Love is almost enough

Steve Carp

Monday, Sept. 30, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

He had shown glimpses during the spring of living up to the hype that surrounded his arrival in Las Vegas five years ago.

But that was back in April. And nobody knew when, or if, Omar Love could finally put it all together. Especially after a sprained ankle slowed him down in fall camp and his costly fourth-quarter fumble compromised UNLV's chances of upsetting Colorado State a week ago.

Love, however, didn't look at it from a redemption standpoint. His thing was, 'Give me the ball and I'll take it from there.' Problem was, when he got it, he wasn't doing much with it.

So it was encouraging for the 12,564 fans who came out to Sam Boyd Stadium Saturday to see the senior running back from Rialto, Calif., find the end zone three times, accounting for all of UNLV's scoring in a 33-21 loss to Wyoming.

Love ran hard every time he touched the ball, just like he was doing in the spring. He was using his added strength to break free from would-be tacklers. He was playing with a new-found determination.

He claims he wasn't out to prove anything to anybody. But watching him perform Saturday, you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a different conclusion.

"I expect that of myself," he said. "I got the opportunity and I made the opportunity count."

Love has been hurting all season. He had taken 1995 off in order to get his head straight academically, so he was relatively fresh when fall drills began in early August.

Then he sprained his ankle. He missed most of camp, was less than 100 percent for the opener against Tennessee and has been playing catch-up physically ever since.

"I'm still hurting," he said, not even mentioning the bruised hip he was sporting, courtesy of the Wyoming defense and the stadium's artificial turf. "It's not going to get any better as long as I play on it. But this is my last year. I'm not going to get another chance. So I'm just going to have to play through it."

Of his three scores, the last one was the most impressive. UNLV was trailing 20-14 early in the third quarter, but the Rebels were driving following Derrick Monroe's strip of Len Sexton and Monroe's subsequent fumble recovery.

Quarterback Jon Denton, who had a record day passing with 486 yards, moved the team into scoring position. On 2nd-and-6 at the Wyoming 29, Denton tossed a shovel pass to Love.

The Cowboys appeared to have the play covered as three defenders had a piece of Love. But he broke free, reversed his field, and outlegged the secondary to the right corner of the end zone. His score put UNLV ahead, 21-20, the first time all season the Rebels have led.

"I told Jon on Thursday night, 'You gotta get me the ball,'" Love said. "This is the first game where I really felt like I was the starter. They put the ball in my hands and I put a sweat on."

Even though his fumble the week before against Colorado State cost the Rebels a golden scoring opportunity, the coaches and Denton didn't forget about Love or penalize him for the gaffe.

"Nobody mentions the mistakes but you guys (the media)," Horton said. "We never look back. And the guys did a good job of picking Omar back up."

Denton said: "O's a big part of what we're trying to do. It would be stupid not to use him.

"I was glad to see him play so well. He was really hurting last week. But that's how football is. One week, you're down. The next week, you're up."