UNLV goal: Find clutch playmaker

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- What if tonight's game comes down to the final minute, and UNLV quarterback Travis Dixon has to make a play?

What about tailback Frank Summers? Or linebacker Beau Bell? Or cornerback Mil'Von James?

UNLV has been in the situation already this season -- with mixed results -- so it's not unreasonable to expect another close game when the Rebels visit Air Force at 6 p.m. PDT.

Oddsmakers expect a tight one. The Falcons (3-2, 2-1 Mountain West Conference) are 5-point favorites over UNLV (2-3, 1-0).

Unlike their past two close outings, the Rebels need to make critical plays late if the game comes down to them. Otherwise, they risk the season getting away from them.

"I think there's a mental expectation about finding a way to win in the fourth quarter and breaking through that," UNLV coach Mike Sanford said. "In my mind, we're going to have some barn-burners the rest of the season, and we've got to find a way to win the close games and win in the fourth quarter. Those are two themes that are big for this football team."

Three Rebels games were decided in the final two minutes. They opened the season by beating Utah State 23-16 on a Summers' touchdown run with 1:02 left.

UNLV then faltered in the other late-game tests. The Rebels gave up a touchdown to Wisconsin with 1:53 remaining in a 20-13 loss, and they are coming off a 27-20 defeat at UNR in which the Wolf Pack scored the winning touchdown with 27 seconds left.

"In my mind, we should've won that game," Sanford said. "And in my mind, we should be 4-1 right now."

UNLV, though, can take away two encouraging signs.

One is the simple fact the Rebels have been in competitive situations. In recent seasons they spent many second halves trying to make the final score semi-respectable; last year they suffered five losses by more than 20 points.

The other good sign is that they refused to buckle and kept rallying at UNR. On one drive, Dixon converted two fourth-and-10 situations, including a 30-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Ryan Wolfe with 1:02 left that tied the game at 20. Then after the Wolf Pack's quick-strike 43-yard touchdown pass to go back ahead, Dixon drove the Rebels to UNR's 16-yard line.

His pass to wide receiver Rodelin Anthony in the end zone was a little high, or the game would have been a conversion kick from going into overtime.

"I think overall it gives our offense a lot of confidence knowing that if we put our minds to it, we can score at any point in time that we want to," Dixon said of the late surge.

Now it's about finishing the job, a necessity if UNLV is to have much say about the conference race. Coming close is not good enough anymore.

The Rebels don't need anymore Wisconsin or UNR endings.

"Any time you get a victory, it's going to be a big confidence booster," Wolfe said. "But I think the way we've let some games slip through, I think it would just greatly impact our confidence knowing that we're going to see a lot of close games and be able to do the things we know to win."

So what if tonight's game comes down to one play? Will someone step up and make it?

"You have to wait and see what happens," Sanford said. "You do everything you can to get (players) to think the right way and expect the right things, but they're the ones out there playing."

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2914.