Routs reveal Rebels’ youth, inexperience

Bobby Hauck hoped to make history when he became UNLV's football coach in December 2009, and he has done that.

This sort of history, however, isn't what Hauck envisioned when he brought his 80-17 record from Montana to a program that hasn't produced a winning season since 2000.

UNLV is coming off perhaps the worst loss in school history, 41-16 to Southern Utah on Sept. 24. That was the Rebels' first loss to a lower-level school since Idaho beat them in 1994.

Three of UNLV's most one-sided defeats have come during Hauck's two seasons: 59-7 at Washington State on Sept. 10, and 55-7 at Brigham Young and 48-6 to Texas Christian last year.

Though the Rebels are 3-14 under Hauck, it's too soon to put him on the hot seat, especially because he has three years on his contract after this season.

But as the Rebels (1-3) prepare for Saturday's 4 p.m. game at UNR (1-3), it's not too soon to ask Hauck if the program isn't as far along as he expected.

"If you had asked me that question a week before, I'd maybe said we were ahead after upsetting Hawaii," Hauck said. "What we need to do is we need to be more consistent. We can't be up and down. It's something all teams in the country are striving for.

"We want to make sure we're making consistent progress. We want the highs to be high, but we don't want those wild swings in terms of performance."

UNLV athletic director Jim Livengood said his support for Hauck is as strong as ever.

"I believe totally in what Bobby Hauck is trying to do," Livengood said. "We know it's going to take time. There's no confidence issue at all.

"I have great belief the football program is in great, not good, but great hands."

Hauck is trying to remake the Rebels in a methodical way that focuses more on the long term and avoids the temptation of trying to win immediately.

His first and second offensive and defensive units are made up of 20 freshmen and sophomores. With that youth comes uncertainty, and Livengood said he tries to avoid becoming preoccupied with the highs and lows a young team often produces.

"The tendency is to overreact either way," he said. "There's an old adage I really subscribe to, that things are never as bad as they seem, and they're never as good as they seem."

A victory at UNR would go a long way toward easing the sting from the loss to Southern Utah. The Rebels had hoped to be 2-2 entering Saturday's game, having built on their 40-20 victory over Hawaii from the prior week.

"That one will never go away," Hauck said of the Southern Utah defeat. "There are certain ones over the years that hang with you, both wins and losses."

After that loss, Hauck said he turned last week's bye into a version of spring practice.

"We're kind of getting a feeling for who we are and where we are, and I think we had a productive week last week in terms of getting better," Hauck said. "We had four heavy practices. I think it will pay dividends for us, not just this week, but going forward."

■ NOTE -- Senior Quinton Pointer, who has 33 career starts at cornerback, now backs up senior free safety Mike Clausen. Senior Will Chandler and sophomore Sidney Hodge are the starters at corner.

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