I would think fairness should matter to all athletic conferences across the country when it comes to membership and ensuring everyone within the framework has an equal opportunity at success. In this sense, the Mountain West and its TV contract for football has failed miserably for many schools, particularly UNLV.
Bob Davie gave the Lobos an identity. Which begs a question: Does UNLV have one, and if so, what in the world is it besides losing?
Kids are interested in uniforms and depth charts. Parents in academics. Neither really cares that the Rebels are 2-5 this season.
UNLV’s football team was presented an opportunity Friday night, a chance for the Rebels to end their four-game losing streak and enter their only off-week of the season on the sort of high that has been near impossible to discover this season. It took them all of 60 minutes and an additional series of plays, but they finally embraced such a moment.
There is this theory about preseason college football polls: That while they might be good for creating dialogue and definitely profitable for those magazines that release their own Top 25 rankings in August, they unfairly create a perception of which teams are best in a given year.
San Diego State proved superior in every way while beating the Rebels 34-17 in a Mountain West opener for both teams before 28,005, the latest example that UNLV simply isn’t good enough in most areas right now to have a chance at defeating anyone capable.
The Rebels need to solve what is a glaring weakness quickly, as in tonight at TDECU Stadium against Houston, or a 1-2 record will be 1-3 long before the final seconds elapse.
UNLV produced the greatest offensive quarter in school history and one that still has a solid place in the NCAA record book, in a game played 20 years ago this week between the Rebels and Idaho.
The Rebels are excited about opportunities and not worried about obstacles as they open the season against heavily favored Arizona. That’s an important change for Bobby Hauck’s team.
UNLV football coach Bobby Hauck sees a much different Rebel team than when he took over five years ago. “They know they can win now … You learn a lot through adversity,” he says.
