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UNLV tight end tackles teammate on goal line in bowl game disaster

It was a struggle for UNLV in their 17-10 Frisco Bowl loss to Ohio on Tuesday night at the Ford Center. In the fourth quarter, UNLV’s tight end tackled its running back on the goal line. 

UNLV was down 17-3 with just over five minutes left in the fourth quarter and was in the red zone looking for a touchdown. It was third-and-goal from the Ohio 1-yard line when the offense sabotaged itself. 

Tight end Matt Byrnes came in motion pre-snap, and the ball was snapped once he got past the left tackle. His job on the play was to come through the formation and seal the edge, allowing running back Keyvone Lee to blast through into the end zone for a touchdown. 

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Instead, Byrnes came across and wiped out Lee behind the line of scrimmage for a 1-yard loss on the play. Lee took the handoff and ran two steps before being clobbered by his own teammate. 

UNLV ended up scoring one play later on fourth-and-goal as quarterback Anthony Colandrea ran it in for the touchdown from two yards out, so it all worked out on that drive.

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However, after scoring the touchdown to cut it to 17-10, Ohio ran the clock out and never gave the ball back to UNLV. It was the first time that UNLV had been held under 20 points in 35 games, which had been the longest streak in the nation.

For Ohio, it was their seventh straight win in a bowl game. Defensive coordinator and interim head coach John Hauser led Ohio to the victory after head coach Brian Smith was fired earlier in the month for having an affair with an undergraduate student.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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