Hajj-Malik Williams threw two first-half touchdown passes to lead UNLV to a 24-13 victory over California Wednesday evening in the LA Bowl at SoFi Stadium, giving the Rebels their first official season with 11 victories since becoming a member of what is now the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1978.
Williams completed just five of 18 passes for 96 yards, but that included a 49-yard touchdown pass to Kayden McGee in the first quarter and a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jacob De Jesus in the second quarter as UNLV ended the season 11-3.
The Golden Bears outgained the Rebels, 348 yards to 291, led 21-12 in first downs and 35:50-24:10 in time of possession before a crowd announced at 24,420.
In 1984, UNLV, led by future four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Randall Cunningham, was 11-2, but forced by the NCAA to forfeit all of its victories due to playing with ineligible players.
California cut the deficit to 14-13 on Ryan Coe’s 30-yard field goal 1:50 before halftime, but was held scoreless in the second half.
Kylin James extended the Rebels’ lead to 21-13 with a 23-yard touchdown run with 2:13 left in the third quarter, one play after freshman quarterback EJ Caminong’s errant lateral was recovered by defensive back Jeff Elad just before the ball went out of bounds.
UNLV freshman Caden Chittenden kicked a 48-yard field goal with 6:01 to play for the only points of the fourth quarter.
The Golden Bears (6-7) scored their lone touchdown when CJ Harris pitched the ball to freshman receiver Josiah Martin who ran to the left hash mark, then galloped 29 yards into the end zone for his first college touchdown, giving them a 10-7 lead with 19 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
California opened the scoring on Derek Morris’ 43-yard field goal on its second drive.
Harris, a fifth-year redshirt sophomore, completed 13 of 20 passes for 109 yards, starting in place of Fernando Mendoza, who started the Golden Bears’ first 11 games before missing the regular-season finale against SMU due to illness, then announced on the social platform X Dec. 11 that he had decided to enter his name in the transfer portal “for the sake of my football future.”
Chandler Rogers started against SMU but suffered a leg injury in the third quarter that forced him out of the 38-6 loss and made him unavailable Wednesday.
Harris spent the first four seasons of his college career at Ohio and was the MVP in the 2022 Arizona Bowl, throwing two touchdown passes, including the walk-off game-winner in overtime, in the Bobcats’ 30-27 victory over Wyoming.
Harris was credited with redshirt seasons in 2021 when he did not play and 2023 when he played in two games. Like all college football players, he was granted an extra year of eligibility because he played one game during the 2020 COVID-19-impacted season.
The Rebels were coached by interim coach Del Alexander, their wide receivers coach since 2023. Barry Odom resigned as UNLV’s coach Dec. 8 to become Purdue’s coach.
UNLV was also without Brennan Marion, its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, who Alexander said, “has decided to move towards other opportunities.” It has been widely reported he will become Sacramento State’s coach.
With Marion’s absence, “the offensive staff is coming together collectively to say what is our plan,” Alexander said at a news conference Tuesday.
The 53-year-old Alexander grew up in South Los Angeles, and was a receiver for University High School in West Los Angeles, West Los Angeles College and USC.
Alexander began his coaching career in 1995 as an assistant video coordinator at USC after playing for the Trojans in 1993 and 1994. He was a graduate assistant in 1996 and 1997, John Robinson’s final two seasons as USC’s coach.
Alexander was also on Robinson’s staff at UNLV as passing game coordinator from 2000-01 and wide receivers and quarterbacks coach in 2002.
Alexander has also coached at Oregon State, San Diego, Wisconsin, Arizona State, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech and was a San Diego Chargers senior offensive assistant in 1999.
The Rebels had a “JR” sticker on their helmets in memory of Robinson, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, who died Nov. 11 at age 89.
“The last time UNLV won a bowl game, it was with him, and I was there with him,” Alexander said at a news conference Tuesday, referring to a 31-14 victory over Arkansas in the 2000 Las Vegas Bowl.
The LA Bowl customarily matches a Pac-12 team against the Mountain West Conference champion. With conference champion Boise State chosen for the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, UNLV, which lost the conference’s championship game to the Broncos 21-7, was chosen as their replacement.
The Rebels won their first three games, their best start since 1984, when quarterback Matthew Sluka announced he would take a redshirt season to preserve his final season of eligibility, with his camp claiming he was owed thousands in name, image and likeness licensing money. UNLV said he received everything he was promised and simply wanted more.
The Rebels won their next game with Williams at quarterback, then lost to Syracuse, 44-41, in overtime.
Both of UNLV’s losses since then were to Boise State, ranked ninth in the final College Football Playoff rankings issued Dec. 8 and bound for the playoff quarterfinal at the Fiesta Bowl. UNLV lost to the Broncos 29-24 on Oct. 25, and 21-7 on Dec. 6.
The LA Bowl has the fifth choice among available former and current Pac-12 teams and selected California (6-6) after the Sun Bowl chose Washington (6-6).
The Golden Bears were seeking their first winning season since 2019 when they were 8-5 and won a bowl game for the most recent time, defeating Illinois, 35-20, in what would be the final Redbox Bowl.
The game came in the midst of finals for California, with coach Justin Wilcox saying his players took a combined 170 finals Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. UNLV’s finals week ended Saturday.