Sept. 20, 2011
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - I woke up this morning pumped for our home football game against Southern Utah this Saturday night. That is a wonderful feeling to have as a Rebel fan. The impressive thing about the win against Hawaii is not only that we won - it's how we won. Our guys simply controlled the game...
Suddenly, this SUU match-up this weekend is a HUGE game for the UNLV Football program. With a win, we'd be at .500 entering a bye week giving Bobby Hauck and his staff two weeks preparation before going to Reno in what will obviously be a tough game against the Wolf Pack. In the community, a win Saturday would assure fans of three straight weeks of really positive feelings about this young, growing program. But it all comes down to Saturday night. That is the only game that matters for Rebels right now. Hope you'll be there...
One of the things that jumped out to me - in a positive way - was the controlled emotion of the players on the field immediately following the win over Hawaii. They were happy, no doubt, as all their hard work finally paid off with positive results. But, quite frankly, they acted like they expected to win. Hopefully, that's a good sign for the future...
Being a spouse of a coach is not an easy position to be in. Even though coaches on all levels try to hide it, there is very little - if any - separation between home and work during the season, especially through challenging times. Great spouses of coaches are special people... That's why it was great to see
Stacey Hauck, Bobby's wife, share an embrace with Bobby after the game. The previous Sunday was the celebration of their youngest daughter's fourth birthday (
Elise). Something tells me Bobby's trip to Chuck E. Cheese's the day after the loss at Washington State was not up there in anyone's favorite family moments. This past Sunday, however, there were definitely smiles around the Hauck house...
The more I get a chance to be around him, the more I am a fan of UNLV men's golf coach Dwaine Knight. He is a class act... His squad picked up a win in the season-opening tournament in Colorado on Monday, beating out 18 other teams. The immediate future of the Rebel golf program is bright, very bright. And with one national championship already under his belt, the sky is the limit for Knight and his team. The next few years should be fun...
The Rebel Athletic Fund's Loyalty Circle program has taken off since its inception late last year. It matches up donors with student-athletes in a unique giving opportunity to help pay for scholarships. Through the RAF, our goal is to graduate our student-athletes with meaningful degrees in one hand and championships in the other. We had a gathering last week of the donors and the student-athletes as well as our head coaches. There was definitely a special feeling being in an entire room full of dedicated Rebels. For more information on the program, visit UNLVRAF.com...
With all of the talk about the upcoming recruiting class for men's basketball, coach Dave Rice absolutely loves the potential of redshirt sophomore Bryce Jones. A 6-5 guard who is sitting out this season after transferring from USC, look for Jones to be a major part of the UNLV program when he becomes eligible next season.
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D.J. Allen, UNLV Athletics' Sr. Associate AD of External Affairs, writes a periodic column for UNLVRebels.com. A lifelong Rebel fan and a native of Southern Nevada, Allen graduated from UNLV with both a communications degree and a MBA. We hope he brings Rebel fans a unique perspective to their beloved programs. If not, at least he helps to take up space on the website. He can be reached at dj.allen@unlv.edu.
