Denton Passes Nevada Las Vegas to Win

LAS VEGAS —  Sophomore quarterback Jon Denton threw three first-half touchdown passes as Nevada Las Vegas defeated Illinois State, 41-6, Saturday night in a nonconference game.

Denton completed 21 of 30 passes for 295 yards before leaving the game after three quarters. UNLV (2-2) has now doubled its 1996 victory total and will travel to Los Angeles to play USC on Saturday.

The Rebels, who scored on their first six possessions, outgained Illinois State (2-3), a Division I-A opponent, 594 yards to 233 yards.

The Rebels drove 85 yards in 13 plays on their first possession with Denton connecting with Len Ware on a nine-yard touchdown pass play with 8:41 left in the first quarter.

After Tim O’Reilly’s 37-yard field goal gave UNLV a 10-0 lead, Denton found Damon Williams with a 49-yard touchdown pass to increase the Rebel lead to 17-0.

UNLV scored on the next series on a 53-yard pass interception by linebacker Scott Patton with 6:29 left in the first half.

UNLV increased its lead to 31-0 on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Denton to Williams with four seconds remaining in the half.

Reserve quarterback Kevin Crook hooked up with Ware for a 24-yard touchdown pass with 10:57 remaining in the game to close out the UNLV scoring.

The Redbirds scored their touchdown with 27 seconds left on Greg Brown’s one-yard run.

The run capped a 70-yard drive sparked by a 38-yard pass from quarterback Ryan Spielman to Marquis Mosely.

Sophomore running back Coury Hankins led UNLV’s rushing attack with 118 yards on 19 carries.

Ware was the top Rebel receiver with seven catches for 105 yards.

Redbirds’ quarterback Kevin Glenn completed eight of 14 passes for 76 yards despite being under a heavy rush.

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NEXT FOR USC

WHO: Nevada Las Vegas

WHERE: Colisuem

WHEN: Saturday, 7:15 p.m.

TV: Fox Sp. West

RADIO: KLSX-FM (97.1)