Devante’s Diary: Looking for another win in front of our fans

Last Saturday we played Northern Colorado at home and had a really good opening series on both sides of the ball. Our defense forced a three-and-out and the offense went down and scored right away. We played a little rattled from there for some reason. They made some plays but we also shot ourselves in the foot a lot. I personally had a pass bounce right off my shoulder to the other team for an interception.

It was a close game that we won – 13-12 — and that’s the biggest positive. The win made us 1-1 on the season, which is something we haven’t done since I’ve been here, so it feels good.

I have to say that the crowd was great and we were excited to see everyone out there supporting us. Even when things weren’t going so well, people stayed and cheered us on. You definitely knew where our UNLV student section was and they were really loud. We could hear them from anywhere on the field and they did a great job. They stood up and screamed for us and that’s what you want to see in a college football game. You notice that type of stuff when you’re coming out on the field or when you score.

This week we play Northern Illinois at home and we know we will have our hands full. They’re a good team that is well-coached and they play really hard. We know if we play like we did last week, we won’t be able to win. We need to come out mistake-free, penalty-free. We need to win with the game on the line – on third downs and in the fourth quarter. We need to pay attention to detail in our preparations so we don’t make the same mistakes we made last Saturday.

Sundays are our off days during the season so this Sunday I slept in to give my body a little rest. Then I spent a lot of time doing homework so I can graduate in December. Of course I had to watch a little NFL, too. Monday we come in and talk football with each other, so I have to watch and have my statements ready on who did what from the day before. I’m from Houston so I was happy the Texans won their opening game.

People ask me who my favorite NFL receiver is, and I say of course it’s Andre Johnson from the Texans. He is one of the best in the league. But another guy who really stands out is Larry Fitzgerald of the Cardinals. If you are a young guy watching the NFL or aspire to be a receiver, I would say he is the guy to watch because he brings it on every down. He plays with the same effort in the first quarter as he does in the fourth quarter, so he’s someone you can learn from.

I want to close this edition by thanking everyone who came out to the game last week and invite everyone back. Hopefully you are ready to scream for us again because we really appreciate it.

Go Rebels!

—Devante

UNLV hosts Northern Illinois on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Sam Boyd Stadium. Tickets are available by calling (702) 739-FANS or visiting unlvtickets.com.