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LAS VEGAS (Ticker) -- Looking more like a Heisman Trophy hopeful than teammate Damien Anderson, Zak Kustok ran for three scores and passed for two more as 20th-ranked Northwestern opened its season with a 37-28 victory over Nevada-Las Vegas. Kustok helped Northwestern (1-0) overcome a sluggish first half and 10 penalties totaling 113 yards. He scored on runs of three, 12 and one yard and threw second-half touchdown passes to tight end Eric Worley and Sam Simmons. Held in check in the first half, Anderson ran for 113 yards on 28 carries and became the leading rusher in school history. But his string of carries without a fumble ended at 318 in the second quarter and he did nothing to improve his Heisman chances. "They did a good job and we suspected they would focus on (Anderson)," Northwestern coach Randy Walker said. "If I was playing us, that is what I would do. We spent all spring and summer preparing for that." Ranked in the preseason polls for the first time since 1996, the Wildcats did not take the lead for good until David Wasielewski kicked a 45-yard field goal on the final play of the first half to make it 9-7. Northwestern took the second-half kickoff and moved 79 yards in eight plays, with Kustok stumbling 12 yards into the end zone for his second TD of the game and a 16-7 cushion. Coming off an embarrassing 66-17 loss to Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl, the Wildcats had a couple of key goal-line stands. But they were kept off-balance by scrambling quarterback Jason Thomas and surrendered 453 total yards to a UNLV team that amassed just 298 yards in last week's 14-10 loss to Arkansas. Thomas completed 18-of-39 passes for 304 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. His favorite target was Michael Johnson, who had eight catches for 174 yards and two TDs. Joe Haro carried 25 times for 104 yards and a score, but the Rebels fell to 0-2. "We had enough positives to win the game, but we made enough mistakes to lose it," UNLV coach John Robinson said. "On defense, we played well enough, just like last week. We still made errors that we have to correct on both sides of the ball." Before the game, Northwestern paid tribute to Rashidi Wheeler, the senior defensive back who died from asthma-related complications during a conditioning drill on August 3. "It's all about trust," Walker said. "We are asking young men to go out there and we must put it in perspective. When all is said and done, there must be an element of trust." Haro burst up the middle for a 10-yard touchdown that got the Rebels within 16-14 early in the third quarter and UNLV got back the ball after Wasielewski's 34-yard field goal his the left upright. But defensive end Napoleon Harris intercepted Thomas at the Rebels' 43 and Northwestern needed just six plays to reach the end zone as Kustok connected with Worley for a three-yard score. UNLV threatened late in the third quarter, but Haro fumbled while lunging for a first down. Linebacker Kevin Bentley returned it 45 yards to the Rebels' 32 and Kustok hooked up with Simmons for an 18-yard TD in the opening minute of the fourth quarter to open a 30-14 lead. Simmons had a career-high 161 yards on 11 catches. "I just saw Joe leap for the first down and I was getting ready to call the next play. Then I look up and see a Northwestern player running the other way," Robinson said. UNLV answered on a 42-yard scoring strike from Thomas to Johnson, but Kustok's one-yard plunge capped a 42-yard drive and gave Northwestern a 37-22 cushion with 5:14 remaining. Thomas and Johnson connected on a 53-yard TD with just over two minutes to play, but the two-point conversion failed and the Wildcats recovered the ensuing onside kickoff to end the Rebels' six-game home winning streak.
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