UNLV football team brings experience, hope into 2016 season

One of Tony Sanchez’s biggest takeaways from his first season as UNLV football coach is that the gap between the best and worst teams in the Mountain West is much smaller than he expected.

“One thing I realized real fast is that the margin between the top and the bottom is so, so small,” he said. “Boise State’s the cream of the crop, and we were right there with them in a seven-point game in the fourth quarter.

“There are a lot of opportunities out there late in games to get wins.”

The Rebels (3-9) won only three games in Year 1 of the Sanchez era — which was still an improvement considering they’d won only two games in eight of the previous 11 years — but they hung around in most of their other ones.

Besides lopsided home losses to UCLA (37-3) and San Diego State (52-14) and a 28-7 defeat to Michigan in Ann Arbor — where the Rebels played the Wolverines to a 7-7 draw in the second half — UNLV was winning or within a touchdown in the fourth quarter of its other nine games.

“You really realize it’s a guy here and there. It’s a series here and there. It’s a turnover,” Sanchez said. “If you can just take care of some of those little things, you can find yourself with a lot of wins.”

The Rebels suffered a 33-27 overtime loss to San Jose State after the Spartans took the lead with 1:08 left in regulation on Tyler Ervin’s 21-yard TD catch on fourth-and-10. But Sanchez said the most painful games that got away were at Fresno State and Wyoming.

UNLV blew a 28-14 third-quarter lead in a 31-28 defeat to Fresno State, which scored the game’s final 17 points, capped by Marteze Waller’s go-ahead 38-yard TD run with 2:37 left. The Rebels marched down the field in a rainstorm but turned it over on downs at the Bulldogs’ 32.

“We had a good lead there and we struggled moving the ball in the fourth quarter and we gave up a big play,” Sanchez said. “We just needed one or two more first downs and you win the game. And at the very end, you have another shot and you just don’t execute. That game was really frustrating.”

A worn-out UNLV squad lost its season finale, 35-28, when a two-win Wyoming team completed a 64-yard TD pass with 2:20 remaining.

“We had expended a lot of energy all year and we just seemed tired and flat,” Sanchez said. “Being Week 12 and finishing off the season in a way guys don’t want, having some guys injured and starting some freshmen for the first time, there were some things we had to get over. But you’ve just got to find a way to win those games.”

So how does UNLV turn some of those close losses from last season into victories in Year 2 of the Sanchez era?

The answer isn’t sexy.

“It’s a process,” Sanchez said.

A process that includes players improving their habits in the classroom, dining room and weight room and the coaches excelling in the living room, where UNLV landed the best recruiting class in school history this year.

“We had to come in and change a lot of processes and the way we did things,” he said. “Our guys didn’t eat right, we were in a terrible academic situation, we weren’t a very strong or fast football team and we hadn’t recruited at a high level. When you’ve got to change those things, it takes some time. But that’s how you win football games.

“There’s not one answer. It’s taking care of all the details every single day, so you can recruit better players. And then when they get there, you do a better job of developing those players so that you can win games.”

Along with graduating his players and beating UNR, Sanchez said his goals always will be to win the MW championship and go to a bowl game — the latter of which he considers a realistic target this season.

“I think that’s something that’s very doable this year,” he said. “We’ve got to get great quarterback play, we’ve got to do a great job of not turning the ball over, and we’ve got to be able to run the football this year and be a big, physical football team. And defensively, we’ve got to create turnovers and limit explosive plays.

“We do those things, and the way I think we’ll play special teams, I think there’s a lot of opportunities to win games.”

The offensive line has bulked up and the young running backs and receiving corps, led by preseason All-MW pick Devonte Boyd, are explosive. A thin defense that wilted down the stretch last season has been bolstered by some talented transfers and returns its starting linebackers, led by senior Tau Lotulelei, and 6-6 senior defensive end Jeremiah Valoaga, who appears poised for a breakout year.

The big question mark is at quarterback. If junior Johnny Stanton can deliver the ball to the Rebels’ playmakers, a bigger, faster and deeper UNLV squad could top its rising win total of 5½ — up from 2½ last season and 4½ in May — posted at the Golden Nugget and go bowling for only the fifth time in the program’s 49-year history.

While the Rebels are underdogs at UCLA (+32), Boise State (+24), San Diego State (+20), Central Michigan (+13) and San Jose State (+9), the Golden Nugget has them favored in six games, starting with Thursday’s season opener at Sam Boyd Stadium, where they’ve been bet up to 34-point favorites over Jackson State after the line opened at 28½.

UNLV also is favored at home by 1 over UNR, by 6 over Fresno State, by 9 over Wyoming and by 10½ over Idaho, as well as by 3½ at Hawaii. The Rebels are 1-point home underdogs to Colorado State.

“I look at our schedule, and there’s no reason we can’t be in 12 out of 12,” Sanchez said. “If we’ve done our processes right, we ought to be able to be in those games at the end.

“It doesn’t mean we’re going to win them all, but if we can get ourselves deep into the second half with an opportunity, within seven to 10 points, you have a chance to win football games.”

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