September 28, 1998
GAME 5
UNLV (0-4, 0-2 WAC)vs. NEVADA, RENO (1-2, 0-0 BIG WEST)
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 3, 1998KICKOFF: 7:07 pm PDTSITE: Sam Boyd Stadium (35,000/Artificial)TV: KOLO-TV in Reno (Dan Gustin & Frank Hawkins)RADIO: KXNT-840 AM, 6:30 pm PDT (Tony Cordasco & Hunkie Cooper)
GAME PREVIEW
The 24th edition of the now-annual Battle for Nevada heads back to Las Vegas to decide possession rights to the fabled Fremont Cannon ... UNLV (0-4), which looks to snap a nine-game losing streak that dates back to last season, returns to Sam Boyd Stadium after two consecutive road games ... The Rebels fell last week 38-16 at Colorado State ... Big West Conference member Nevada, Reno (1-2) continues its traveling after earning its first victory of the season, 27-24, at WAC member Fresno State.
SERIES NOTES
UNR leads the all-time series 13-10 ... The 23 games vs. the Wolf Pack are by far the most played between UNLV and any opponent ... The Rebels once had an 8-4 lead in the series but the Pack have won nine of the last 11 in the rivalry, which is being played for the 10th-consecutive year in '98 ... Last year, UNR, which is one of the Rebels' two oldest rivals, posted a 31-14 win at Mackay Stadium in UNLV's season opener ... Whether it's held north or south, the Big Game has been a big seller of late with the last eight clashes having averaged crowds of 25,345 ... UNLV Head Coach Jeff Horton, a 1981 graduate of UNR, was head coach of the Pack in 1993 ... The Rebels' last win in the series was also the most significant as UNLV's 32-27 victory in 1994 earned it both a conference title and Las Vegas Bowl berth ... With UNR joining the Big West Conference in 1992, these two teams played each other four times as league rivals (1992-95) before UNLV left for the WAC in 1996 ... UNLV has two players on its roster from the Reno area -- LB Bill Cofer and DB Quincy Sanders -- both of whom are former Nevada high school state players of the year ... Former Rebel DB Del Bates, out of Sparks, NV, is now a sophomore cornerback at UNR.
THE BATTLE FOR NEVADASERIES RECORD: UNR leads 13-10 LAST MEETING: 1997 (UNR 31-14)UNR at UNLV RECORD: 5-6UNLV at UNR RECORD: 4-8UNLV's BIGGEST WIN: 38 (45-7 in 1975)UNR's BIGGEST WIN: 42 (50-8 in 1991)
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
RENO, Nev. (Sept. 6, 1997) -- UNR 31, UNLV 14
UNLV (0-1) opened its 30th year of football by traveling to arch-rival Nevada, Reno (1-1) for the 23rd Battle for Nevada. The Wolf Pack won its third straight game in the series, 31-14, to take a 13-10 lead overall and retain possession of the famed Fremont Cannon. UNLV opened with an impressive touchdown drive that culminated with a Sam Mineo score. However, two costly turnovers at the UNR goal line in the second quarter cost the Rebels the lead. Junior College National MVP Rodrick Johnson, in his UNLV debut, fumbled at the opponent's 2-yard line. On the next possession, sophomore QB Jon Denton's second-down pass was deflected before being picked off in the end zone. UNR, which took a 17-7 lead into halftime, was led by senior QB John Dutton, whose 24-33 passing helped the Pack earn 325 yards through the air. The Rebels, who were within 10 points with just over six minutes left, saw UNR RB Chris Lemon carry nine times to put the game away on a final scoring drive. UNLV was led by Todd Floyd's career-high 11 receptions and Johnson's 78 yards rushing on 16 carries. With the loss, the Rebels dropped to 16-14 in season openers.
SERIES SCORES:DATE SITE RESULT11-22-69 Reno UNR, 30-2811-26-70 Las Vegas UNLV, 42-3011-20-71 Reno UNLV, 24-1311-18-72 Las Vegas UNR, 41-1311-17-73 Reno UNR, 19-311-16-74 Las Vegas UNLV, 28-711-22-75 Reno UNLV, 45-711-20-76 Las Vegas UNLV, 49-3311-19-77 Reno UNLV, 27-129-16-78 Las Vegas UNR, 23-149-15-79 Reno UNLV, 26-219-3-83 Las Vegas UNLV, 28-1811-16-85 Reno UNR, 48-710-3-87 Las Vegas UNLV, 24-1911-11-89 Reno UNR, 45-710-20-90 Las Vegas UNR, 26-149-7-91 Reno UNR, 50-810-17-92 Las Vegas UNR, 14-1010-23-93 Reno UNR, 49-1411-19-94 Las Vegas UNLV, 32-2710-28-95 Reno UNR, 55-3210-5-96 Las Vegas UNR, 54-179-6-97 Reno UNR, 31-14
GAME FOUR IN REVIEW
REBELS PLAY BEST GAME OF YEAR VS. DEFENDING WAC CHAMPS
COLORADO STATE 38, UNLV 16
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- UNLV (0-4) scored its most points of the year and gave up the least but still lost its eighth consecutive game, 38-16, at Colorado State (3-2) in front of 27,632 fans -- the fifth-biggest crowd in Hughes Stadium history. The Rams, with their third-consecutive win, tied the all-time series at 3-3-1. CSU starter Ryan Eslinger was knocked out for the day on the first series after a hit by Randy Black that got the DB ejected from the game. However, reserve QB Matt Newton threw three touchdowns and RB Kevin McDougal totalled 117 yards on 17 carries to fend off an inspired Rebel squad. Rick Crowell returned Chris Hayward's first pass attempt 22 yards for a defensive score that gave CSU a 7-0 lead that held up through the first quarter. UNLV, which was shut out in the first half for the first time in 1998, quickly turned to senior QB Kevin Crook, who went on to throw for two scores. The Rebel defense, led by senior Talance Sawyer, forced four fumbles and recovered three but could only convert a lone interception into points. CSU eventually went up 38-7 but a safety by La'anui Correa (UNLV's first since 1993) and Duane "Toy Train" James' first career TD reception gave UNLV the game's final nine points.
ON THE OFFENSIVE...
Fifth-year senior Kevin Crook started the first two games at QB before redshirt freshman Chris Hayward took over. Crook, however, relieved Hayward in the second quarter of week's game and is now listed back atop the depth chart heading into practice ... Damon Williams, who became UNLV's career leader in receptions in the season-opener at Northwestern, has a school-record 38-game streak of catching at least one pass ... Junior WR Len Ware currently ranks 26th in the nation and second in the WAC with a 6.0 RPG average ... At CSU last week, the Rebels turned in season highs for rushing yards (154), total offense (320), first downs (24) and points scored (16) ... UNLV has thrown at least one TD pass in 23 of its last 25 games ... The Rebels have had three starting offensive guards in four games this season: Glenn Pilarowski, Danny Pacheco and Blake Livingood (twice), respectively.
FOR THE DEFENSE...
Preseason First-Team All-WAC DE Talance Sawyer turned in a dominating performance last week at CSU. The senior totaled five tackles-for-loss, two forced fumbles, two pass break-ups and recorded his first QB sack of the year. Sawyer ranks second on the team with 38 total tackles ... When DE La'anui Correa tackled CSU RB Duan Ruff in the end zone last week, it marked the Rebels' first defensive safety since Sept. 4, 1993, at Clemson ... UNLV has not trailed by more than seven points after the first quarter in any game this year ... Redshirt freshman and team captain James Sunia, who leads the team in tackles with a total of 46, had a team season-high 17 vs. Air Force ... Anthony Brown's interception at CSU last week marked the third of the season for the Rebels but the first from the secondary. The Rebels' first two interceptions came from an unlikely source -- the defensive line. At Northwestern, DL Robin Maile caught a deflected pass and at Wisconsin, DE Ted Darnell caught a ball batted by Sawyer and returned the pick 50 yards for a touchdown.
SPECIAL (TEAMS) DELIVERY...
After a down junior season, punter Joe Kristosik is making his senior campaign the best of his career. The Las Vegas native currently ranks sixth in the nation and first in the WAC with a 47.0 YPK average coming on 24 attempts ... As a team, UNLV leads the conference and is ninth nationally with a net punting average of 41.6 YPK ... Also prominent in the rankings is WR/KR Duane "Toy Train" James. The redshirt freshman, who made his first career touchdown catch at CSU last week, currently is third in the WAC and 26th nationally with a 24.7-yard average on kickoff returns.
UNLV vs. UNR TENTATIVE TWO-DEEP
REBEL OFFENSEH 8 DAMON WILLIAMS (6-4, 225, SR-3L) 16 Duane James (5-9, 175, FR-RS)
LT 72 JOHN GREER (6-5, 290, SO-1L) 74 Brandon Ellena (6-4, 275, SR-1L)
LG 64 JERALD PIERUCCI (6-5, 290, SR-3L) 71 Glenn Pilaroswksi (6-3, 295, JR-TR)
C 76 BUBBA GONZALEZ (6-2, 260, SR-2L) 59 Aaron Hall (6-0, 265, FR-RS)
RG 77 BLAKE LIVINGOOD (6-8, 330, SO-SQ) 61 Peter Tramontanas (6-6, 260, FR-HS)
RT 54 BRIAN HART (6-5, 280, SO-SQ) 67 Robert Grundy (6-5, 315, JR-TR) TE 89 SAM MINEO (6-3, 250, SR-3L) 83 Mike Leatham (6-4, 230, SR-1L)
QB 5 KEVIN CROOK (6-3, 200, SR-3L) 11 Chris Hayward (6-4, 210, FR-RS) WR (Z) 82 CARLOS BAKER (5-10, 195, SR-3L) 16 Duane James (5-9, 175, FR-RS)
WR (X) 3 LEN WARE (6-1, 185, JR-2L) 42 Sam Brandon (6-3, 180, SO-SQ) RB 33 JAMES WOFFORD (6-0, 200, SO-1L) 4 Coury Hankins (5-9, 185, JR-2L) REBEL SPECIALISTSKO 17 TIM O'REILLY (6-0, 205, JR-2L)PK 17 TIM O'REILLY (6-0, 205, JR-2L)HOLD 5 KEVIN CROOK (6-3, 200, SR-3L)LS 83 MIKE LEATHAM (6-4, 230, SR-1L) REBEL DEFENSELE 10 RODERICK JONES (6-2, 235, JR-2L) 58 La'anui Correa (65-3, 230, FR-HS)
LT 98 TROY KIRKPATRICK (6-5, 255, SR-1L) 91 Robin Maile (6-1, 290, SR-1L)
RT 99 TED DARNELL (6-5, 270, SR-3L) 92 Derrick Monroe (6-2, 285, SR-3L) RE 9 TALANCE SAWYER (6-2, 290, SR-3L) 49 Alonzo Jones (6-2, 220, SR-3L) WILL 55 JERRAD PIERUCCI (6-2, 225, JR-2L) 45 Steve Newton (6-3, 225, FR-RS)
MIKE 43 JAMES SUNIA (5-10, 240, FR-RS) 50 Dusty Pearce (6-2, 250, JR-TR) BANDIT 44 GREG GALES (6-2, 235, SR-2L) 48 Tyler Brickell (6-4, 230, SO-1L) LC 23 JAMES TEELE (5-10, 180, SR-1L) 26 Andre Hilliard (5-8, 155, JR-TR)
NICKEL 22 RANDY BLACK (6-0, 200, SO-1L) 20 Kawika Batoon (5-10, 175, SO-1L) FS 36 ANTHONY BROWN (6-0, 205, SR-2L) 1 Mark Hays (5-10, 190, SR-1L)
RC 28 KEVIN THOMAS (5-11, 165, FR-RS) 26 Andre Hilliard (5-8, 155, JR-TR) REBEL SPECIALISTSPUNT 97 JOE KRISTOSIK (6-3, 220, SR-3L) 17 Tim O'Reilly (6-0, 205, JR-2L)KOR 16 DUANE JAMES (5-9, 175, FR-RS) 3 Len Ware (6-1, 185, JR-2L)PR 16 DUANE JAMES (5-9, 175, FR-RS) 3 Len Ware (6-1, 185, JR-2L)
