Sam Boyd Stadium memory: The night UNLV blanked Utah
Note: This is the eighth installment of a weekly feature, except for UNLV’s two bye weeks, that will look at a notable Rebels game at Sam Boyd Stadium. UNLV moves to Allegiant Stadium next year.
UNLV running back Frank Summers set the tone early. The bruising back known as “Frank the Tank” took a handoff, forced three Utah defenders to bounce off him and dragged others before they finally brought him down after a 24-yard gain.
He went on to rush for 190 yards and two touchdowns and caught a 29-yard TD pass. Combined with UNLV’s strong defensive effort, the Rebels shut out Utah 27-0 in the Sept. 22, 2007 game.
This over a Utes team that had owned UNLV. The win snapped an 11-game series losing streak.
“I thought we played with a hunger and a desperation,” UNLV coach Mike Sanford said.
The game was a battle of former Utah coordinators. Sanford was the offensive coordinator and Utes coach Kyle Whittingham ran the defense under Urban Meyer in 2004. That Utah team went 12-0, including a win over Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl, a Bowl Championship Series game, paving the way to eventually leave the Mountain West for the Pac-12 Conference.
But on this night, UNLV was the more optimistic team. At 2-2, the Rebels were off to their best start since opening 4-1 in 2003. This also was their first shutout since 2000 and the first time Utah had been blanked since 1993.
UNLV’s optimism, however, would soon disappear.
The Rebels lost the eight remaining games on their schedule, never again playing as well as on that September night.
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Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.
