AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) -- For the second straight game, Mike Thiessen outperformed starter Cale Bonds in leading Air Force to victory, forcing coach Fisher DeBerry to admit he has a quarterback controversy.

Thiessen guided Air Force to four touchdowns on five possessions midway through the game, and the Falcons manhandled UNLV 35-16 on Saturday.

Air Force (6-3 overall, 2-3 Mountain West) kept its bowl hopes alive by rolling up 418 yards rushing and 504 total yards.

The Falcons built a 35-3 lead in the third quarter before UNLV quarterback Matt Ray, one of five freshmen to start on offense for the Rebels, engineered two late scoring drives.

UNLV (3-6, 1-4) finished with 325 total yards.

Thiessen rushed for 94 yards on 20 carries and completed 4-of-5 passes for 84 yards, including a 29-yard TD pass to tight end Ken Chandler early in the third period.

So who will start in the next game, Thursday night at Colorado State?

"We will evaluate that (Sunday) after looking at film and talking as a staff," DeBerry said. "Mike came in and did some really fine things. I will say this: There's a good chance that both of them will play on Thursday."

Thiessen, who also starred in last week's 28-0 win over Army, refused to be drawn into the debate, saying, "All I can control is when I'm in the game. I'm just happy to be out there. It doesn't matter (who starts).

"Today, I don't think it made a difference who started. Their defense threw a lot at us, and I think both of us handled it very well."

Air Force entered the game with the nation's No. 2 rushing offense, averaging 276 yards per game, and padded its stats considerably.

"What you saw out there was vintage option offense," DeBerry said. "We were able to take the ball and keep it away from UNLV and sustain drives. For a change, we were able to finish up some drives. We were able to get the ball into the end zone whenever we got into the red zone, and that pleased me as much as anything.

"I thought that the drives we had -- the 90-yard drive and the two 80-yard drives -- and our hurry-hurry offense at the end of the first half were things of beauty."

UNLV coach John Robinson also praised the Falcons' attack.

"Air Force executes what they do so well," he said. "They're a marvel of coaching, in my mind. You learn a lesson every time you play somebody like that. They just keep coming at you, and we don't have enough speed to make the plays on the corner."

After two ineffective series to open the game under Bonds, the Falcons switched to Thiessen, who promptly led them 91 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown with 1:45 left in the opening period. Thiessen's delayed pitch in traffic to halfback Scotty McKay went for 40 yards and a score.

"It was a triple option to our right side," Thiessen said, "and basically they came hot with three of their defensive backs. I had two guys coming at me, so I had to get rid of it quick. Scotty was there to pick it up, and there was nobody out there left to get him."

Jeremi Rudolph, who missed the Rebels' last game with a groin injury, had runs of 16, 16 and 24 yards as UNLV drove to the Air Force 24. But Ray, seeing his first collegiate action in place of the injured Jason Vaughan, was sacked on third down by safety Wes Glisson, and the Rebels were forced to punt.

Moments later, Ray completed 15- and 21-yard passes, and Tim O'Reilly kicked a 37-yard field goal, the first of the season for UNLV.

Air Force responded with an 80-yard, nine-play touchdown drive, capped by Nathan Beard's 1-yard run. Thiessen passed 24 yards to Tom Heier on the drive, and Chris Wade went 19 yards with a pitchout.

Linebacker Jamie Arthur's third-down sack of Ray thwarted a subsequent UNLV drive, and the Falcons went 80 yards in 12 plays for another score just before the half. Three plays after Thiessen's 17-yard run, Scott Becker plunged 1 yard on fourth down for a 21-3 halftime lead.

Thiessen's TD pass to Chandler made it 28-3 less than four minutes into the third quarter, and Bonds returned to lead the Falcons on a 57-yard scoring drive, capped by freshman Leotis Palmer's 28-yard run.

Ray threw a 20-yard TD pass to Nate Turner late in the third period. After Ray's 48-yard pass to Len Ware, the Rebels scored again on James Wofford's 10-yard run early in the fourth period.

Ray, whose great uncle is former San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh, completed 10-of-18 passes for 187 yards but was sacked five times.

"I thought Matt did very well," Robinson said. "He has a really good future. I think our team is going to be strong at quarterback over the next three years."