ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Coming off tough back-to-back games against Utah and Oregon State of the Pac-12 and with 19th-ranked BYU on deck, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh stressed to his team this week the importance of not overlooking winless UNLV on Saturday.

The Wolverines (2-1) responded by building a 21-0 halftime lead and cruising to a 28-7 victory over the Rebels (0-3) before a crowd of 108,683 at Michigan Stadium.

"I was pleased with the way our team played," Harbaugh said. "They did what we asked them to do and that was to take care of business. ... It felt like we improved today as a team and got the win."

Junior running back Ty Isaac rushed for a career-high 114 yards on eight carries, including a 76-yard touchdown, to back a strong defensive effort by the Wolverines.

Senior wide receiver Jehu Chesson and senior fullback Sione Houma each added touchdown runs, and junior running back De'Veon Smith caught a five-yard touchdown pass for Michigan.

Senior quarterback Jake Rudock completed 14-of-22 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown, but also threw his fifth interception in three games.

The Wolverines finished with 377 yards, including 254 yards rushing, while limiting UNLV to 235 yards, including only 111 over the first three quarters. The Rebels managed 92 yards rushing on 36 carries.

"Obviously they're a big physical defense up front," UNLV coach Tony Sanchez said. "We had a tough time moving those guys around and that led to us not being able to sustain any kind of a run game, which made it tough on offense."

Michigan held the Rebels to 93 total yards in the first half while building its 21-0 lead. UNLV didn't cross midfield until the final play of the first half when fullback George Naufahu ran 18 yards to the Michigan 49.

Rebels starting quarterback Blake Decker, listed as questionable heading into the game after limping off the field at the end of the first half of last week's 37-3 loss to UCLA with an obturator internus strain near his hip, started but struggled.

Decker completed 8-of-16 passes for 96 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.

"It's tough," Decker said. "It's frustrating to come out and do what we did offensively in the first half when the defense is playing so well.

"You can't turn the ball over in games like this, and two of those are on me."

Decker's first pass of the game was intercepted by cornerback Channing Stribling, who returned it 30 yards to the UNLV 32-yard line. Seven plays later, Rudock connected with Smith for a five-yard touchdown to give the Wolverines a quick 7-0 lead.

"Started fast," Harbaugh said. "That was a key for us in the game. We wanted to improve in that area."

Michigan made it 14-0 early in the second quarter on a 36-yard end around by Chesson. Isaac, a transfer from USC, broke free for a 76-yard touchdown run off left tackle a few minutes later to make it 21-0.

"It was a fantastic run by Ty Isaac," Harbaugh said. "We didn't block it right -- it wasn't blocked the way we drew it up -- we missed a block, and I thought it was going to be a tackle for loss.

"And Ty did a real good job somehow. He swerved, he avoided, he made a tackler miss, bounced off another and then it was off to the races. It was the darndest thing I've seen in a long, long time.”

Michigan upped the margin to 28-0 on a one-yard plunge by Houma with 11:31 remaining.

UNLV broke the shutout five plays later when Decker hit sophomore wide receiver Devonte Boyd with a six-yard touchdown pass.

"They wanted to get a shutout," Harbaugh said of his defense. "They played fantastic football and darn near got a shutout. ... (UNLV) has got a good football team. They're going to win some games. Maybe a lot of games."

NOTES: RB Ty Isaac's 76-yard touchdown run was Michigan's longest since Denard Robinson went 79 yards for a touchdown against Air Force in 2012. ... Michigan improved to 8-0 against teams currently playing in the Mountain West Conference. The Wolverines did lose to Utah 25-23 in 2008 before the Utes left the MWC for the Pac-12. ... Both teams finish nonconference play next week with home games. Michigan plays BYU, while UNLV plays Idaho State. ... UNLV dropped to 0-10 all-time in games played in the Eastern Time Zone.