Although Northern Illinois won the game, it did not start great for the Huskies. UNLV got on the board first when Blake Decker hit Devonte Boyd in stride for a 64-yard touchdown to stun the home crowd. It was a quick strike and the Rebels were up 7-0. 

Christian Hagan booted a field goal through the uprights from 48 yards to cut the lead to 7-3 for the Huskies but Kurt Palandech extended the lead for UNLV when he ran in from 18 yards. UNLV added a field goal to extend the lead to 17-7 and it looked like this game was slipping away from the Huskies. 

But it was again a response from NIU as Drew Hare led the Huskies down the field and capped it off with a Shane Wimann 16-yard touchdown to cut the lead to only three points. The drive at the end of half seemed to give NIU confidence as they headed into the half only down three points. Led by Hare, who is one of college football's underrated QB's, the NIU offense worked in sync for the final drive of the first half and it showed as a metaphor for the second half as NIU tried to mount a comeback. 

Hare and the offense looked in sync in the start of the second half as they drove down the field in four plays and capped it off with a 16-yard TD pass to Desroy Maxwell to give NIU the lead. UNLV came back with a solid drive but had to settle for a field goal as they tied up the game at 20-20. 

But the second half was the Joel Bouagnon show as he scored his first touchdown of the half right before the end of the third quarter on a 16-yard run. 

UNLV began the fourth quarter with a 51-yard field goal to cut the NIU lead to one. But Bouagnon scored two touchdowns in three minutes to give the Huskies a 15-point lead that they wouldn't give up. 

Decker had his second touchdown pass as he hit Aaron Criswell for a 41-yard touchdown to cut the gap to 38-30. It was UNLV's second big play in the passing game, but it wasn't enough as NIU won their season opener, as they look to rebound after a tough year last season. 

Hare was spectacular, as he finished with 360 yards and two touchdowns. Bouagnon finished the game with 21 carries for 152 yards and three touchdowns. It looks like NIU has found a good offensive tandem to work off as they face Murray State next week.