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UNLV (3-2, 1-1 MOUNTAIN WEST)vs.COLORADO STATE (4-1, 1-0 MWC)
DATE: Saturday, Oct. 14, 2000KICKOFF: 6:30 pm PDTSITE: Hughes Stadium (30,000/Grass) Fort Collins, COTV: ESPN2 (Mark Jones & Gino Torretta)RADIO: ESPN 920 AM (Larry Kahn & Tony Cordasco)
GAME PREVIEW
UNLV (3-2) looks to win its first road game of the season when it visits MWC power Colorado State (4-1) in a key league battle Saturday ... The Rebels hope to go 4-2 and win three straight games overall for the first time since the 1994 season ... The game will be televised by ESPN2, which marks UNLV's first national TV appearance since the 1994 Las Vegas Bowl (ESPN) ... The Rebels are coming off a 38-7 victory over in-state rival UNR, as the team re-captured the fabled Fremont Cannon by breaking a five-game losing streak to the Wolf Pack ... CSU won its league opener Saturday, 17-14, over New Mexico ... The last time UNLV won three straight games was Sept. 24 (23-21 at Utah State), Oct. 1 (31-27 at New Mexico State) and Oct. 8 (24-20 La. Tech), 1994 ... After going winless at home in head coach John Robinson's debut season, the Rebels are 3-0 at home in 2000 ... The last time UNLV won three straight games at home was 1997 ... UNLV has now as many games -- six -- in John Robinson's first 16 games as coach than the program's previous four seasons combined (6-39 from 1995-98) ... By Saturday, UNLV will have already appeared on TV five times this season -- besting the school-record four showings last year ... The Rebels have surrendered only three points in the fourth quarter all year, given up no second-half points in the last four games and shut out their opponent in 12 of the last 16 quarters ... Rebel QBs have thrown just two interceptions in the last 38 quarters ... Jason Thomas is ranked second nationally in passing efficiency behind Jonathan Beasley of Kansas State.
SERIES NOTES
CSU leads the all-time series 4-3-1, including four straight wins in as many years ... UNLV looks for its first victory over the Rams since 1982 ... The Rebels jumped out to a 3-0-1 lead over CSU while playing in the late 1970s and early `80s when UNLV first thought itself heading into the WAC ... UNLV has one player on its roster from the state of Colorado -- freshman QB Kurt Nantkes of Aurora ... CSU head coach Sonny Lubick once coached at nearby Beatty (Nev.) High School, which plays eight-man football.
SERIES RECORD: CSU leads 4-3-1LAST MEETING: 1999 (CSU 35-17)UNLV at CSU RECORD: 3-2CSU at UNLV RECORD: 2-0-1UNLV's LARGEST WIN: 41 (56-15 in 1980)CSU's LARGEST WIN: 26 (45-19 in 1997)
DATE SITE RESULT
10-21-78 Fort Collins UNLV, 33-611-17-79 Las Vegas TIE 21-219-27-80 Fort Collins UNLV, 56-1511-6-82 Fort Collins UNLV, 36-319-21-96 Fort Collins CSU, 35-1611-1-97 Las Vegas CSU, 45-199-26-98 Fort Collins CSU, 38-1611-27-99 Las Vegas CSU, 35-17
2000 SCHEDULES/RESULTS
UNLV (3-2)
Date Opponent (TV) TimeS. 9 at Iowa State (KFBT) L, 37-22S. 16 NORTH TEXAS W, 38-0S. 23 at BYU (KFBT) L, 10-7S. 30 AIR FORCE (ABC) W, 34-13O. 7 UNR (S.West)W, 38-7O. 14 at Colorado St. (ESPN2) 6:30 pm PDTO. 21 WYOMING-HC (S.West)4 pm PDTO. 28 at Mississippi 11 am PDTN. 4 at Utah (ESPN+) TBAN. 11 NEW MEXICO (S.West)TBAN. 25 at San Diego St.(S.West)4 pm PSTD. 2 at Hawaii 8 pm PST
COLORADO STATE (4-1)
Date Opponent Time
S. 2 vs. Colorado W, 28-24S. 9 EAST TENN. ST. W, 41-7S. 16 at Arizona St. L, 13-10S. 30 at UNR W, 45-14O. 7 NEW MEXICO W, 17-14O. 14 UNLV 7:30 pm MDTO. 21 at UtahO. 28 at San Diego St.N. 2 BYUN. 11 at Air ForceN. 16 WYOMING
UNLV QUICK FACTS
Location: Las Vegas, NV 89154Founded: 1957Enrollment: 23,000Nickname: Rebels (Not Runnin')Colors: Scarlet & GrayPresident: Dr. Carol C. HarterDir. of Athletics: Charles CavagnaroFaculty Representative: Dr. Myrlene LaMancusaConference: Mountain WestStadium: Sam Boyd StadiumCapacity/Surface: 36,800/Natural GrassRecord in Stadium: 110-69-3 (28 seasons)UNLV All-Time Record: 181-176-4 (33rd season)All-Time vs. MWC: 20-31-1Head Coach: John RobinsonRecord at UNLV: 6-10 (2nd year)Record Overall: 110-45-4 (14th season)1999 Record: 3-8/1-6 T8thOffense: MultipleDefense: 4-3
THE LAST TIME THEY MET
COLORADO STATE 35, UNLV 17
SENIOR DAY YIELDS DOG FIGHT WITH LEAGUE CHAMPS
LAS VEGAS -- (Nov. 27, 1999) Despite honoring the team's 15 seniors with an inspired effort, UNLV (3-8) lost its 12th straight home game and fifth overall as Colorado State (8-3) earned a share of the inaugural MWC championship with a 35-17 win in front of 16, 498. The Rebels struck first with a Jeremi Rudolph two-yard run. CSU evened the score but the Rebels used a Matt Ray touchdown pass to James Wofford to move ahead 14-7. The Rams answered again but Tim O'Reilly's 34-yard field goal gave the hosts their first halftime lead since Oct. 9 at Wyoming, 17-14. CSU scored all the points in the second half, however, as the Rams were led by Kevin McDougal's 113 yards rushing. For the Rebels, true freshman Ray continued his stellar play by hitting on 16 of 29 pass attempts for 216 yards. It marked the first time a UNLV quarterback hit the 200-yard mark since Jon Denton threw for 401 yards in the season finale of 1997. The Rebels did not throw an interception for the 20th consecutive quarter and the six picks thrown during the season broke the school-record low of seven set in 1990. Len Ware hauled in six catches to move into second place on the school's career receptions list with 161. Cornerback Kevin Thomas got his fifth pick of the year but UNLV fell to 0-8 in November games in the last three seasons.
NO STREAKING
With last week's win over traditional rival Nevada, Reno, UNLV head coach John Robinon has put an end to all major negative streaks that were active when he took over for the 1999 season. Following is a thumb-nail sketch of Robinson's streak breaking.
STREAK BROKEN16-game overall losing streak By downing North Texas 26-3 in debut gameBEGAN: Oct. 18, 1997 ENDED: Sept. 2, 199922-game road losing streak Same as aboveBEGAN: Oct. 15, 1994 ENDED: Sept. 2, 199917-game conference road losing skid By upsetting heavily favored Wyoming 35-32BEGAN: Oct. 15, 1994 ENDED: Oct. 9, 199912-game home losing streak By shutting out North Texas 38-0BEGAN: Nov. 1, 1997 ENDED: Sept. 16, 200010-game conference home losing skid By upsetting Air Force 34-13 on ABCBEGAN: Nov. 1, 1997 ENDED: Sept. 30, 2000Five-game losing streak to UNR By downing UNR 38-7 before record crowd at SBSBEGAN: Oct. 28, 1995 ENDED: Oct. 7, 2000
REBELATIONS
ON THE OFFENSIVE:UNLV (6.4) is averaging nearly two yards more per play than its opponents (4.6). Last year, the Rebels were outgained 5.4 to 4.2 ... UNLV has totaled more than 400 yards in offense in three of five games this fall after failing to hit the mark even once a year ago ... Tailback Jeremi Rudolph needs only six yards this week to reach 1,000 in his two-year Rebel career ... The Rebels lead the MWC in fourth-down conversions (5-of-7 for 71 percent) ... Troy Mason had a career-high 122 yards on just four catches vs. Air Force. Coupled with his 102 yards at BYU, the sophomore became the first Rebel receiver to have back-to-back century-mark games since Len Ware did it in three straight games -- Sept. 13, 20 and 27, 1997 ... Through five games, UNLV has averaged a full three minutes less per game in possession time ... Senior transfer Kevin Brown has two 100-yard games this season to go with his six century-mark games while playing at Washington State in 1998 ... 78 percent of Jason Thomas' 50 completions this season have gone to two receivers: Mason (12) and Nate Turner (27) ... Turner has at least two receptions in all 16 of his games at UNLV ... The Rebels' 321 yards rushing vs. UNR were the most for the program since 334 in a 28-23 win over Arkansas State on Sept. 9, 1995.
FOR THE DEFENSE:The Rebel D has given up only seven touchdowns in 2000 and only four in the last four games ... UNLV has outsacked its opponents 16-11 this fall. After five games of 1999, the Rebels had been outsacked 13-6 by opponents ... Two players are tied for the team lead with three sacks each: Anton Palepoi and Ahmad Briggs ... UNLV is No. 1 in the MWC against fourth-down attempts with opponents failing in all four attempts this fall ... Preseason All-American cornerback Kevin Thomas had his second interception of the year and seventh of his career vs. Air Force ... Thomas leads the MWC with 12 passes defended ... UNLV has kept four of its five opponents at 200 yards or less rushing this season. Air Force picked up 219 yards but the Falcons still finished 118 yards below their average heading into the game ... Free safety Sam Brandon, a former receiver who is playing his first season on defense this fall, is second on the Rebels in tackles with 35, just one behind senior strong safety Randy Black ... The Rebels had two fourth-quarter goal-line stands vs. UNT to preserve the team's first shutout in 17 years.
SPECIAL (TEAMS) DELIVERY:UNLV is 5-of-7 on field goals this season, which already more than doubles the team's total from a year ago (2-of-5) ... The two misses in 2000 were both blocked ... In fact, UNLV has had five kicks blocked this season (3 PATs) after only five games ... Ray Cheetany's 48-yard field goal vs. UNT was the longest for UNLV since Nick Garritano's 54-yarder vs. UNR in 1994 ... Troy Mason continues to climb the nation's punt return charts as he moved up to 20th with an average of 16.2 on 12 attempts, including a long of 35.
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW
UNLV 38, NEVADA, RENO 7
CANNON COMES HOME TO LAS VEGAS
LAS VEGAS -- (Sept. 30, 2000) UNLV (3-2) broke a five-game losing streak to its in-state rival Nevada, Reno (1-4) in front of the biggest crowd ever to see the Battle for the Cannon waged in Las Vegas (27,578) and the sixth largest for any Rebel game at Sam Boyd Stadium. The Rebels won their third straight home game for the first time since 1997 and improved to 3-2 for the first time since 1994 with a complete team effort despite racking up 132 yards on 12 penalties. UNLV quarterback Jason Thomas scored two rushing touchdowns and passed for two others, finishing 8-of-12 for 152 yards and no interceptions and adding 88 yards on the ground. Nate Turner earned four catches for 61 yards and was on the other end of both scoring strikes. Two Rebel tailbacks, Kevin Brown (104) and Jeremi Rudolph (103), hit the century mark in the same game for the first time since 1995 while the hosts rushed for more yards (321) since the 1995 Arkansas State game (334). Defensively, cornerback Kevin Thomas helped shut down the Wolf Pack passing attack with a career-high six pass breakups and LB Tyler Brickell added his second career interception. UNLV jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a one-yard Brown rush but UNR quickly tied things with a deflected scoring pass. Jason Thomas hit Turner for a 37-yard score and Thomas added a short rushing TD to make it 21-7 at the break. Two more Thomas scores -- one rushing and one passing -- sealed the blowout. Senior Ray Cheetany also starred, punting six times for an average of 45.7, kicking five extra points and booting a 30-yard field goal. The Rebel defense, which outsacked the visitors 4-2, did not allow a second-half point for the fourth consecutive game while the Pack managed only 109 rushing yards and 136 passing. The 38-7 final meant the Fremont Cannon returned to the south while UNLV fans tore down goalposts for the second time ever and first since 1994. UNR, however, still leads the all-time series 15-11.
JT BIG PLAY
All of Jason Thomas' seven career touchdown passes have gone for at least 18 yards. In addition, Thomas has touchdown runs of 45 yards (at ISU) and 20 yards (vs. Air Force), another 45-yard run (vs. UNR) plus a rush for 72 yards (at BYU) that was the longest run from scrimmage for the Rebels since Darin Brightmon's 89-yard scamper in 1989.
THOMAS' 2000 TDsYDS RECEIVER GAME57 Nate Turner NORTH TEXAS56 Nate Turner at Iowa State40 Charles James NORTH TEXAS37 Nate Turner UNR31 Nate Turner at Iowa State19 Nate Turner UNR18 Bobby Nero AIR FORCE
THE WATCHER
Two UNLV players have been named as part of initial watch lists for major national awards this season.
Junior cornerback Kevin Thomas was one of 40 defensive backs named to the 2000 Jim Thorpe Award Watch List. The trophy has been awarded to the nation's top defensive back since 1986 by the Jim Thorpe Association. All players on the list have been named by at least two publications as candidates for All-American or all-conference honors. Thomas, a unanimous choice for preseason All-Mountain West Conference, was also the league's choice for preseason defensive player of the year in a vote by MWC coaches as well as The Sporting News. Thomas also was tabbed preseason second-team All-American by Athlon magazine. The native of Sacramento, Calif., led the 1999 Rebels with five interceptions and broke the school record for pass breakups in a season with 24, which ranked first in the league. Thomas was one of three Mountain West Conference defensive backs to make the watch list, joining seniors Andre Dyson of Utah and Jared Lee of BYU. Finalists for the Thorpe will be invited to ESPN's College Football Awards Show at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., where the winner will be announced December 7. A formal presentation will take place at a banquet in February in Oklahoma City, which is home to the Jim Thorpe Association.
Senior punter/kicker Ray Cheetany is one of 32 booters from around college football who are members of the first Ray Guy Award watch list, which was announced by the Greater Augusta (Ga.) Sports Council. The Ray Guy Award will be awarded to the nation's best punter as determined by a committee made up of sports writers, college football coaches, former punters. Cheetany, who punts, kicks off and placekicks for the Rebels, finished fourth in the nation in punting average in 1999 at 45.4. A 2000 preseason All-American, he is the only punter from the MWC to appear on the list. A national selection committee will choose 10 semifinalists on November 8 and three finalists will be announced Nov. 30. The winner will be announced in December at a formal awards dinner in Augusta. The Ray Guy Award was created to recognize the remaining major position on the football field without such an honor. The award was named after arguably the greatest punter of all time, Ray Guy, who attended the University of Southern Mississippi and then was drafted in the first round by the Oakland Raiders and starred for the team from 1973-86.
UNLV at Colorado StateTENTATIVE DEPTH CHART
REBEL OFFENSEWR (Z) 6 Nate Turner (6-3, 200, SR-1L) 1 Bobby Nero (6-1, 180, JR-TR)WR (X) 86 Troy Mason (5-10, 170, SO-1L) 9 Charles James (6-2, 180, JR-TR)LT 69 Bradon Bair (6-6, 295, JR-1L) 54 Brian Hart (6-5, 285, SR-3L)LG 63 Greg Hulett (6-3, 300, JR-RS) 75 Shane Wagers (6-5, 300, JR-1L)C 61 Peter Tramontanas (6-5, 275, JR-2L) 78 Joel Menendez (6-3, 275, FR-RS)RG 70 Tony Terrell (6-4, 295, SO-1L) 73 Dominic Furio (6-2, 285, FR-RS)RT 72 John Greer (6-5, 290, SR-3L) 54 Brian Hart (6-5, 285, SR-3L)TE 80 DeJhown Mandley (6-4, 240, SO-1L) 83 Trevan Sorensen (6-4, 240, SO-1L)QB 2 Jason Thomas (6-4, 235, SO-TR) 10 Jason Vaughan (6-4, 210, SR-1L)TB 7 Jeremi Rudolph (5-9, 175, SR-1L) 4 Kevin Brown (6-2, 225, SR-TR)FB 33 James Wofford (6-0, 200, SR-3L) 24 Steven Costa (6-1, 225, SO-1L)
REBEL SPECIALISTS
PK 39 Ray Cheetany (5-11, 180, SR-1L) 82 Rob Williams (5-11, 170, FR-HS)KO 39 Ray Cheetany (5-11, 180, SR-1L)HOLD 23 Toby Smeltzer (5-10, 185, SO-1L)LS 53 Ryan Hanson (6-2, 220, FR-RS)
REBEL DEFENSE
LDE 47 Anton Palepoi (6-4, 275, JR-TR) 37 Scott Parkhurst (6-3, 235, JR-TR)DT 44 Ahmad Miller (6-4, 295, JR-1L) 91 Dietrich Canterberry (6-4, 290, FR-RS)NG 98 Anthony Suggs (6-0, 260, SR-1L) 92 Phil Reed (6-3, 270, SO-1L)RDE 90 Ahmad Briggs (6-3, 230, SO-1L) 45 Steve Newton (6-3, 245, JR-1L) 99 Adrian Watson (6-3, 240, JR-TR)SLB 48 Tyler Brickell (6-4, 225, SR-3L) 13 LaMar Owens (6-2, 235, JR-TR)MLB 49 Ryan Claridge (6-3, 235, FR-HS) 59 Bill Cofer (5-11, 235, SO-1L)WLB 36 Shanga Wilson (6-1, 215, JR-TR) 18 Tosh Burrus (6-0, 210, SO-1L)CB 5 Amar Brisco (5-10, 170, SR-3L) 19 Jamal Wynn (6-0, 185, SO-1L)SS 22 Randy Black (6-0, 200, SR-3L) 31 Sharif Hamilton (6-0, 195, SR-1L) 41 Ross Dalton (6-3, 205, SO-1L)FS 42 Sam Brandon (6-3, 195, JR-1L) 23 Toby Smeltzer (5-10, 185, SO-1L)CB 28 Kevin Thomas (5-11, 180, JR-2L) 25 Sean Mackey (6-1, 190, FR-RS)
REBEL SPECIALISTSP 39 Ray Cheetany (5-11, 170, SR-1L) 17 Ryan McDonald (5-10, 175, SO-1L)PR 86 Troy Mason (5-10, 170, SO-1L) 7 Jeremi Rudolph (5-9, 175, SR-1L)KOR 7 Jeremi Rudolph (5-9, 175, SR-1L) 86 Troy Mason (5-10, 170, SO-1L)
