WACO, Texas (AP) _ For a long time, UNLV couldn't win. Now they can't lose.

The Rebels, who last week snapped a 16-game losing streak, got an improbable gift Saturday night when Kevin Thomas returned a fumble 99 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the game to lift UNLV to a 27-24 victory over Baylor.

"I think they're all just shocked," said John Robinson, in his first year as UNLV coach. "It was such a hard-fought game and overwhelming on defense there at the end."

Baylor (0-2), with a first down at the UNLV 8, was ahead 24-21 with less than 20 seconds left and UNLV with no timeouts.

A knee to the turf after the snap would have won the game for the Bears.

But Darrel Bush, whose 9-yard TD run with 6:06 to go had given Baylor the lead, took a handoff and tried to score again with a run up the middle.

With Bush struggling to get into the end zone, linebackers James Sunia and Tyler Brickell converged on him, forcing a fumble at the 1, and Thomas picked up the ball a yard deep in the end zone.

Thomas scampered down the left sideline untouched, racing past a jubilant Runnin' Rebels bench as 32,272 fans stood stunned. Dazed Baylor players were left kneeling on the field, some with their heads on the turf.

Thomas officially was credited with a 99-yard return. UNLV didn't even try the extra point.

Even officials appeared stunned at the outcome, conferring and waiting several moments before declaring Thomas' return a touchdown.

"We got a great lesson tonight," Robinson said. "We hung in there."

The victory for UNLV (2-0) was its first ever against a Big 12 opponent. The loss denied new Baylor coach Kevin Steele his first win.

"Hindsight is 20-20 and I know what the textbook says," Steele said. "There's no defense for it.

"It was just stupid on my part. We were trying to create an attitude of toughness and we tried to hammer it in."

Instead, Baylor got hammered and lost its eighth straight game.

"It was one-in-a-million for something like that to happen," Steele continued. "We got burned and I take full responsibility for it.

"We should have milked the clock at the end, instead we went for the extra points. We played with fire and got burned. It was an expensive mistake."

The Rebels, whose victory last week at North Texas also ended a 26-game road losing streak, got two touchdown passes from Jason Vaughan to Nate Turner.

Vaughan finished 17-of-27 for 192 yards. Five of the completions went to Turner, who wound up with 85 yards receiving.

It's the first time the Rebels have won two nonconference games on the road in a season since 1982.

Jermaine Alfred threw for one touchdown and ran for a second for Baylor.