Former Florida WR catches key TD in UNLV comeback to win Dan Mullen’s debut
Published:
Former Florida wide receiver DaeDae Reynolds came up very big for the head coach who once recruited him to Gainesville.
In Dan Mullen’s wild, crazy 38-31 victory over a relentless FCS program in Idaho State on Saturday, Reynolds helped his old coach who’s now his new coach win his debut at UNLV. With the Rebels suddenly down 31-24 early in the 4th quarter in Mullen’s much-anticipated UNLV coaching debut at Allegiant Stadium, it was his ex-UF wideout who came to the rescue.
Reynolds’s 9-yard scoring grab from Anthony Colandrea with 11:30 left tied the game at 31-31 and changed the whole momentum of the Week 0 season opener. A few minutes later, the Rebels’ other quarterback, Alex Orji, scored on an 11-yard touchdown run to give UNLV the lead for good.
Mullen and the Rebels had escaped what would have been a disastrous beginning to one of college football’s most anticipated storylines of 2025. And Mullen owed a lot of it to his former Florida wideout, who way back when went by the name Daejon Reynolds when he was in Gainesville with Mullen.
The touchdown was Reynolds’s only catch of the game, and he sure made the 1 catch count.
Here is the video of the TD, complete with a little post-touchdown dance by No. 3:
Reynolds only played in 1 game in that 2021 season as a true freshman, redshirting instead in what turned out to be Mullen’s last season at Florida. So the receiver and coach did cross paths on the field in Gainesville, but it was very brief.
In 2022, Reynolds played in 8 games for Florida, catching 11 passes for 244 yards and 2 touchdowns. He then transferred to Pittsburgh for the 2023 season.
After 2 years at Pitt, Reynolds decided he wanted to finish his college career like he started it — by playing for Mullen, only this time a few time zones away. If their first game back together in Vegas is any indication, it could be a nice re-marriage for both of them.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
