Sept. 6, 1999
GAME 2
UNLV (1-0, 0-0 MOUNTAIN WEST)vs. BAYLOR (0-1, 0-0 BIG 12)
DATE: Saturday, Sept. 11, 1999KICKOFF:4:00 pm PDTSITE: Floyd Casey Stadium (50,000/Natural Grass) Waco, TXTV: NoneRADIO: ESPN 920 AM
GAME PREVIEW
UNLV (1-0) heads to the Lone Star State for the second consecutive week with a non-conference clash against Big-12 member Baylor (0-1) in a game that features two head coaches in the first year with their schools ... The contest is the front end of a home-and-home series between the programs that will culminate with the Rebels hosting the Bears in 2002 ... UNLV opened the year by breaking a 16-game losing streak and a 26-game road losing streak (both school records) with a 26-3 victory over North Texas on Sept. 2 ... UNLV is 1-0 for the first time since 1994 and the Rebels look to begin the season 2-0 for the first time since 1992 and for only the second time since 1984 ... Baylor opened its campaign last Saturday by losing a heartbreaker at Boston College, 30-29, when the Bears missed an extra point attempt in overtime, which resulted in the program's seventh straight defeat dating back to last year ... UNLV (0-3) and BU (0-2) are now a combined 0-5 in OT games ... UNLV is 3-2 all-time after playing on Thursday (one other game ended the season) ... Rebel Head Coach John Robinson is 1-0 vs. Baylor, his 1994 squad earned a 37-27 win over the Bears in a game played at the Cotton Bowl ... This marks only the fourth time that UNLV has opened the season with two straight road games in 32 years of football, the Rebels have won both of those games just once (1974).
SERIES NOTES
The Rebels take on Baylor for the third time in history and the Bears hold a 2-0 advantage, including a 1-0 record in Waco ... Since their last meeting, both schools have pulled the artificial turf from their stadiums, BU went to grass in 1998 and the Rebels just this fall ... UNLV has never defeated a team from the Big 12 Conference in six career meetings with four schools that are current members of the league (0-2 vs. Baylor, 0-1 vs. Iowa State, 0-2 vs. Kansas State and 0-1 vs. Nebraska) ... Including last week's victory in Denton, the Rebels are only 2-7 all-time in games played in the state of Texas ... UNLV lists four players from the Lone Star State on its roster, including two defensive-line starters - Ahmad Briggs from Irving and Roderick Jones from Kendleton.
SERIES RECORD:BU leads 2-0 LAST MEETING: 1988 (BU 27-3)UNLV at BU RECORD: 0-1 BU at UNLV RECORD: 1-0UNLV's LARGEST WIN: NoneBU's LARGEST WIN: 24 (27-3, 1988)
SERIES SCORES:DATE SITE RESULT9-19-87 Las Vegas Baylor, 21-149-3-88 Waco Baylor, 27-3
UNLV (1-0) 1999 SCHEDULEDate Opponent Result/Time S. 2 at North Texas W, 26-3S. 11 at Baylor 4 pm PDTS. 18 IOWA STATE 7 pm PDTS. 25 UTAH 7 pm PDTO. 2 at Nevada, Reno 1 pm PDTO. 9 at Wyoming 12 pm PDTO. 16 OPENO. 23 BYU (HOMECOMING)4 pm PDTO. 30 at New Mexico 5 pm PDTN. 6 OPENN. 13 at Air Force 10 am PSTN. 20 SAN DIEGO STATE 1 pm PSTN. 27 COLORADO STATE 1 pm PST
BAYLOR (0-1) 1999 SCHEDULEDate Opponent ResultS. 4 at Boston College L, 30-29 (OT)S. 11 UNLV S. 18 at OklahomaS. 25 TEXASO. 2 NORTH TEXASO. 9 at Texas A&MO. 23 TEXAS TECHO. 30 at Kansas StateN. 6 at KansasN. 13 COLORADON. 20 OKLAHOMA STATE
UNLV QUICK FACTSLocation: Las Vegas, 89154Founded: 1957Enrollment: 21,000Nickname: Rebels (Not Runnin')Colors: Scarlet & GrayPresident: Dr. Carol C. HarterDir. of Athletics: Charles CavagnaroConference: Mountain WestStadium: Sam Boyd StadiumCapacity/Surface: 40,000/Natural GrassRecord in Stadium: 107-64-3 (28th season)UNLV All-Time Record: 176-166-4 (32nd season)All-Time vs. MWC Teams: 17-24-1Head Coach: John RobinsonRecord at UNLV: 1-0 (1st year)Record Overall: 105-35-4 (13th season)Offense: MultipleDefense: 4-3
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
WACO, Texas -- (Sept. 3, 1988)
BAYLOR 27, UNLV 3
UNLV (0-1) traveled to Baylor (1-0) for the first time and was limited to just a field goal in the season debut for both schools. Playing in front of 25,610, the Rebels managed just two first downs and a school-record-low 50 yards of total offense vs. their Southwest Conference foes. The Bears jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first quarter but two BU fumbles and interceptions by UNLV safeties Freddie Phillips and Charles Anthony helped UNLV keep it close. Jim Cook nailed a 41-yard field goal to make it a 10-3 game at halftime. However, Baylor's Jeff Ireland kicked three of his four field goals in the second half and Jeff Murray scored from 17 yards out to help BU cruise to the 27-3 final. UNLV quarterback Derek Sims finished just 4-of-22 passing for 39 yards while eight Bears caught at least one pass from three signal-callers. The Rebels' only bright spot was punter Tony Rhynes, as the junior averaged 45.6 yards on a single-game school-record 13 kicks.
LAS VEGAS -- (Sept. 19, 1987)
BAYLOR 21, UNLV 14
Call it an Ickey coming out party for UNLV (0-2) in front of 27,128 at the Silver Bowl. The second game of the 20th season of Rebel football would mark the first major contribution by senior running back Ickey Woods. Despite carrying the ball only in the second half, Woods gained 114 yards on 11 attempts, including a long of 50 yards. Baylor (2-0), however, used one touchdown and two field goals to take a 13-7 lead at halftime. The Rebels soon rallied as Charles Davis' second scoring reception of the night gave the hosts a 14-13 lead after three quarters. But UNLV's home opener was spoiled when Charles Perry pushed in a two-yard touchdown with 4:48 left in the game and added a two-point conversion to make it 21-14. Baylor won despite piling up 14 penalties for 120 yards. The Rebels, who were meeting only their second SWC opponent, were aided by Tony Rhynes' punting average of 49.6 yards. Woods would go on to lead the nation in rushing with 1,658 yards, including a school-record seven consecutive games with at least 100 yards on the ground.
ON THE OFFENSIVE...
UNLV was perfect in the red zone in game one, converting all three trips into touchdowns ... James Wofford, who finished 10th in the WAC with 74.2 YPG a year ago but has been moved primarily to fullback this fall, passed the 1,500 career rushing yards mark vs. UNT. His 1,517 yards put him in 13th place all-time at the school ... Peter Tramontanas, who spent '98 as an offensive guard, is now the team's starting tight end and made his first career reception at UNT ... Starting H-back Jermaine Curtis caught two balls for seven yards in his Rebel debut.
FOR THE DEFENSE...
The Rebel defense, which gave up as little as 3 points on the road for only the third time in school history, did not allow North Texas to convert any of its four fourth-down attempts ... Senior DB Andre Hilliard led the squad with nine total tackles ... UNLV recorded nine pass breakups at UNT after having only 32 all of last year ... Junior DB Randy Black leads the Mountain West in breakups with three ... Kevin Thomas' first career interception resulted in a 49-yard-touchdown vs. the Eagles ... It was the first interception returned for a score by the UNLV defense since DL Ted Darnell grabbed a tipped pass and rumbled in from 50 yards out at Wisconsin in game two of last year ... MLB James Sunia led the team in tackles last year as a rookie with 115, helping the Hawaiian earn first-team Freshman All-America honors from Football News ... Linebacker Jerrad Pierucci, who is the brother of former starting offensive lineman Jerald Pierucci (1995-98), is the squad's active leader in career tackles with 189.
SPECIAL (TEAMS) DELIVERY...
True-freshman punter Ryan McDonald made his collegiate debut vs. UNT and averaged 32 yards on six kicks. The Oklahoma product replaced 1998 consensus All-American Joe Kristosik, who led the nation last year with a 46.2-yard average. McDonald is the first scholarship punter (or kicker) signed by the Rebels since JC transfer punter Brand Faunce in 1993 ... The Rebel special teams had a hit and miss opener as senior PK Tim O'Reilly had both a field goal blocked and a missed extra point. However, when James Sunia got a hand on UNT kicker Jason Ball's field goal attempt, it marked the first such block for UNLV since Nov. 13, 1993 ... Highlighting the return game for UNLV is Duane "Toy Train" James, who led the team in all-purpose yardage as a freshman in 1998 and finished ranked 22nd in the nation with a 25-yard average on kickoff returns. James returned three punts for 10 yards at UNT.
GAME ONE REVIEW: UNLV 26, NORTH TEXAS 3
ROBINSON'S REBELS NOW STREAK BREAKERS
DENTON, TEXAS -- (Sept. 2, 1999)
The John Robinson Era at UNLV began on a Thursday night in a game shown live on Las Vegas' KLAS TV-8 (CBS) -- believed to be the first time in school history that Rebel football appeared on a network affiliate in prime time. The Rebels broke a school-record 16-game losing streak with a 26-3 victory at North Texas in the season opener for both programs. UNLV won its first game on the road since 1994 by taking advantage of various Eagle miscues and playing stingy defense in front of 19,011 at Fouts Field. After a scoreless first quarter, the Rebels got on the board with a nine-yard run by JC-transfer Jeremi Rudolph, though the PAT was blocked. The Mean Green then knocked in a 24-yard field goal just before the break to cut the lead in half. The 6-3 score marked the first time UNLV had gone into the lockerroom with a lead on the road since leading 7-6, ironically, at USC in 1997. After a scoreless third period, UNLV exploded for 20 points. Another Rudolph run gave the visitors a 13-3 lead and Kevin Thomas stepped in front of a Jason Attaway pass and returned it 49 yards for a touchdown to put the game away. The Rebels' first touchdown passing play finished things off when Jason Vaughan hit freshman DeJhown Mandley for an eight-yard score with less than a minute remaining. UNLV improved its record on Thursday games to 5-2 all-time and moved to 17-15 in season openers, including just 4-10 when opening on the road.
DANDY DEBUT
Highly touted tailback Jeremi Rudolph did not disappoint in his first game as a Rebel. The former Florida State signee and minor league baseball player was John Robinson's first recruit at UNLV after two impressive seasons at Southwest Mississippi Community College. The consensus preseason newcomer of the year for the Mountain West Conference, Rudolph led UNLV to victory last week with 97 yards on 20 carries with a long of 28. The native of Apopka, Fla., scored two touchdowns (nine and three yards), including the team's first points of the year.
DANDY DEBUT PART II
Playing for his fourth team in four years, quarterback Jason Vaughan had a record-breaking premiere for UNLV against UNT. The junior-college transfer was nothing if not efficient in leading his team to victory. Finishing without an interception, his 16-of-19 passing included hitting his final nine attempts. Vaughan's percentage of .840 shattered the school record for single-game completion percentage, besting Randall Cunningham's 21-of-26 (.804) performance vs. Idaho State in 1984. Vaughan also threw his first career I-A touchdown pass when he hit freshman DeJhown Mandley for an eight-yard score late in the game.
DANDY DEBUT PART III
John Robinson's first game coaching the Rebels produced a long list of notable achievements as the school's all-time record for head coaching debuts improved to 5-3. The victory not only broke two school-record losing streaks, but also marked the first win on the road to start a season since 1981. The 23-point margin of victory was the largest road win since a 45-20 game at Oregon State in 1991. It was also the school's second-biggest win in a coaching debut behind Ron Meyer's 38-6 victory over the State College of Arkansas in 1973. Defensively, North Texas' 3 points marked the least allowed since Jeff Horton's coaching debut in the 1994 season opener versus Eastern Michigan. In fact, only twice before in 32 years of Rebel football had UNLV held an opponent to three points or less on the road (25-3 at CS Fullerton in 1991 and 13-0 over CSUF in 1983). Ironically, it was the first time Robinson won his first game at a university. He lost his debut game in both of his stints at Southern California.
