the Mountain West record with 114 offensive plays.
UNLV coach Bobby Hauck wasn’t shy with the confidence in his team in the first quarter, twice going for it on fourth down, and failing both times. On their first possession of the game, the Rebels drove to Hawaii’s 2-yard line in 11 plays and Herring failed to punch it in on 4th-and-goal when he was sacked for a loss of eight yards. UNLV’s defense stopped the Warriors on their next drive, then drove into their red zone and failed to convert a 4th-and-1 from Hawaii’s 18 to turn it over on downs a second consecutive time.
The Warriors opened the scoring when Tyler Hadden drilled a 31-yard field goal at the 12:46 mark of the second quarter. UNLV answered on its next two drives with a pair of Nolan Kohorst field goals to take a 6-3 lead.
The teams exchanged touchdowns over the next three possessions — Hawaii scoring twice and UNLV once — as the Warriors took a 17-13 lead into halftime.