Rebels’ plea: ‘Hang with us’

When asked Monday what hope they could provide to UNLV football fans, coach Bobby Hauck and quarterback Caleb Herring gave the same answer.

"Hang with us," they said, a plea familiar to those who have long followed the Rebels.

Hope is difficult to find this season because many tough matchups dot UNLV's schedule, including Saturday's home opener against Hawaii (1-1) at Sam Boyd Stadium. The Rebels (0-2) are 20-point underdogs.

Sports-betting experts Bruce Marshall and Jay Kornegay see the Rebels -- who opened with a 51-17 loss at Wisconsin and a 59-7 defeat at Washington State -- as certain favorites only against Southern Utah at home Sept. 24 and as possible favorites at New Mexico on Nov. 12.

Even the game against Southern Utah isn't a guaranteed victory. Marshall, The Gold Sheet executive editor and a VegasInsider.com handicapper, said UNLV should be favored by roughly a touchdown. Kornegay, the Las Vegas Hilton sports book director, said the line is expected to be 8 to 10 points.

The game at New Mexico is more difficult to gauge because it's about two months off, but Marshall said the Rebels appear to be 2-point favorites. Kornegay projects UNLV as a 2-point underdog.

Marshall and Kornegay said the Oct. 29 home game against Colorado State is another game that is winnable, that the Rams could be favored by a single digit.

"Outside of those three, (the Rebels) will be heavy underdogs," Kornegay said.

Part of the issue for UNLV is two of its more winnable games -- New Mexico and Oct. 15 at Wyoming -- are on the road. The Rebels have lost 11 consecutive away games, and the closest was decided by 23 points last season at Idaho.

Marshall said the only comparable road skid he can point to is Northwestern in the early 1980s when the Wildcats were routinely beaten by double digits.

"This is the worst road stretch I can remember," Marshall said of UNLV's run of futility.

It's a different story at home, where the Rebels went 5-1 against the spread last season and were 2-4 straight up.

Home or away, wins don't appear as if they will come easily this season.

Though difficult to make too much of statistics two weeks into the season, the numbers bear out UNLV's dire situation.

The Rebels are last in the Mountain West Conference in rushing, passing and total offense and in passing, total and scoring defense. They are second to last in scoring offense.

UNLV's one somewhat bright spot is its fifth-place ranking in rushing defense in the eight-team conference.

If there is hope, it could be in the long-term future rather than the immediate outlook. UNLV lists nine freshmen and sophomores as starters for this weekend, with plenty of underclassmen also among the backups.

But the Rebels aren't just playing for the future. They want to win now, even if bucking the two-win trend appears unlikely. UNLV has finished with two victories in five of the past seven seasons.

"We're searching for the answers, and we're trying to put this thing together to get the results that everybody wants and we want just as bad," Herring said. "So just hang with us, and we'll get it together."

UNLV can make its case against Hawaii that change is coming, and that claim will have to be stated on the field.

Many UNLV fans aren't ready to believe, knowing history works against their team.

"I think we're going into the game thinking we can beat Hawaii," running back Tim Cornett said. "Not taking anything from them because I know they're a very good team.

"Our goal is to win our next 10 games. We're not going out there thinking we're going to lose any games."

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