Weekly standard of excellence remains a work in progress

Coming off a game that we had a chance to win but instead found a way to give away, we need to move forward.

However, we don't believe in discounting what happened last Saturday in our loss to Southern Utah at Sam Boyd Stadium. In fact, with no game this weekend, it gives us a chance to examine every minute detail of why and how it happened. We'll then do our best to ensure we never beat ourselves like that again. This is easier said than done, but through a constant day-in, day-out effort, we will fix our shortcomings.

We have not played consistently. We've been solid one week and not very good the next. Teams that win consistently are very consistent in their preparation and focus. Week in, week out, their preparation is uniform. Obviously, we have not mastered that yet in this program.

UNLV football has to have a standard of effort and execution that we live up to week to week -- not just once in a while. It's not about who we play, but how we play. When the Rebels take the field, we need to play to the standard that is set. Right now, we are not doing that.

This was a great time for a bye week. This week we've put in long, heavier practices that were more like those we run in spring ball. On Friday, our coaches will use the time to go out recruiting both locally and out of town. Then on Saturday, we'll come back in and have another full, go-get-it practice.

We had some time this week to work hard on the fundamentals of the game, try to improve and begin to get excited for our next game, which will be the Battle for the Fremont Cannon against instate rival UNR on Oct. 8 in Reno.

Go Rebels!

Bobby Hauck writes a weekly column on the UNLV football for Rebels Report.