Tuesday, February 25, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

UNLV football faces tough road

Rebels play away four of their first six games

By MARK ANDERSON
REVIEW-JOURNAL

UNLV will play four of its first six football games on the road next season, but that means it will be home for most of the stretch drive.

With four of their final six games at Sam Boyd Stadium, the Rebels will have an opportunity to build momentum in the second half of the season. Their final seven games are against Mountain West Conference opponents.

"(The schedule) is pretty balanced, so I'm pleased with it," senior associate athletic director Jerry Koloskie said after the 12-game schedule was announced Monday.

"Obviously it's a tough nonconference schedule. We knew that going in."

UNLV coach John Robinson was out of town, and messages seeking comment were not returned.

The Rebels, 5-7 in 2002, play a school-record six bowl teams starting with Toledo, which played in the Motor City Bowl last season, on Aug. 30 at Sam Boyd Stadium. UNLV follows with trips to Kansas (Sept. 6) and Wisconsin (Sept. 13).

"That's tough," Koloskie said. "The Kansas game was scheduled for (Sept.) 27th, and we moved it at Kansas' request. Coach said it would be either at Kansas (followed by) at Wisconsin or at Kansas (followed by) at Reno. It would be back-to-back (road games) either way, so it wasn't a big deal to (change the date)."

After a Sept. 20 home game against Hawaii and an open week, the Rebels visit UNR on Oct. 4 to end their nonconference schedule. Their other open date is Nov. 15, prior to games against Colorado State (Nov. 22) and at Wyoming (Nov. 29) to close the regular season.

"That's certainly better than a year ago when we had an open date with one game remaining," Koloskie said. "Those last two games could really be important in our season."

UNLV begins its conference schedule Oct. 11 at Air Force. Besides Colorado State, the Rebels' home MWC opponents are Utah (Oct. 18), Brigham Young (Oct. 25) and San Diego State (Nov. 8).

Game times have not been announced.