San José State vs. UNLV

San José State and UNLV have 29 meetings on file, the first in 1981; officially, San José State leads 21–⁠7–⁠1; as played, 20–⁠8–⁠1 in the games on file. Over the last 10 meetings it’s San José State 7–⁠3. UNLV forfeited the 1984 game. This page counts every game as it was played.

Official series
San José State leads 21–⁠7–⁠1
San José State wins on file
20
UNLV wins on file
8
Ties
1
Earliest on file
1981
Longest streak
7 San José State
Current streak
1 UNLV
Last 10 meetings
San José State 7–⁠3
Most recent
2024

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
’0’1’2’3’4’5’6’7’8’9W–L
1980s6–⁠2–⁠1
1990s5–⁠3
2010s5–⁠2
2020s4–⁠1
Average margin
15.9 points; 10 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At San José State
11–⁠3–⁠1 San José State’s record at home
At UNLV
5–⁠9 UNLV’s record at home
Shutouts
1

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

  1. San José State’s biggest win1991: San José State 55, UNLV 12by 43 points
  2. UNLV’s biggest win2017: UNLV 41, San José State 13by 28 points
  3. Upset1993: UNLV 28, San José State 14UNLV had a 24% chance, by our ratings before kickoff
  4. Upset1992: UNLV 35, San José State 31UNLV had a 25% chance, by our ratings before kickoff

Coach against coach

YearsSan José StateSeriesUNLV
1986–⁠1989Claude Gilbert4–⁠0Wayne Nunnely
1994–⁠1996John Ralston2–⁠1Jeff Horton
2017–⁠2019Brent Brennan1–⁠2Tony Sanchez
2020–⁠2022Brent Brennan3–⁠0Marcus Arroyo

Head-coach pairings with three or more meetings on file, the series read from San José State’s side (Gilbert 4–⁠0 against Nunnely). A season split between coaches goes to the one credited with the game.

Both programs through the years

End-of-season Elo ratings of San José State and UNLV, 1981 on1300150017001990200020102020

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Biggest days

Tyleek Collins UNLV9 catches, 170 yards, 4 TD2018 Receiving
Cade Hall San José State7 tackles, 3 sacks, 4 for loss2020 Defense

Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).

Every game

Nov 21, 2026UNLV at San José State upcomingat San José State
Nov 22, 202423UNLV 27, San José State 16at San José State
Nov 25, 2023San José State 37, UNLV 31at UNLV
Oct 7, 2022San José State 40, UNLV 7at San José State
Oct 21, 2021San José State 27, UNLV 20at UNLV
Nov 14, 2020San José State 34, UNLV 17at San José State
Nov 23, 2019UNLV 38, San José State 35at UNLV
Oct 27, 2018San José State 50, UNLV 37at San José State
Sep 30, 2017UNLV 41, San José State 13at UNLV
Oct 29, 2016San José State 30, UNLV 24at San José State
Oct 10, 2015San José State 33, UNLV 27at UNLV
Oct 4, 2014San José State 33, UNLV 10at San José State
Nov 2, 2013San José State 34, UNLV 24at UNLV
Nov 22, 1997San José State 55, UNLV 48at UNLV
Nov 23, 1996San José State 31, UNLV 28at San José State
Oct 14, 1995San José State 52, UNLV 14at San José State
Oct 29, 1994UNLV 23, San José State 10at UNLV
Nov 13, 1993UNLV 28, San José State 14at San José State
Oct 31, 1992UNLV 35, San José State 31at UNLV
Nov 2, 1991San José State 55, UNLV 12at San José State
Sep 22, 1990San José State 47, UNLV 13at UNLV
Nov 25, 1989San José State 38, UNLV 28at San José State
Nov 19, 1988San José State 42, UNLV 0at UNLV
Oct 24, 1987San José State 48, UNLV 24at San José State
Oct 18, 1986San José State 23, UNLV 20at UNLV
Nov 16, 1985San José State 16, UNLV 16at San José State
Sep 8, 1984UNLV 30, San José State 15forfeitedat UNLV
Sep 10, 1983San José State 31, UNLV 26at San José State
Oct 30, 1982San José State 48, UNLV 14at UNLV
Sep 5, 1981UNLV 16, San José State 6at San José State

Every game is listed as played on the field; a game one side later forfeited is marked “forfeited”; the official series above counts them the NCAA’s way.