Hauck not on hot seat yet, according to UNLV interim Athletic Director

Tina Kunzer-Murphy wasn’t happy late Saturday night after watching UNLV get blasted 58-13 by Arizona, but she wasn’t ready to put pressure on fourth-year football coach Bobby Hauck.

UNLV’s interim athletic director instead said she wanted to do what she could to help Hauck and the team to be successful.

“You’re not going to hear anything from me he’s got to win this or that,” Kunzer-Murphy said. “Bobby’s our coach. I think he’s a great football coach. Nobody wants to get better more than him or his coaches that work so hard and the players.”

The Rebels, who next play Central Michigan at 7 p.m. Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium, are 0-2, which isn’t surprising. They were substantial underdogs at Minnesota and against Arizona.

But how they got to that record wasn’t as expected.

Hauck has called this his best UNLV team, but the Rebels were beaten by 28 points by Minnesota and by 35 by Arizona. The Wildcats dominated from the start, taking a 45-6 lead by halftime.

Kunzer-Murphy said she felt especially bad that performance occurred in front of an announced crowd of 26,950.

“I thought we had a lot of electricity early on,” she said. “We’re very disappointed, but I know nobody’s more disappointed than the players and the coaches. They’re going to go back in, and they’re going to figure out a way to get after Central Michigan.”

Now UNLV begins a four-game stretch against opponents the Rebels can beat. How critical is it?

“I think every game is critical,” Kunzer-Murphy said. “I think Bobby and his players think it is critical. We knew these first two games were going to be tough.

“It sounds like a cliche, but we’ve got a lot of football to play.”

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.