UNLV outlasts Cal in an LA Bowl that sees both offenses struggle

UNLV wide receiver Jacob De Jesus flips after running for a touchdown during the first half of the LA Bowl against Cal on Wednesday night at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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INGLEWOOD — Cal went into the LA Bowl down its starting and second-string quarterbacks, but fifth-year sophomore CJ Harris stepped in, keeping the Golden Bears afloat through 2½ quarters.

Then, on their third drive of the second half, freshman EJ Caminong took Harris’ place. Harris was seen walking to the locker room with a towel draped over his head. Caminong was unable to build on Harris’ momentum. He committed a turnover on his second drive when he threw a risky backward pass that UNLV recovered and cashed in with a Kylin James 23-yard touchdown run on the following play.

Caminong was unable to led the Golden Bears to any points and a one-point deficit turned into a 24-13 loss.

Harris completed 13 of 20 passes for 109 yards before his departure. Caminong was 6 of 19 and only led the Golden Bears past midfield once.

The UNLV offense looked just as lifeless as Cal (6-7) did under Caminong, but the 24th-ranked Rebels (11-3) capitalized on his turnover and shut out the Golden Bears in the second half.

Hajj-Malik Williams completed just 5 of 18 attempts for 96 yards, but he threw two touchdowns in the first half and UNLV benefited from some special teams sparks.

The Rebels went ahead for good at 14-10 early in the second quarter when Jacob De Jesus took a shovel pass 12 yards and then did a backflip after scoring. The touchdown came a play after a successful fake punt when Marshall Nichols lobbed the ball to Cameron Oliver for a 52-yard gain to the Cal 9.

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De Jesus helped his offense throughout with 123 return yards. His 38-yard punt return set the Rebels up for a Caden Chittenden field goal that put the game on ice.

De Jesus’ impact on special teams provided a much-needed spark for an offense that seemed to struggle in the absence of offensive coordinator Brennan Marion.

At the LA Bowl press conference on Tuesday, interim head coach Del Alexander explained that the Rebels were using a collaborative effort over the last week to try to cover for the loss of Marion. That patchwork had its kinks as a UNLV offense that had averaged 36 points per game, rarely strung drives together on Wednesday.

It didn’t help that the Rebels’ leading receiver, Ricky White, who was expected to play, didn’t suit up.

With White in street clothes on the sideline, and Cal leading receiver Nyziah Hunter in the transfer portal, underclassmen stepped up.

In the first quarter, UNLV freshman Kayden McGee hauled in a 49-yard touchdown pass on a post route for the game’s opening touchdown. Then Cal freshman Josiah Martin scored on a fake read-option turned end-around.

Neither McGee nor Martin had scored a touchdown before Wednesday’s game, but each player was heavily involved.

With 5:26 remaining in the second quarter, Harris found Martin on a fourth-and-1 to keep a Cal drive alive. Four plays later, he held onto a pass while surviving a simultaneous collision to set up a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line. The drive concluded with a 30-yard field goal, but wouldn’t have resulted in any points if not for Martin’s reliability.

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The emergence of younger players was expected, but with each team having fewer opt-outs than some bowl-bound teams there were still several stars on the field.

Rebels cornerback Jett Elad had 13 total tackles and snagged Caminong’s backward pass, while senior Jackson Woodard had 11 tackles and three pass breakups.

The Rebels’ defense was quick to adjust to the Golden Bears’ quarterback change.

Despite playing without their offensive coordinator and departed head coach, the Rebels scraped together a win to cap their best season (record-wise) since 1984, their first 11-win season as an FBS program, their first bowl game victory since 2000 and their first outside of the Las Vegas Bowl. They will likely be ranked in the final AP Top 25 poll of the season for the first time.

NOTES

UNLV running back Jai’Den Thomas had 18 carries for 72 yards. … Cal’s Ott rushed for 84 yards on 11 carries. … Alexander, an assistant when UNLV last won a bowl game, was the interim head coach after Barry Odom departed for the vacancy at Purdue on Dec. 8. … Dan Mullen, who will take over UNLV’s program next season after being hired last Thursday, was in attendance. … Cal hasn’t had a winning season since 2019.

More to come on this story.

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NOTES

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