Sam Boyd Stadium memory: When the lights went out

Note: This is the first installment of a weekly feature, except for UNLV’s two byes, that will look at a notable Rebels game at Sam Boyd Stadium. UNLV moves to Allegiant Stadium next year.

A Wisconsin visit to Sam Boyd Stadium was almost always a guaranteed packed house, and in 2002 the announced attendance of 42,075 remains the record for a UNLV home game.

But that Aug. 31 game also took place nearly a year after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that leveled the World Trade Center towers in New York and damaged the Pentagon near Washington. So when the stadium lights went out with 7:41 left in the game and Wisconsin leading 27-7, an unease filtered through the stands and on the field. UNLV coach John Robinson looked up to spot his wife, Linda, and Rebels defensive end Ahmad Briggs thought about running off the field.

No such attack had taken place, but what was an otherwise simple power outage created a slew of conspiracy theories because the game wasn’t deemed an official result by the sportsbooks. It needed to last another 2 minutes and 41 seconds.

Wisconsin fans had pushed the betting line from between 3 and 4 points to 7, and they wanted their money. But they also pushed the total from 53 to 58 points, and the books would have won most of those bets.

Both coaches, Robinson and Wisconsin’s Barry Alvarez, waited for about 10 minutes to see if the lights would come back on. When they didn’t, the coaches agreed to call the score final. Alvarez later told the Review-Journal he was happy “to take the win and go home.”

UNLV exacted revenge the following season, however, traveling to Wisconsin and beating the nation’s No. 14 team 23-5.

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