October 26, 1998
GAME 9UNLV (0-8, 0-5 WAC)vs. TULSA (2-5, 0-4 WAC)
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 31, 1998KICKOFF: 1:00 pm PSTSITE: Sam Boyd Stadium (32,000) Las VegasTV: NoneRADIO: KXNT-840 AM, 12:30 pm PST (Tony Cordasco & Hunkie Cooper)
GAME PREVIEW
UNLV (0-8, 0-5) returns home to battle WAC Mountain Division foe Tulsa (2-5, 0-4) for the first time since 1994 ... Against the Golden Hurricane, the Rebels will attempt to snap a school-record 13-game losing streak ... Last week, UNLV suffered its second consecutive heart-breaking loss, 10-7, at SMU while Tulsa fell 42-21 to visiting Air Force ... Coupled with a 28-25 overtime loss the previous week, it marked the first time the Rebels lost consecutive games by less than a combined 10 points since 1986 when UNLV lost two straight games by a total of four points (7-6 to Utah State and 23-20 to San Jose State) ... Four of UNLV's first eight opponents this season received votes in the current USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll: No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 23 Air Force, Wyoming (32nd) and Colorado State (33rd) ... The Rebels' schedule is currently ranked the 26th-toughest in the nation by the Sagarin Ratings ... STAT OF THE WEEK: UNLV is 2-0 all-time when playing at home on Halloween (35-31 over San Jose State in 1992 and 17-12 over New Mexico State in 1985).
SERIES NOTES
These two teams have met only twice and Tulsa has won both games ... The 1988 game in Las Vegas came during Dave Rader's first season as head coach and the Golden Hurricane whipped the Rebels 33-7 led by former Tulsa great T.J. Rubley's 230 yards passing. ... The 1994 game in Tulsa came during Jeff Horton's first season as head coach and was a wild affair that included two of the longest plays vs. UNLV in history. Jason Jacoby's 100-yard kickoff return and Solomon White's 93-yard run are both records for Rebel opponents in their respective categories ... Despite the Golden Hurricane pulling away for a 22-point win, UNLV went on to capture the Big West Conference championship and win the Las Vegas Bowl 52-24 over Central Michigan ... Saturday will mark the first and last time the two teams will meet as WAC opponents as UNLV will join seven other teams in leaving the league to form their own conference beginning in 1999.
SERIES RECORD: TULSA 2-0 LAST MEETING: 1994 (TU 44-22)TULSA at UNLV RECORD: 1-0 UNLV at TULSA RECORD: 0-1UNLV's LARGEST WIN: NoneTULSA's LARGEST WIN: 26 (33-7 in 1988)SERIES SCORES:DATE SITE RESULT10-29-88 Las Vegas Tulsa, 33-710-15-94 Tulsa Tulsa, 44-22
UNLV (0-8) 1998 SCHEDULEDate Opponent Result/Time S. 5 at Northwestern L, 41-7S. 12 AIR FORCE L, 52-10S. 19 at Wisconsin L, 52-7S. 26 at Colorado St. L, 38-16O. 3 NEVADA, RENO L, 31-20O. 10 at BYU L, 38-14O. 17 WYOMING (HC) L, 28-25 (OT) O. 24 at SMU L, 10-7O. 31 TULSA 1 pm PSTN. 7 OPENN. 14 at Rice 2 pm CST N. 21 TCU 1 pm PST
TULSA (2-5) 1998 SCHEDULEDate Opponent Result/TimeS. 5 SW MISSOURI ST W, 49-14S. 12 OKLAHOMA ST W, 35-20S. 26 at West Va. L, 44-21O. 3 SAN DIEGO ST. L, 24-14O. 10 at Colorado St. L, 34-7O. 17 at Rice L, 14-10O. 24 AIR FORCE L, 42-21O. 31 at UNLV 1 pm PSTN. 14 at Rice 2 pm CSTN. 21 TCU 1 pm CST
UNLV QUICK FACTSLocation: Las Vegas, 89154Founded: 1957Enrollment: 20,000Nickname: Rebels (Not Runnin')Colors: Scarlet & GrayPresident: Dr. Carol C. HarterDir. of Athletics: Charles CavagnaroConference: Western Athletic/Mtn. Div.Stadium: Sam Boyd StadiumCapacity/Surface: 32,000/ArtificialRecord in Stadium: 107-62-3 (26 seasons)UNLV All-Time Record: 175-163-4 (30 seasons)All-Time vs. WAC: 37-59-2Head Coach: Jeff Horton (UNR '81)Record at UNLV: 13-41 (5th year)Record Overall: 20-45 (6th year)Off. Coordinator: Buzz Preston (Hawaii '82)Def. Coordinator: Ruffin McNeill (ECU '80)Offense: MultipleDefense: 4-3
UNLV HEAD COACH JEFF HORTON
Jeff Horton, who turned 41 this summer, is in his fifth season at the helm of the Rebel football program and sixth as a Div. I-A head coach. The seventh head man in UNLV's 30 years of football history, Horton has a career record of 20-45 and 13-41 for the Rebels. Facing a half-decade in charge, Horton will tie original coach Bill Ireland (1968-72) for second-longest stint leading UNLV football. Only Tony Knap (1976-81) coached the Rebels longer. Named the 1994 Big West Co-Coach of the Year after leading UNLV to its second-ever league title and bowl win, Horton graduated from Nevada, Reno in 1981 and later received his master's from the Univ. of San Francisco. He came to Las Vegas after spending the 1993 season as head coach of UNR, where he also had been assistant coach from 1985-89 and '92. Horton also served a stint as a UNLV assistant from 1990-91. Born July 13, 1957, Horton is married to the former Teri Arden of Reno.
HORTON'S CAREER RECORDYEAR SCHOOL TOT CONF FIN1998 UNLV 0-8 0-5 8th1997 UNLV 3-8 2-6 7th1996 UNLV 1-11 1-7 T7th1995 UNLV 2-9 1-5 10th1994 UNLV 7-5 5-1 T1st1993 UNR 7-4 4-2 3rd
TOTAL 6 Years 20-45 13-26
TULSA HEAD COACH DAVE RADER
Now in his 11th year guiding his alma mater, Dave Rader has a career record of 46-72-1. His 46 wins stands third on Tulsa's all-time coaching list and he has coached the most games in school history -- 119. A native of Wichita, Kansas, Rader graduated from Tulsa in 1980. A starting quarterback for the Golden Hurricane under then-head coach John Cooper, Rader was drafted by the San Diego Chargers and played one season with the New York Giants. He was quarterbacks coach at Alabama from 1983-85 and moved to serve one season as offensive coordinator at Mississippi State a year later. He returned to Tulsa in 1987 as quarterbacks coach and became the 24th head coach in school history in 1988 at the age of 31. During his decade of leadership Rader has led the Golden Hurricane to two bowl appearances: the 1989 Independence and the 1991 Freedom.
GAME EIGHT IN REVIEWLAST-MINUTE TOUCHDOWN FOILS REBELS IN DEFENSIVE BATTLE SMU 10, UNLV 7
DALLAS -- In the first meeting between the schools in 14 years, SMU's Jacoby Rhinehart's 21-yard touchdown reception from Chris Sanders with just 22 seconds left lifted the Mustangs (3-5) to a crushing victory over UNLV (0-8). The Rebels, who visited the historic Cotton Bowl for the first time, fell for the second second consecutive week by three points. The team set the school record for consecutive losses with 13 and extended its school-record with a 25th-straight road defeat. Playing tough defense and taking numerous chances, the Rebels went into halftime down just 3-0 after a short Mustang field goal. UNLV's Chad Reed, who started his third consecutive game at quarterback, threw an 11-yard scoring pass to freshman Sam Brandon to take a 7-3 lead in the third quarter. The teams continued to exchange punts (18 total ) until the Rebels attempted to drive for a clinching score. UNLV rushed into Mustang territory but a holding call forced a punt from mid-field with 2:49 left on the clock. SMU then marched on a 15-play, 80-yard scoring drive that included two fourth-down conversions that led to the winning touchdown. Despite the loss, UNLV's defense shined by posting season lows in points allowed, rushing yards, first downs, and total yards. Also, Rebel WR Damon Williams' four catches moved the senior into second place in career receiving yards at the school while sophomore RB James Wofford led the rushing attack with 76 yards on 24 carries.
ON THE OFFENSIVE...
UNLV has started three quarterbacks this season: senior Chad Reed (3 games), senior Kevin Crook (3) and redshirt freshman Chris Hayward (2) ... Reed is the only signal-caller to play an entire game and has led the team for 12 straight quarters ... Damon Williams, who became UNLV's career leader in receptions in the season-opener at Northwestern and is one of 32 players on the 1998 Biletnikoff Award Watch List, had a school-record 39-game streak of catching at least one pass snapped at BYU ... Reed, a former Memphis QB, threw his first two touchdowns as a Rebel vs. Wyoming ... James Wofford, who is currently 12th in the WAC with 67.5 YPG, is the first Rebel to earn more than 500 yards rushing in consecutive seasons since Omar Love in 1993-94 ... Sam Brandon caught his first career touchdown pass last week from Reed for UNLV's only points vs. SMU ... WR Len Ware's 56 yards vs. Wyoming moved the junior from 11th to ninth place on the schools' career receiving yardage list with 1,796. Ware missed last week's game because of a family funeral.
FOR THE DEFENSE...
UNLV has held its opponent to a season-low in points allowed for two straight weeks ... The Rebels have 11 QB sacks in three games after recording only three in the first five. The team only had 15 all of last year ... UNLV has two defensive scores this season and six in two years ... All of the Rebels' seven interceptions this season were by different players -- including four by non-defensive backs. DEs Ted Darnell (who scored a TD with his) and Talance Sawyer join DL Robin Maile and LB Greg Gales with one pick each this fall ... Preseason First-Team All-WAC DE Sawyer leads the conference in tackles for loss with 17 for 56 yards. Sawyer, who leads the team with four QB sacks, also has five pass break-ups, two forced fumbles and one interception on the year ... Redshirt freshman and team captain James Sunia, who leads the team in tackles with a total of 88, had a team season-high 17 vs. Air Force. He has found a home among the WAC's top-five in total tackles.
SPECIAL (TEAMS) DELIVERY...
As a team, UNLV leads the conference and is second nationally with a net punting average of 41.4 YPK ... Boosted by Duane "Toy Train" James' 78-yard punt return vs. UNR, the Rebels are second in the league and fifth nationally in team punt returns with 16.4 YPR ... UNLV has not had a field goal of longer than 37 yards since 1996 ... At BYU, the Rebels blocked a punt for the first time since Sept. 23, 1995, at Iowa State and then repeated the feat one week later vs. Wyoming ... Against UNR, UNLV blocked a field goal for the first time since Nov. 13, 1993, vs. San Jose State.
NO ORDINARY JOE
After a down junior season, UNLV punter Joe Kristosik is making his senior campaign the best of his career. In fact, he may just become the fourth punter in UNLV history to earn All-American honors. The Las Vegas native currently leads the WAC and ranks third in the nation with a 46.3 average coming on 60 attempts, which is the most of any punter in the nation's top-50. At BYU, Kristosik tied the UNLV and record for punts in one game with 13 and averaged an 52.5. Of those boots, eight went 50 yards or longer and four went 60 or longer, including two at a season long of 67 yards. On the year, Kristosik has an amazing 21 kicks that traveled at least 50 yards, including eight that went 60 yards or longer. The former prep quarterback at Bishop Gorman High School has twice been named the WAC's Special Teams Player of the Week (Sept. 28 after averaging 51.3 YPK at CSU and Oct. 12 after the BYU game) to become the first punter in school history to earn a conference player of the week honor since the program joined the Big West in 1982. Kristosik is just 12 punts away from the UNLV single-season record set by Steve Gortz in 1978 and 22 away from the career record of 232 held by Jim DiFiore (1970-73).
UNLV vs. TULSA 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) 71 Glenn Pilarowski (6-4, 315, JR-TR) LG 64 JERALD PIERUCCI (6-5, 290, SR-3L) 74 Brandon Ellena (6-4, 275, SR-1L)
C 76 BUBBA GONZALEZ (6-2, 260, SR-2L) 59 Aaron Hall (6-0, 265, FR-RS)
RG 61 PETER TRAMONTANAS (6-6, 260, FR-HS) 77 Blake Livingood (6-8, 330, SO-SQ)
RT 67 ROBERT GRUNDY (6-5, 315, JR-TR) 71 Glenn Pilarowski (6-4, 315, JR-TR) TE 89 SAM MINEO (6-3, 250, SR-3L) 83 Mike Leatham (6-4, 230, SR-1L)
QB 7 CHAD REED (6-1, 210, SR-1L) 11 Chris Hayward (6-4, 210, FR-RS)
WR (Z) 42 SAM BRANDON (6-3, 180, FR-RS) 16 Duane James (5-9, 175, FR-RS)
WR (X) 3 LEN WARE (6-1, 185, JR-2L) 82 Carlos Baker (5-10, 195, SR-3L) RB 33 JAMES WOFFORD (6-0, 200, SO-1L) 4 Coury Hankins (5-9, 185, JR-2L) REBEL SPECIALISTSKO 13 DANA BARSUHN (5-10, 180, SR-1L)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 99 TED DARNELL (6-5, 270, SR-3L) 58 La'anui Correa (65-3, 230, FR-HS) LT 92 DERRICK MONROE (6-2, 285, SR-3L) 73 Justin Conway (6-1, 280, SO-1L)
RT 91 ROBIN MAILE (6-1, 290, SR-1L) 68 Faaolo Alovao (6-2, 270, FR-RS) RE 9 TALANCE SAWYER (6-2, 290, SR-3L) 10 Roderick Jones (6-2, 235, JR-2L)
WILL 55 JERRAD PIERUCCI (6-2, 225, JR-2L) 51 Devon Rose (6-0, 205, 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 26 ANDRE HILLIARD (5-8, 155, JR-TR) 23 James Teele (5-10, 180, SR-1L) NICKEL 1 MARK HAYS (5-10, 190, SR-1L) 20 Kawika Batoon (5-10, 175, SO-1L)
FS 36 ANTHONY BROWN (6-0, 205, SR-2L) 31 Tumua Vitale (5-11, 185, FR-RS)
RC 28 KEVIN THOMAS (5-11, 165, FR-RS) 23 James Teele (5-10, 180, SR-1L) 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)
