LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The UNLV Rebels football team seems to have found its groove.
The Rebels won their third-straight outing and reclaimed the famed island showdown trophy, the "Golden Pineapple."
Now, the team will rest on their bye week before preparing for another rival match-up — the battle for the Fremont Cannon in Reno.
A new era of Rebel football is taking shape. Head Coach Barry Odom earned his first conference win at UNLV over Hawaii 44-20.
"Every game is going to be so hugely important when you get in the conference play," he said.
The Rebels scored at least 40 points or more in three straight games for the first time in program history, but the work is far from over.
"We're a long way away from where we need to be," he said. "We need everybody that steps on the field in a position to help us. They've got to play winning ball. It doesn't matter if you're a freshman or a senior."
Redshirt freshman, Liberty High School graduate Jayden Maiava, started his second consecutive game as quarterback, throwing for 142 yards and two touchdowns in place of injured QB Doug Brumfield.
The first week of October is the Rebel's only week off, and already their focus is looking forward to the battle for the Fremont Cannon against the Wolf Pack in Reno on Oct. 14.
"I feel the responsibility to go win the game for a lot of people," Odom said.
If the Scarlet and Gray secure two more wins, the program will qualify for its first bowl game since 2013.
In the meantime, UNLV football's coaching staff will stay hard at work, recruiting heavily to look for their next generation of Rebel players.
"We'll hit the schools in the city that we haven't hit so far yet this evaluation period and try to focus again on the city of Vegas," Odom said.
Vegas sports is once again coming together on a united front. The Las Vegas Raiders will donate a million dollars to UNLV athletics to show support for the football program and will unveil the Al Davis Team Room at Fertitta Football Complex on Tuesday.
"Very thankful to be in the same city, very thankful for the partnership we have with him," Odom said. "And I would suggest that it will be a long-standing on both sides, working together to create opportunities for those that we have a chance to impact."
To celebrate the donation and partnership with the Raiders and UNLV, Raiders owner Mark Davis and President Sandra Douglass Morgan are scheduled to be in attendance on Tuesday.
