0-6 Rebels hoping for some miracles

Steve Carp

Monday, Oct. 7, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

What now, Rebels?

In the wake of Saturday's 54-17 thrashing at the hands of in-state rival Nevada-Reno, there's no telling where an 0-6 UNLV team is headed with still half a season to play.

If the football gods are smiling down on Jeff Horton's team they have a bizarre sense of humor, as UNLV has to travel to Provo, Utah, this week to face No. 19 Brigham Young.

Can the Rebels recover from this shocking, underachieving and woeful performance? Will they even win a game this season in the aftermath of such a lackluster effort against a team it truly believed it could beat?

Right now, nobody has an answer.

The comment "I wish I could tell you" was on everyone's tightly pursed lips as they left Sam Boyd Stadium, where the only thing bluer than the Fremont Cannon was the mood in the UNLV locker room.

"I have no idea what it was," said nose guard Mac Smith, a member of a UNLV defense which surrendered 566 yards. "We just came out flat. I don't know what to say."

Quarterback Jon Denton, who usually isn't at a loss for words, searched for the right things to say.

"It's hard to pinpoint exactly what happened," said Denton, who again was under duress all day and finished with just 122 yards passing after throwing for a school-record 486 against Wyoming the week before. "Every position had breakdowns."

Horton said: "With the momentum we had the last two weeks, we had shown signs of coming together. But I wouldn't have expected this. This was the farthest thing from my mind."

Even when the Rebels were in it, it seemed as though they weren't. The Wolf Pack did whatever it wanted when it had the ball. Quarterback John Dutton had virtually no pressure and was able to pick out wide-open receivers all day, especially over the middle.

"Our offensive line did a great job," said Dutton, who passed for 278 yards and four touchdowns after being named UNR's starting quarterback last Monday over Eric Bennett. "We knew if they scored, we had to score."

UNLV's short-lived 3-0 first-quarter lead evaporated as Dutton answered Alan DiLeo's 37-yard field goal with a six-play, 70-yard drive. And after Denton was picked off by Molech Blythe at the UNR 48, Dutton hooked up with Sean Simms to make it 14-3.

By the first minute of the second quarter, the Wolf Pack had a 28-3 lead. With the Rebels showing no life whatsoever, the game was over at that point.

"I thought we had a good week of practice, better than we had against Wyoming," Horton said. "We felt good moving the ball on our first possession and we thought we were headed for another good day."

Instead, it was the worst day of the 1996 season. It will be interesting to see how long the effects of such a devastating defeat will linger on a young team with a tender psyche.

"I'm not familiar with dealing with these situations," said Denton, who has lost more games this season than during his entire high school career at Green Valley. "But I have to find a way to bounce back and get ready for BYU."

Horton said: "We're going to have to put it behind us as quickly as possible. When we get them together (Monday), we're not even going to show them the films.

"I think we'll bounce back. But right now, it's tough for everyone, players and coaches. We let the whole university, the town, all those people in the stands, down.

"Whatever could go wrong, went wrong. It was a total breakdown, starting with me. We just didn't play anywhere, anytime."

Horton then paused.

"They said this would be hard...," he said, not bothering to finish the sentence.