Rebels host Rainbows in first big home test

Tim Graham

Friday, Sept. 19, 1997 | 9:07 a.m.

The eve of the first of five Judgment Days is upon the UNLV football program.

Even before he took his team to Mesquite for training camp, Rebel head coach Jeff Horton announced the team's No. 1 priority: win every home game.

UNLV takes its first crack at fulfilling its coach's wishes Saturday night at 7:05 when the Hawaii Rainbows enter Sam Boyd Stadium.

"We need to establish dominance at home," Horton said. "We want to get off on the right foot."

The Rebels, 20-9 in home openers, couldn't have been dealt a more accommodating Pacific Division foe. The Rainbows have lost 16 straight Western Athletic Conference road games, dating to 1992.

"Any road game for the University of Hawaii is a jawbreaker," Rainbows boss Fred vonAppen said. "We haven't won on the road since Millard Fillmore was president. It's a daunting task for us."

Hawaii arrived in Las Vegas Thursday and worked out at Clark High. The Rainbows were to practice at Sam Boyd this afternoon in an attempt to find their mainland legs.

"I've only been here one year, and we've used a variety of strategies on the road, and none of them have worked," vonAppen said. "Only when we play well enough on the road will we win."

Horton, however, will take nothing for granted.

"This is a very crucial game for us," he said. "We know we have to play very well to be successful. Hawaii is coming in with a lot of confidence. They have a lot to be confident about."

The Rainbows (2-1 overall, 0-1 in the Pacific) shocked nearly everyone who knows anything about them when they knocked off Big Ten opponent Minnesota in the season opener. Hawaii followed with a 34-21 victory over Cal State Northridge and then lost 35-6 to reigning Pacific Division champ Wyoming.

But vonAppen is quick to bring his team back down to Earth.

"If someone thought we had arrived after we won those first two games of the season, their head was somewhere in the sand on Waikiki," he said. "On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say we're a 3.5. We still have light-years to go. For us, everybody is formidable."

The second-year head coach is especially cautious in talking about how his team will approach the Rebels (0-2, 0-1) and sophomore quarterback Jon Denton.

"We're not going to be able to stop Jon Denton," vonAppen said. "We think he's a state-of-the-art player. We'll have to try to manage Jon Denton; we're not going to be able to stop him."

The Rainbows surely didn't slow Denton down last year in their 38-28 victory at Aloha Stadium. Denton was 15 of 31 for 180 yards and three touchdowns against one interception. He also ran for a late 30-yard score.

But what Denton remembers most about that loss was being ahead 21-10 at halftime.

"It was a great feeling," the Green Valley alum said. "It was one of the first times we were up at the half all year. Damn our luck. That loss was tough to handle."

After two games this season, Denton has completed 48 of 86 passes for 600 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. He ranks first in the WAC and 13th in the country in total offense.

Hawaii is led by quarterback Tim Carey and running back Charles Tharp. Carey is a pro-style signal caller who has completed 51 of 83 passes for 604 yards and one touchdown against four interceptions.

Tharp has 20 carries for 158 yards, a 7.9-yard average. He also has eight catches for 98 yards (12.3 average) and the Rainbows' lone receiving touchdown.

"I'm looking forward to (Hawaii) and turning it around," Denton said. "Winning breeds winning."

And as far as Horton is concerned, it all starts at home.

"We want teams coming into Vegas and having a good time in our city, enjoying all it has to offer," he said. "But we want to make it miserable for them at Sam Boyd.

"Nobody beats us in our house."