Nov. 25, 2000
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Amar Brisco returned an interception 72 yards for a touchdown with 52 seconds left as UNLV beat San Diego State 31-24 on Saturday night to snap a seven-game road losing streak.
Brisco ran untouched down the sideline after stepping in front of Deric Martin and picking off Lon Sheriff's pass.
UNLV (6-5, 4-3 Mountain West Conference) needs to win at Hawaii next Saturday to qualify for either the Las Vegas Bowl or the Silicon Valley Football Classic. Because the Rebels play a 12-game schedule, they need seven victories to be bowl eligible.
San Diego State (3-8, 3-4) was driving for a possible game-winning field goal after UNLV's Dillon Pieffer tied it at 24 on a 27-yard field goal with 3:09 left.
But Brisco's first interception of the season spoiled San Diego State's final game of the year.
UNLV's Jason Thomas completed a career-high 19 passes in 31 attempts for a career-best 277 yards and two touchdowns.
Thomas connected with Bobby Nero on a 53-yard scoring pass and threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Nate Turner in the first half as the Rebels trailed 21-14 at halftime. Turner had 11 catches for a career-high 158 yards.
UNLV tied it at 21 on Kevin Brown's 1-yard run early in the third quarter. In the second half, the Rebels limited San Diego State to Nate Tandberg's 37-yard field goal midway through the third quarter that gave the Aztecs a 24-21 lead.
Sheriff finished 17-of-32 for 328 yards and had a 68-yard TD pass to Derrick Lewis.
Lewis caught three passes for a career-high 153 yards, marking the fourth time in five games he has topped the 100-yard mark. Freshman Jason Van scored his first career touchdowns on runs of 7 and 3 yards. He gained 78 yards on 17 carries.