Rebels put a big scare into Northern Illinois but fall short — PHOTOS
DEKALB, Ill. — Since he became UNLV’s football coach in December, Tony Sanchez has made one promise — his team would play with what he calls a “fanatical effort.”
The Rebels did exactly that Saturday night at Huskie Stadium. They gave Northern Illinois everything they had, including a major scare.
They fell just short of pulling off a major upset in the season opener, the 23½-point underdog Rebels losing 38-30.
“I feel like we had a chance to win this game,” Sanchez said. “I looked at personnel, and I looked at our guys. I like our guys. I like their commitment. I like their toughness. I think we have some skill.
“We’re not a bad football team.”
UNLV next turns its attention to No. 13 UCLA, which visits Sam Boyd Stadium next weekend. Sanchez is familiar with Bruins quarterback Josh Rosen, having faced him last season when Sanchez was at Bishop Gorman High School. Rosen led the Bruins to a 34-16 victory over Virginia on Saturday.
The Rebels have plenty of good to take into that game, piling up 493 yards against Northern Illinois. Quarterback Blake Decker completed 21 of 39 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, and Devonte Boyd caught five passes for 107 yards and a TD.
“There are some positives to take away, but we’re not a big believer in moral victories,” Decker said. “There’s a winner and a loser in college football, and you want to be on the winning end, and when you’re not, it’s obviously frustrating.”
Also frustrating for the Rebels, they gave up 545 yards. Northern Illinois quarterback Drew Hare was deadly accurate in completing 21 of 26 passes for 360 yards and two touchdowns, and Kenny Golladay caught nine of those throws for 213 yards.
As if that wasn’t bad enough for UNLV, Joel Bouagnon hit the Rebels for 152 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
“We were having trouble matching up and stopping the run and at the same time adding pressure to the quarterback,” Sanchez said. “He had way too much time to sit back there and throw the ball. So you have our guys on an island and you’re not getting a lot of pressure, it’s a tough situation.”
If the Rebels figured to have one major advantage, it was early in the game because Northern Illinois didn’t have much video to go on with a new UNLV coaching staff and a load of new players. Nine incoming freshmen played in this game for the Rebels.
UNLV made full use of that edge, taking a 17-3 lead late in the first half before the Huskies adjusted. Northern Illinois went to a hurry-up offense, and that began to wear on the Rebels as the momentum shifted, beginning a run in which the Huskies scored five touchdowns on six drives.
“With the defense, we came out excited in the first half,” said safety Peni Vea, who led UNLV with nine tackles, including a sack, and he forced a fumble. “It’s all about consistency. We’ve got to stay consistent with what we were doing.”
But the Rebels refused to fade away, getting back to within a possession on Decker’s 41-yard touchdown pass to Aaron Criswell to make the score 38-30 with 5:26 left.
UNLV’s defense then forced a three-and-out, and its offense had 73 yards and 3:17 left to try to tie the game. Decker completed passes to convert a third-and-8 and a third-and-10 before finally facing fourth-and-9 at Northern Illinois’ 46.
It looked as if the Rebels had another conversion, but Boyd saw the opportunity for a big play and took his eyes off the ball, dropping the pass that ended UNLV’s last hope.
Even if the Rebels had reached the end zone, they would’ve needed a two-point conversion to send the game into overtime. Now they’ll never know what would have happened.
The effort was always there, that fanatical effort Sanchez speaks about.
“Coach Sanchez has them playing hard, playing fast, playing physical,” Huskies coach Rod Carey said.
Now Sanchez wants them playing more mistake-free football than the Rebels played against Northern Illinois.
It won’t be easy in the coming two weeks, with not only UCLA visiting but a trip to Michigan on Sept. 19.
It wasn’t supposed to be much of a game at Northern Illinois, though, so maybe the Rebels have some surprises in store this season.
“It’s a good football team,” Sanchez said, “and we’re going to keep getting better.”
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.