Rebels eager to vent frustration

UNLV running back Tim Cornett didn't want to wait nine days after a crushing season-opening loss to Minnesota to retake the field at Sam Boyd Stadium.

The Golden Gophers handed UNLV a 30-27 triple-overtime defeat on Aug. 30.

"It hurt me so bad, I felt like the next day I could go out there and play another game," Cornett said. "I'm very anxious, like the rest of the team, to play this game coming off a real, real tough loss against Minnesota."

Now Cornett and his teammates have their chance to take out their frustrations on a Northern Arizona football team also coming off a difficult-to-take loss, a 63-6 humiliation at Arizona State.

Today's 7 p.m. home game is important for a UNLV program that needs victories wherever it can find them. In many ways, games such as this one create more pressure than playing a Boise State because expectations are higher.

And because NAU is a Football Championship Subdivision team, the Lumberjacks' mere presence stirs memories of the Rebels' embarrassing 41-16 loss to Southern Utah last season.

Third-year UNLV coach Bobby Hauck downplayed the significance of this game compared to others, but a loss - just a year removed from Southern Utah - certainly would bring enormous heat upon him.

Hauck spent the offseason talking about how improved the Rebels were over previous seasons, and that appeared to be true in training camp.

Then the opener against Minnesota spelled out that case even more, creating hope this could be a season when strides are made.

But that game also was another example of falling short.

"It was a decent first outing, but we've got to find a way to win that game," Hauck said. "There are a lot of plays in there where we could've found a way to win, and we've got to do that. We need to do it this weekend."

UNLV faces an NAU team coming off a 4-7 season and the one-sided loss at Arizona State. The Lumberjacks suffered several injuries in that game but expect their top players to be available.

Running back Zach Bauman, in particular, should return after suffering a head injury. He has rushed for more than 1,000 yards each of the past two seasons.

The Rebels counter with their own top running game, led by Cornett, who rushed for 127 yards and two touchdowns against Minnesota.

UNLV probably not only needs to beat NAU but win convincingly to show this could be a year different from so many others, when early losses snowballed into mind-numbing seasons.

"We (would) lose a couple of games and people start feeling sorry for themselves and want to blame other people, and that's gone," linebacker Tim Hasson said. "We've got leaders in there leading everybody the right way and getting that negativity out of there. No matter what happens, we're going to keep going out each week starting 0-0."

But the Rebels need to take momentum out of this game to have any chance of finishing their four-game opening homestand on a high note. Washington State and Air Force visit the next two weeks, games that are far from gimmes but also teams that have vulnerabilities.

Part of moving forward as a program is winning games you're supposed to.

So if Hauck is to put this long-struggling program on the right path, UNLV needs to beat the NAUs of the college football world.

"I think we're making progress," Hauck said. "I think any time we take the field we should expect to win. We should know that we've got the ability to find ways to do that.

"I hope more often than not this season that's the way that plays out. That would be an evolution for us as a program."

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