UNR had surprise waiting in cannon for UNLV last season

It’s rivalry week and UNLV’s football team doesn’t need any extra motivation for Saturday’s 1 p.m. game against UNR at Sam Boyd Stadium in the annual Battle for the Fremont Cannon. But Rebels coach Tony Sanchez gave them some anyway.

After his squad reclaimed the cannon from UNR following last season’s 23-17 win in Reno, Sanchez discovered an old engraving on the inside of it poking fun at UNLV, which is 17-24 against the Wolf Pack.

“Last year when we took it apart to clean it, they had engraved ‘University of Notta Lotta Victories’ inside of it,” he said. “There were pictures I saw on social media. I showed that to our boys on Sunday. I’ve been saving that picture for a year. That shows you where the rivalry’s at.”

WELCOME TO RENO — Upon arriving in Reno for last year’s game, UNLV offensive coordinator Barney Cotton — a former Nebraska player and interim head coach — was surprised at the intensity level of the rivalry.

“It’s kind of funny. A lot of our coaches have coached at big-time places and I told them this is a big deal. It’s a big, big rivalry game,” Sanchez said. “I’ll never forget our bus coming around the corner, when you first see the fans and they all had some interesting signs for us and gestures. I remember coach Cotton looking at me and saying ‘Oh, they do take this seriously, don’t they?’ So It’s a big deal.

“It was a good college atmosphere last year. It’s fun to go on the road and be booed and be in a hostile environment. It’s going to be fun to be at home in front of our home fans.”

GRAND FINALE — Saturday’s battle will mark only the second time (2014) in the last 39 years that UNLV and UNR will meet in the last game of the regular season.

“It was kind of weird last year having it in the fourth game,” Rebels senior center Will Kreitler said. “It’s a lot better at the end of the year because you get to see the best version of both teams after they put in all the work. It’s going to be fireworks on Saturday.”

SENIOR MOMENT — Kreitler is one of 16 departing players who will be honored on the field before the game as part of Senior Day. If Kreitler doesn’t make it to the NFL, he said he’d like to return to UNLV as a graduate assistant coach if Sanchez would have him. It sounds like he would.

“I have a philosophy: always hire guys smarter than you,” Sanchez said, laughing. “And he’s definitely smarter than me.”

THOMAS EXPECTED TO PLAY — UNLV running back Lexington Thomas was expected to play in each of the last two games but the sophomore missed each of them with a sprained ankle suffered Oct. 29 at San Jose State. Thomas, second on the team in rushing with 632 yards and tied with David Greene for the team lead in rushing touchdowns with eight, is again expected to play against UNR.

“He will play this week, unless something happens in practice the next couple days. He’s practiced the last two,” Sanchez said. “He’s not 100 percent but he looks good enough. He needs to go. It’s been three weeks.”

CALDWELL TO START — Sanchez said true freshman Jaron Caldwell will make his first start of the season at left tackle, where junior Kyle Saxelid has started every game this season.

“We’re just rotating,” Sanchez said. “There’s no real issue.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.