# 2017 UNLV Rebels football team

The 2017 UNLV Rebels football team represented the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Rebels were led by third-year head coach Tony Sanchez and played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium. They were members of the West Division of the Mountain West Conference. They finished the season 5–7 and 4–4 in Mountain West play to finish in third place in the West Division. Following the season, head coach Tony Sanchez released Kent Baer (defensive coordinator/linebackers) and Andy LaRussa (special teams/safeties) from their contracts.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 6:00 p.m. | Howard* | Sam Boyd StadiumWhitney, NV | Stadium | L 40–43 | 15,667 |
| September 9 | 4:00 p.m. | at Idaho* | Kibbie DomeMoscow, ID | ESPN3 | W 44–16 | 10,156 |
| September 23 | 9:00 a.m. | at No. 10 Ohio State* | Ohio StadiumColumbus, OH | BTN | L 21–54 | 106,187 |
| September 30 | 7:30 p.m. | San Jose State | Sam Boyd StadiumWhitney, NV | ESPNU | W 41–13 | 15,009 |
| October 7 | 7:45 p.m. | No. 19 San Diego State | Sam Boyd StadiumWhitney, NV | ESPN2 | L 10–41 | 19,770 |
| October 14 | 11:00 a.m. | at Air Force | Falcon StadiumColorado Springs, CO | ATTSNRM | L 30–34 | 26,679 |
| October 21 | 3:00 p.m. | Utah State | Sam Boyd StadiumWhitney, NV | ATTSNRM | L 28–52 | 18,157 |
| October 28 | 7:00 p.m. | at Fresno State | Bulldog StadiumFresno, CA | ATTSNRM | W 26–16 | 27,922 |
| November 4 | 3:00 p.m. | Hawaii | Sam Boyd StadiumWhitney, NV (Island Showdown) | Stadium/SPEC HI | W 31–23 | 16,278 |
| November 10 | 7:30 p.m. | BYU* | Sam Boyd StadiumWhitney, NV | ESPN2 | L 21–31 | 19,811 |
| November 17 | 6:30 p.m. | at New Mexico | Dreamstyle StadiumAlbuquerque, NM | ESPN2 | W 38–35 | 14,744 |
| November 25 | 12:00 p.m. | at Nevada | Mackay StadiumReno, NV (Battle for the Fremont Cannon / Governor's Series) | ATTSNRM | L 16–23 | 17,359 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Pacific time |||||||
    Schedule Source: 2017 UNLV Rebels Football Schedule

## Game summaries
### Howard

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Bison | 7 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 43 |
| Rebels | 6 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 40 |
UNLV's season-opening loss to Howard represented the largest upset in college football history in terms of point spread. Howard was a 45-point underdog to UNLV and pulled the upset on the back of quarterback Caylin Newton, brother of NFL quarterback Cam Newton, who had 330 total offensive yards in the game.

### At Idaho

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Rebels | 7 | 3 | 24 | 10 | 44 |
| Vandals | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 16 |

### At Ohio State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rebels | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| • No. 10 Buckeyes | 16 | 28 | 10 | 0 | 54 |

### San Jose State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| • Rebels | 14 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 41 |

### San Diego State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • No. 19 Aztecs | 3 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 41 |
| Rebels | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### At Air Force

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rebels | 17 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 30 |
| • Falcons | 0 | 7 | 13 | 14 | 34 |

### Utah State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Aggies | 7 | 21 | 7 | 17 | 52 |
| Rebels | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 28 |

### At Fresno State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Rebels | 3 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 26 |
| Bulldogs | 9 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 16 |

### Hawaii

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rainbow Warriors | 0 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 23 |
| • Rebels | 7 | 0 | 21 | 3 | 31 |

### BYU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Cougars | 0 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 31 |
| Rebels | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |

### At New Mexico

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Rebels | 10 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 38 |
| Lobos | 0 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 35 |

### At Nevada

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rebels | 0 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 16 |
| • Wolf Pack | 6 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 23 |