SAN JOSE — San Jose State scored its first victory of the 2018 season, defeating UNLV 50-37 in a Mountain West game Saturday in front of 16,165 at CEFCU Stadium.

It was the first of the season for the Spartans (1-7, 1-3 Mountain West) and coach Brent Brennan, who reveled in a much needed win.

“When Tyler (Nevens) got that first down with about two minutes left is when I knew we got the win,” coach Brent Brennan said. “Up to that point, it was a two possession game. We kept talking to the kids about kicking the door down. In our three conference games, we’ve either had the lead or tied in the fourth quarter and hadn’t won any of them. Our whole thing is we’ve got to believe we can and then kick the door down and finish one.”

The Spartans’ offense was able to control the ball, win the turnover battle 3-1 and keep enough of the momentum over a relatively evenly matched UNLV team. The Rebels churned out 554 yards of offense to the Spartans’ 506.

San Jose’s run game also finally came alive with 157 yards with Nevens leading the way with 103 yards in 22 carries. The Rebels kept pace with 167 run yards, as well.

SJSU quarterback Josh Love’s four touchdown throws were the most in one game by a Spartan since 2013, when David Fales threw for six against Fresno State. Though Love continues to take hits, he continues to hold up, finishing the day with 335 yards in the air on 25 of 36 attempts with one tipped-ball interception.

“I’m a fighter and have always had to prove people wrong and I’ll continue to fight for this team.” he said. “I have the guys’ back and they have mine and we’re just going to continue to fight.”

UNLV quarterback Max Gilliam, who replaced injured Armani Rogers, threw for 387 yards on 28 of 50 attempts and four touchdown passes, but his three interceptions were the big difference.

“I thought we did a good job getting to him and knocking him around a little bit.” Brennan said. “But when studs like Dakari Monroe gets two pick and John Toussant gets one; that made my night.”

Defensively, the Spartans forced three turnovers that were momentum breakers. Safety Jon Lenard and linebacker Jesse Osuna led with 13 and 10 tackles, respectively. But it was Monroe’s two interception and 50-yard touchdown return that capped a relatively good defensive game.

“On the first interception, they had run that play a couple times and it really wasn’t my personal assignment. It was just me reacting to try and make a play and the quarterback overthrew and I made the play.” Monroe said. “On the second one, it was the right defensive call by Coach (defensive coordinator Derrick) Odum and the quarterback was late and it gave me a chance to break on it.”

SJSU opened the third quarter with a 75-yard scoring drive, capped by Love’s 1-yard pass to Brett Foley for a 31-21 advantage. The Spartans pushed the lead to 38-21 on Love’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Tre Hartley.

UNLV cut it to 38-28 when Gilliam hit Tyleek Collins on a 46-yard pass play, but the Spartans responded with a 36-yard field goal by Bryce Crawford (he had hit a 50-yarder in the second quarter) and Monroe’s 50-yard interception return for a touchdown to make it 47-28 (Crawford missed the point after).

Collins was a thorn in the side for the Spartans with 170 yards receiving on nine receptions and four touchdowns.

The Spartans won for the first time since their Nov. 25, 2017 season-ending 20-17 victory over Wyoming. That triumph ended SJSU’s 10-game losing streak. San Jose State has beaten the Rebels (2-6, 0-4) in eight of their past nine meetings. SJSU’s win leaves UTEP (0-8) as the lone winless team in the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision.