Plenty on line as UNLV hosts Arkansas State

The last time UNLV began a football season 2-0, the Rebels went to North Texas and won 26-3 and to Baylor the following week and pulled out a 27-24 victory on a 100-yard fumble return with no time left.

That was 20 years ago in coach John Robinson’s debut season.

Now, finally, UNLV has a chance to start a season 2-0 again, and if the Rebels beat Arkansas State in the 7 p.m. game at Sam Boyd Stadium, they will take momentum into back-to-back road trips.

They play at Northwestern on Sept. 14 and after a bye will be at Wyoming on Sept. 28 in the Mountain West opener.

“We feel like these games stack on top of each other,” UNLV defensive end Gabe McCoy said. “I feel like this week will help us figure out where we are as a team and what we can do for the rest of the season.”

Both teams badly need this victory.

Arkansas State wants to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole after losing 37-30 at home to Southern Methodist last weekend, which almost certainly would turn into 0-3 with a trip to No. 3 Georgia next week. The Red Wolves also have the emotional element of playing for coach Blake Anderson, whose wife, Wendy, died Aug. 19 after a two-year fight with breast cancer. David Duggan is serving as the interim coach.

UNLV has a challenging schedule coming up, and the Rebels — who are 1-point favorites Saturday — need every victory they can get to reach six wins and bowl eligibility. After this game, four of their next five are on the road, and the one home game is Oct. 5 against No. 24 Boise State.

Rebels coach Tony Sanchez didn’t want to hear that playing Arkansas State is a bellwether game, saying a victory only makes the following one that much more crucial.

He isn’t wrong in that regard, but acknowledged what a victory over the Red Wolves would mean to his team.

“We’re hell-bent on moving this program forward, and I think Saturday’s a great opportunity for us to take a giant step,” Sanchez said.

To get a victory, the Rebels likely will need to win a shootout. Both defenses have plenty to prove, and Sanchez said quarterback Armani Rogers will need to test the Red Wolves’ secondary.

That doesn’t mean the Rebels will abandon their running game, but after totaling 45 rushes to 28 passes in last Saturday’s 56-23 victory over Southern Utah, the numbers likely will be in more balance against Arkansas State. UNLV has to be careful about not getting too far from a running game that picked up 331 yards and seven touchdowns against Southern Utah.

On the other end, the Rebels will have to defend Arkansas State quarterback Logan Bonner, who in his debut threw for 324 yards and four touchdowns against SMU.

UNLV lost 27-20 at Arkansas State last season in a driving rainstorm, a memory for the returning players that hasn’t disappeared.

“I feel like we let one get away last year, so I have a big grudge this year,” UNLV linebacker Javin White said. “I’ve let everybody know this week, we need our get-back, we need our revenge. I feel like when we left Jonesboro that we left empty-handed.”

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.