Let’s find new date for UNLV-UNR games

Friday, Oct. 2, 1998 | 9:55 a.m.

STEVE GUIREMAND is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer.

What do USC-UCLA, Army-Navy, Cal-Stanford, Auburn-Alabama, Texas-Texas A&M and Ohio State-Michigan all have in common?

They play their big rivalry games at the end of the season.

Which begs this question? Why can't UNLV and Nevada-Reno schedule their game at the end of the year, too?

Playing your arch rival in the middle of the season doesn't quite have the drama as a season-ender. And for the loser of a game like this, it can carry over and put a downer on the rest of your campaign.

Just ask New Mexico. After losing to New Mexico State on the last play of the game two weeks ago, the Lobos suffered a lackluster 37-20 loss at San Jose State. Now New Mexico is in danger of seeing its once-promising season go totally down the drain with another loss at Air Force this weekend.

"I'd like to play this game over Thanksgiving every year," UNLV coach Jeff Horton said. "I think the people in the state would like to see the game played at the same time every year. I think it's kind of bad when it's the first game of the year or in the middle of the year.

"I'd like to play it on that Thursday, Friday or Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. That's when a lot of the rivalry games are. That would be the natural time to do it. Then everybody in the state would know when the game is going to be played every year. It also would give you something to look forward to at the end of the season."

Point well taken. If UNLV (0-4) and Nevada-Reno (1-2) continue to struggle in conference play after this game, what's there to look forward to at the end of November? UNLV at Rice? TCU at UNLV? Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at Nevada-Reno? ZZZZZZ.

Even if UNLV were 0-10 and Nevada-Reno was, say, 5-5, heading into the Fremont Cannon game, there still would be something to look forward to at the end of the year. Seasons, not to mention head coaching jobs, have been made or broken with season-ending rivalry wins. Just ask Lloyd Carr. John Cooper. John Robinson.

"I'm not opposed to playing it there," Nevada-Reno athletic director Chris Ault said of the Thanksgiving scenario. "But (former UNLV athletic director) Jim Weaver decided we should play it the first week of October.

"I kind of look at it differently," Ault continued. "I think that if you lose (the rivalry) game early, you can forget about it and still go out and win a conference title. If you lose that game at the end of the season, then you have nothing to look forward to and it carries over with you during the off-season."

"My big thing is just to continue playing the game, whenever it is," Wolf Pack head coach Jeff Tisdel said.

Still, wouldn't it be neat if a tradition could be started that the Friday after Thanksgiving was "the" day for Nevada college football? And with not that many games being played that day, maybe a deal could be worked out for a ESPN2 or a Fox Sports West to televise it.

Once around the WAC

AIR FORCE: Head coach Fisher DeBerry is confident Falcons (3-1, 2-1 WAC Mountain Division), who host New Mexico (2-2, 0-1) Saturday, can overcome surprising 35-34 loss at TCU last weekend. "We're in good shape to go 10-1 if we play like we're capable of playing," DeBerry said. "We've just got to play every week as if it's lights out and it's our Super Bowl."

BYU: There's a quarterback controversy in Provo. Junior lefty Kevin Feterik will start at Fresno State Saturday despite getting his share of boos from Cougar faithful during last week's 43-9 win over Murray State. Backup Drew Miller will also play. "It's worked well for us," coach LaVell Edwards said of the platooning quarterback situation.

COLORADO STATE: Holyoke, Colo., quarterback Russell Sprague (6-4, 190), brother of Rams' freshman safety Aaron Sprague, verbally committed to CSU. Russell Sprague was timed at 4.53 in the 40-yard dash at a Denver scouting combine this summer.

FRESNO STATE: Bulldogs converted just 3 of 17 third-down attempts in surprising 27-24 loss to Nevada-Reno last week.

HAWAII: Since 1994, Rainbows are a woeful 4-29 in WAC games. And last weekend's 20-0 loss to Arkansas State was the first time in 22 years that Hawaii had been shut out at home, a span of 178 games.

UNLV: Freshman Duane James ranks third in the WAC and 26th nationally in kickoff returns (24.7 avg.) and is eighth in the WAC in punt returns (7.0 avg.). Which begs this question? Why isn't the explosive James getting the ball 10 to 15 times per game on offense, too?

NEW MEXICO: Lobos, who travel to Air Force Saturday, have lost their last four road games.

RICE: Star running back Michael Perry, who sat out much of last weekend's 59-21 loss at Texas with a sore heel, should be close to 100 percent when Owls return to action next Saturday at San Jose State.

SAN DIEGO STATE: Starting quarterback Spencer Brinton, who sprained ligaments in his thumb against USC Sept. 12, had the cast removed from his left (throwing) hand Tuesday. Brinton isn't expected back until the Aztecs' game against Hawaii next Friday at the earliest.

SAN JOSE STATE: Placekicker David Silberstein, the WAC's Pacific Division special teams of the week after kicking three field goals in Spartans' 37-20 victory over New Mexico, is 5-for-5 on field goals and 10-for-10 on PATs this year.

SMU: How's this for back-to-back road trips? Mustangs left Dallas on Wednesday for Saturday night's game at Hawaii. Next week the Ponies travel to the opposite end of the spectrum, Laramie, to face Wyoming.

TCU: Center Jeff Garner was credited with 23 "pancake" blocks in last Saturday's 35-34 upset of Air Force.

UTEP: Powerful junior running back Paul Smith (6-1, 238) leads the WAC in rushing with an average of 115.3 yards per game.

TULSA: Jerry Rhome, 1964 Heisman Trophy runner-up and currently offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams, will be honored at halftime of Saturday's game with San Diego State for his pending induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.

UTAH: Utes are second in the WAC and 11th nationally in rushing defense, yielding an average of 78.0 yards per game on the ground.

WYOMING: Cowboys coach Dana Dimel felt Saturday's crossover game with Utah was so important that he included the Utes during their preseason practice preparation, even though it was the fourth game of the season. "We already have 75 percent of the game plan in (for Utah)," Dimel said after last week's 31-19 win over Louisiana Tech.

Once around the nation

ACC: Virginia, which hosts San Jose State Saturday, has never played a team from California in its long football history.

BIG 12: Oklahoma, which hosts Colorado Saturday, has scored just 22 points in its last two games. So Sooner coaches met with Barry Switzer, the man who guided the Sooners to three national titles, and asked for input on how to improve their struggling offense. Switzer's advice? "Do one thing and do it right. ... Get the ball to DeMond Parker more often." Look for Parker to get about 25 carries against the Buffs.

BIG EAST: Rutgers' 27-15 win over Army last week was the Knights' first over a 1-A opponent since Oct. 26, 1996, snapping a 16-game losing streak to 1-A foes. Rutgers has lost 11 straight Big East games going into Saturday's game with Miami.

BIG TEN: The last time Penn State (3-0), which travels to No. 1 Ohio State (3-0) Saturday, played a No. 1-ranked team was 1990 when the Nittany Lions upset Notre Dame in South Bend, 24-21, on a last-minute field goal by Craig Fayak. Penn State is 4-5 vs. No. 1 rated teams under Joe Paterno.

BIG WEST: Idaho collected a $325,000 payday for its 53-20 drubbing at LSU last Saturday.

CONFERENCE USA: Tulane quarterback Shaun King, the NCAA leader in passing efficiency, is doubtful for Saturday's showdown with Southern Miss at the Superdome due to a broken left (nonthrowing) wrist.

MAC: Marshall (4-0, 2-0), which hosts Miami of Ohio (3-1, 1-0) in a key MAC East matchup Saturday, hasn't beaten the RedHawks since 1976. Miami beat the Herd and Randy Moss, 45-21, last year in Oxford.

PAC-10: Isn't new USC coach Paul Hackett supposed to be a passing whiz? Well, the Trojans had just 23 yards passing in 30-10 loss at Florida State as quarterbacks Mike Van Raaphorst and Carson Palmer were a combined 3-of-19 with three interceptions. USC (3-1) hosts Arizona State (2-2) in a key Pac-10 matchup Saturday at the Coliseum.

SEC: Following three straight home losses to Georgia (17-3), Marshall (24-21) and Mississippi State (38-0), South Carolina head coach Brad Scott has moved to the top of the list of Division I coaches most likely to get canned after this season.

WAC: How sad is this crumbling conference? Well, once again not one team is rated in the Top 25 this week and the WAC is a dismal 15-28 (34.9 percent) in nonconference matchups, including a pathetic 3-5 against the Big West.

INDEPENDENTS: Arkansas State's stunning 20-0 win at Hawaii was the Indians' first road win since 1995. After the game, Arkansas State players and coaches engaged in a celebration that included victory cigars and posing for pictures with the Aloha Stadium scoreboard in the background.

archive