The Minnesota Golden Gophers' first drive started out in a very promising manner, but ended up quite disappointing, as the UNLV Runnin' Rebels made a big play when they had to in order to keep the Gophers off the scoreboard.
Starting from their own 21-yard line, Donnell Kirkwood got things started for Minnesota with a 14-yard run, and a 3-yard run to follow that up. Quarterback MarQueis Gray then got in on the act, rushing for 18 yards to move the ball into UNLV territory, and after an incompletion, Gray got his first completion of the season to freshman K.J. Maye for 13 yards. After another 10-yard run for Kirkwood, Gray missed what would have been a touchdown strike to John Rabe. Gray then had a short run, and facing 3rd-and-7 from the UNLV 18-yard line, Gray threw a pass over the middle that was tipped and intercepted by UNLV's Tim Hasson. Hasson got a big return out of it, taking the ball into Gopher territory to the 44-yard line.
UNLV is currently driving, and we are tied at zero from Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas early in the first quarter.