UNLV leads Sacramento State at halftime

REBELS STILL LEAD

It’s halftime and UNLV still leads Sacramento State, 10-3, thanks to some vanilla play calling by the Hornets. Coach Marshall Sperbeck elected to run the ball 12 straight times and chewed up over seven minutes on the clock. Unfortunately for the Hornets, it only got them as far as midfield, where they had to punt.

Mike Sanford has been substituting liberally on both sides of the ball and the Rebels have responded well. He brought Omar Clayton back at QB late in the second quarter after Mike Clausen was unable to sustain a drive early in the quarter.

However, the defense did allow the Hornets to drive downfield late in the half and get on the board with a 43-yard field goal at the end of the half.

Channing Trotter has looked good carrying the ball for UNLV as he has the game’s lone touchdown and has rushed for 46 yards in seven carries.

SECOND HALF PREVIEW

Look for Clayton to go back to playing pitch-and-catch with Ryan Wolfe. Sac State has no answer for the Rebels’ wide receiver and he has been open all game.

Defensively, the Rebels figure to get more people up to the line of scrimmage and try and keep Sac State’s running game in check. While the Hornets have not broken any huge gainers, they have managed to stay in the game by playing ball control on the ground and moving the chains. It appears Sperbeck is not going to put QB Jason Smith at risk by having him start airing it out. So the Rebels’ defense will need to make sure they contain Evander Wilkins and Terrance Dailey.