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UNLV (4-5, 2-2 MOUNTAIN WEST)
vs.
UTAH (2-6, 0-4 MOUNTAIN WEST)
DATE:    Saturday, Nov. 9, 2002KICKOFF: 4:07 pm PSTSITE:    Rice-Eccles Stadium (45,634/FieldTurf)TV:  None in Las VegasRADIO:   ESPN 920 AM (Tim Neverett & Bruce Snyder)

GAME PREVIEW

UNLV (4-5) looks to win two consecutive games for the first time all year when it travels to play Utah (2-6) ... The Rebels will look for their first victory in Salt Lake City in four all-time attempts dating back to 1980 ... Utah, along with CSU, is one of two teams UNLV has yet to defeat as part of the Mountain West Conference ... UNLV is coming off a wild 49-48 overtime victory over Wyoming while the Utes enjoyed a bye week ... The Rebels must win two of their last three games to become bowl eligible ... UNLV is 5-7 all-time on the road vs. MWC foes and two of those defeats came at Rice-Eccles Stadium ... The Rebels look to reach the .500 mark overall after 10 games for only the second time in the last eight years ... UNLV has started the league slate 2-2 for the third straight season ... Rebel head coach John Robinson is 1-3 vs. Utah, including a 28-21 win over the Utes in the 1993 Freedom Bowl while leading the USC program ... Utah switched to a synthetic playing surface (FieldTurf) this season while UNLV installed the similar AstroPlay on its practice fields.

UTES vs. REBELS NOTES

UNLV and Utah have met seven times and the Utes have dominated the series 6-1, including six straight ... The Utes have outscored the Rebels 132-44 in three meetings as MWC opponents ... UNLV's lone victory in the series was a heart-stopping 43-41 win in Las Vegas that featured seven lead changes and ended with a last-second, then-school-record long 49-yard field goal by Todd Peterson in 1979 ... The 22 years since the Rebels defeated Utah represent the longest drought between victories for UNLV and any MWC member ... The two schools met four consecutive years (1979-82) when UNLV was playing a WAC schedule while an independent hoping to join the league ... The 69-28 Utah win in 1981 matches the most points ever scored against the Rebels (Houston 69-0 in 1989) ... While UNLV does not have a player from the Beehive State, Utah lists one Nevadan on its roster -- starting DB Arnold Parker, a 1998 graduate of Cimarron-Memorial HS in Las Vegas.