October 10, 2026 - 7:41 pm

Defense was the operative word on Saturday night.

And in the end, it was the defense of UNLV’s football team that made the difference.

The Rebels beat North Dakota State 13-7 in front of 33,516 at Allegiant Stadium, officially clinching the Mountain West victory with a Mumu Bin-Wahad interception in the final minute.

Jai’Den “Jet” Thomas ran for 112 yards on 22 carries for UNLV (4-2, 2-0), which shut out the previously unbeaten Bison (5-1, 2-1) in the second half.

Two second-half field goals from UNLV’s Ramon Villela made the difference on the scoreboard.

A tone was set over the opening 30 minutes. A defensive one.

It was 7-7 at halftime because neither team budged much. The Rebels actually scored their touchdown via an early pick-6 from redshirt freshman defensive lineman Andre Porter, the former Liberty High standout athlete. He returned the interception 23 yards for a score.

It was the first time North Dakota State trailed all season.

But there is a reason the Bison entered having allowed an average of fewer than 10 points. They’re really tough to move the ball against.

It happened that UNLV quarterback Jackson Arnold threw his own first-half interception. That broke a string of no picks for the Auburn transfer over 142 attempts, the longest such streak in UNLV history for a quarterback beginning his Rebels career.

The Bison would tie things at 7-7 when quarterback Nathan Hayes found wide receiver Chris Kiel from 19 yards out.

Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.