UNLV survives home opener vs. Northern Colorado 13-12
Remember those days oh so long ago — you know, before 2013 — when UNLV couldn’t be counted on to beat a Football Championship Subdivision team?
Well, those days are back.
The Rebels were 25-point favorites to beat Northern Colorado on Saturday, and they seemed on their way after opening the game with a touchdown. But then UNLV found itself in quite a fight at Sam Boyd Stadium, and even though the Rebels won 13-12, the rest of the season is beginning to look way too much like so many previous years.
Which means no winning record.
No trip back to a bowl.
It’s too soon to write off the season with 11 games remaining, but if the Rebels (1-1) don’t improve on this performance — not to mention their 58-13 loss at Arizona the week before — they can forget about the big dreams they had of competing for the Mountain West title.
After this performance against Northern Colorado (0-1), which has lost 12 games in a row, the chances of UNLV doing much of anything positive appear remote. The days of two-win seasons could very well be back just a year after the Rebels went to the Heart of Dallas Bowl and finished 7-6.
Quarterback Caleb Herring and running back Tim Cornett, the two main stars from that team, aren’t walking back into the locker room, and UNLV better quickly find some players who will step up and make plays.
The Rebels will need to elevate their game considerably to give Northern Illinois, which visits next Saturday, much of a game. Northern Illinois sent its own message Saturday with a 23-15 victory at Northwestern.
For UNLV, at least the Rebels didn’t add to their own recent ignominious history of losing to lower-level teams. They fell to Southern Utah in 2011 and Northern Arizona a year later.
“We’re very fortunate to get the win,” UNLV coach Bobby Hauck said. “We watched Texas Tech down to the wire last week against Central Arkansas. We watched Nebraska today need a miracle against McNeese. Those were all eye-opening. We were aware. Northern Colorado did a nice job coming in and holding us down.”
All seemed well for the Rebels when the game began. After forcing a three-and-out, they went 64 yards on five plays to take a 7-0 lead on Blake Decker’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Sullivan.
But instead of taking control, UNLV let Northern Colorado hang around. The first indication this would be a competitive game occurred with 42 seconds left in the first quarter when UNLV ran a double-reverse, and Sullivan was intercepted by Bears cornerback Courtney Hall. The turnover led to a Northern Colorado field goal.
UNLV extended its lead to 10-3 when Nicolai Bornand made a 54-yard field goal with 5:58 left in the second quarter to tie the school record for the longest kick. This was fourth made kick from that distance from Rebels kickers.
The Rebels put together their best drive to open the second half, going from their 25-yard line to the Bears’ 16. But then a pass from Decker bounced off wide receiver Devante Davis’ hands into those of Northern Colorado linebacker Ryan Gackle.
“You can’t lose the turnover battle that way and win generally, and we did,” Hauck said of the Rebels’ four interceptions. “Credit to our guys for fighting their way through some fairly adverse circumstances. It looked like we were going to be on track early on, and we got into the turnover issue. That’s something that will get you beat. We’re very fortunate it didn’t get us beat.”
It nearly did, though, and Northern Colorado took advantage of Gackle’s interception near its end zone. The Bears put together a 97-yard drive, and Robert Holland rushed from 3 yards for the touchdown to tie the game at 10.
Jonathan Leiva’s 35-yard field goal with 22 seconds left in the third quarter put the Rebels in front 13-10, but Decker was sacked for a safety in the fourth by Northern Colorado’s Samad Hinds to bring the Bears to within a point.
The Bears were set to take the lead, but Seth Czapenski missed a 23-yard field goal to the right with 5:45 remaining to allow UNLV to stay in front. That was Northern Colorado’s last chance because UNLV nearly ran down the clock all the way.
But the Rebels suffered a big loss in the end when Sullivan was injured and had to be helped off the field. Hauck said he didn’t know the extent of Sullivan’s injury.
Decker finished 11-of-18 for 121 yards, with three interceptions. George Naufahu led UNLV with 90 yards on 22 carries, and Keith Whitely added 82 yards on 12 rushes.
Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.
