Rebels fritter away big opportunity at San Diego State

Tim Graham

Monday, Oct. 20, 1997 | 11:26 a.m.

SAN DIEGO -- Everything was in place.

All the teams that needed to lose did so in the afternoon. As UNLV took the field at Qualcomm Stadium Saturday night, all it needed to do was take care of San Diego State.

Following losses by Air Force and Wyoming, a UNLV victory would have put the Rebels in a tie for first place in the Western Athletic Conference's Pacific Division and placed them in position for their ultimate goal: a bowl game.

"We knew we controlled our own destiny," Horton said. "With what happened during the day, we had a chance to do things."

But the Rebels did not play like contenders. They lost 20-17 in overtime.

"We still control things because of who we still have to play," Horton said, especially referring to the next three games against Fresno State, Colorado State and Wyoming. "We still have a lot to play for."

But that attitude is somewhat distorted among the players. They realize Saturday might have been their only shot at fulfilling their goals of finishing in the WAC's top three and playing in the postseason.

"It was a big game for us, one we needed to win," said sophomore linebacker Jerrad Pierucci, whose third-quarter interception set up Tim O'Reilly's 22-yard game-tying field goal.

"Our destiny was in our hands. Our destiny is in the hands of other people losing for us, now."

The Rebels (3-4 overall, 2-3 in the Pacific) continued their offensive woes despite facing one of the WAC's worst defenses. Jon Denton intended to burn SDSU's diminutive cornerbacks and even went so far as to announce his plan earlier in the week. But 5-foot-7 Eric Lewis and 5-9 James Heggins were not beaten by the conference's total yardage leader.

Denton was intercepted three times, including the game killer in overtime. On third-and-goal from the SDSU 5-yard line, Denton rolled left and intended to throw the ball to his first read, Damon Williams, just inside the corner of the end zone. It went directly to linebacker Andy Osborne.

The Aztecs (2-5, 1-2) had a grand total of one interception in its first six games.

"Forewarning: Do not ask me about that last pass," Denton announced to the media as he emerged from UNLV's Qualcomm locker room.

It was the eighth turnover (six interceptions, two fumbles) charged to Denton in his last three games. In that same span, the Green Valley grad accounted for five scores (four passing, one running).

"Denton is arrogant," Osborne said. "He thinks he has (Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy) Aikman's arm. He's good, but he's not as good as some of the plays he tries to make.

"They came out and did the same exact play two other times in the game. When it happened in overtime, I was like 'I have to get under this one.' I just sneaked over, and he threw it right to me."

With the ball placed on the Rebel 25 for their crack at overtime, the Aztecs automatically were in field-goal range. They pushed it to the 8 before Nate Tandberg nailed a 24-yarder to end it. The kick avenged Tandberg's 37-yard miss that could have won the game in regulation.

"In this type of game, I'm either the hero or the goat," said Denton, who had a fourth interception erased by a defensive holding call away from the ball. "I'm the goat. I gotta accept it. We were turnover prone the whole game, mostly on my part. I made key mistakes, forcing some balls.

"We'll get them next year, and you can quote me on that."

But with four games left in 1997, next year doesn't mean too much. If the Rebels think of themselves as a bowl team, there was no better opportunity than Saturday night to play like one.

"We sloughed off a little bit early in the game," said safety Randy Black, a Clark High alum. "Maybe we didn't take (SDSU) as seriously as we should have. We were a little too cool about it."