California traffic jam thwarts walk-through plans for UNLV

PASADENA, Calif. — Tony Sanchez is a big believer in visualization. The UNLV football coach likes to have his team do a walk-through of opposing stadiums the day before each road game.

“That night, when we talk to the team, we always tell them, ‘Go back to your room, close your eyes and see yourself having success, see yourself walking out of that tunnel,’” Sanchez said last week. “Having been there makes it a little more tangible. When you get to gameday, it’s like you’ve been there before.”

Sanchez had a walk-through scheduled at the Rose Bowl on Friday afternoon before UNLV’s first game at the historic venue, but it was canceled after the team got stuck in a traffic jam on Interstate 15 on the way to California on Friday morning. Traffic was backed up on the highway for more than an hour because of a truck that caught fire, and by the time the Rebels arrived to their hotel in California, their window for a tour of the Rose Bowl had closed.

Besides it being UNLV’s first game in Pasadena, Saturday’s contest also was the first time in almost two years that the Rebels played on natural grass. The last time was Nov. 15, 2014, at Brigham Young.

GOING BACK TO CALI

At less than 300 miles away, UCLA and Southern California are the closest Football Bowl Subdivision schools to Las Vegas, but Saturday’s game was UNLV’s first in Los Angeles County since 1997, when the Rebels took their only trip to play Southern California. UNLV will head back to Los Angeles to play USC at the L.A. Coliseum on Sept. 1, 2018.

PAC-12 PROBLEMS

UNLV entered Saturday’s game with a 4-15 record against teams that were in the Pac-12 Conference at the time of the game and a 6-29 mark against current Pac-12 teams, as they’re 2-14 against Utah.

The Rebels’ last win over a Pac-12 opponent took place Sept. 13, 2008, when they beat then-No. 15 Arizona State 23-20 on the road as 25-point underdogs in one of the biggest upsets in school history.

UCLA entered with a 42-6-2 all-time mark against current Mountain West teams, including a 21-0-1 record vs. San Diego State.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

The road won’t get much easier for UNLV in its next game Sept. 17 at Central Michigan. The Chippewas (2-0) stunned No. 22 Oklahoma State 30-27 in Stillwater on Saturday when they scored on a controversial 51-yard Hail Mary hook-and-ladder play with no time remaining.

After the Cowboys were called for intentional grounding on fourth down on their final offensive play as time expired, Central Michigan was mistakenly awarded an untimed final play by officials.

Cooper Rush lofted a Hail Mary pass caught by Jesse Kroll at the Oklahoma State 12-yard line. As Kroll was being taken down, he lateraled the ball to Corey Willis, who cut across the field and barely managed to cross the goal line as the Chippewas pulled off the upset of the day as 18-point underdogs.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.