Losses hurting Rebels

Steve Carp

Monday, Sept. 9, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Jeff Horton knew it was going to be a long, hard road for the UNLV football program to become an impact player in the Western Athletic Conference. But this long? This hard?

It's going to be longer and harder than the Rebels ever imagined. In the wake of the disaster that was a 65-17 trouncing by Air Force at Sam Boyd Stadium in Saturday's WAC opener, a shellshocked Horton was trying to figure out what can be done to put the brakes on what has become a runaway train in just two weeks.

UNLV has allowed an average of 63.5 points in its first two games. That may be fine if you're Bill Bayno and you're the coach of the Rebel basketball team. But it's totally unacceptable for Horton.

The coach, visibly shaken and fraught with emotion, said it's time for everyone within the program, players and coaches alike, to do some soul-searching.

"I'm really frustrated," he said. "I need to give these kids a chance for success. We shouldn't get beat like we did tonight.

"We were ready to play. I thought we've had two weeks of good practices. But obviously, we're not carrying it over to the games."

Perhaps the opposition has had something to do with the 0-2 avalanche start. Tennessee simply had better athletes. Air Force had veteran leadership and intricate precision in running its vaunted triple-option offense. This week, a new intangible -- strength -- will come into play as Big Ten member Wisconsin comes to Las Vegas looking to physically steamroll the young Rebels.

But Horton refused to use the step up in class as an excuse for his team's woeful performance in front of an enthusiastic, yet disappointed crowd of 15,710.

"Now's the time you're being tested as a program," Horton said. "You can do one of two things -- never give up, never hold back and never get down, or you can throw in the towel.

"I'm not the kind of person who gives up. But it's clearly evident that we have to take a look at the job we're doing as coaches and at the same time, (the players) have to step it up. I've talked and talked 'til I've lost my voice. At some point, people have to step up."

Linebacker Scott Patton agreed.

"I don't know what has happened in the past here, because this is my first year," said the JC transfer linebacker. "But there's something definitely wrong. Something's not clicking.

"I don't think it's a coaching thing. It's a personnel thing. We can't be making the mistakes we're making and spot a team a bunch of points. We don't have the raw talent to play catch-up."

And while Patton wasn't playing a year ago, the past is playing a factor in the present. The problems of last year, such as failing to find the end zone in the first quarter or preventing the floodgates from opening in the second quarter, have not been rectified.

Only twice last season did UNLV score a first-quarter touchdown. Saturday, the Rebels spotted Air Force a 9-0 first-quarter lead that grew to 16-0 early in the second before DeJohn Branch capped an 80-yard, 11-play drive with a one-yard TD run.

But then the other malaise struck as the Falcons tacked on three more touchdowns en route to a 29-point second quarter and a 38-7 halftime lead. UNLV allowed an average of 15 points per quarter in the second period a year ago. In the two games in 1996, it has been 21.5 per period.

Falcons quarterback Beau Morgan had a big night, rushing for 150 yards, throwing for 153 more for his fifth career 100-yard rushing, 100-yard passing game. Air Force racked up 612 yards in total offense as UNLV failed to execute the most basic of tackling fundamentals.

"It's the same old story," Horton said. "We do a few things right, but too many things wrong. We don't give ourselves a chance to stay in the game. We're not a good enough team to give away the ball to the opposition.

"We're just teasing right now. We have to develop some consistency. Right now, there is none."

Horton is hoping redshirt freshman quarterback Jon Denton will develop some consistency and have it rub off on the rest of the team.

"He made more progress," Horton said of Denton, who was 25 of 45 for 275 yards and two interceptions. "He battled. He didn't back down. As long as he continues to battle, he's going to be a good one for us."

Denton said it's his job to get the team into the end zone early and he thinks it's a matter of everyone doing his job.

"We've got to get our chemistry going and get on the same page," he said. "I've got a job to do, and that's execute the offense. And I thought other than getting the ball in the end zone, we did a good job of that."

But Denton knows getting the ball in the end zone is why he's out there. And if UNLV's running game doesn't begin to show a pulse, his job is going to be increasingly difficult. Thirty-six net yards rushing isn't going to cut it.

"We've got to do something," he said. "We've got to get our running game going."

Patton said: "Right now, it's embarrassing. We're not that bad. I know we're not. If we can just get one of the units going ..."