UNLV has hopes of upending Tulsa

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Oct. 30, 1998 | 10:29 a.m.

If there ever is a time for UNLV's football team to finally end its losing streak, Saturday afternoon could be it.

The Rebels (0-8, 0-5 WAC Mountain Division), who along with Hawaii own the nation's longest Division 1-A losing streak at 13 games, host a badly battered University of Tulsa (2-5, 2-2) squad that has a five-game losing streak of its own at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Golden Hurricane coach Dave Rader will be without his two top quarterbacks and two top wide receivers, a group he estimates combines for about 300 yards per game.

The school announced Thursday that starting quarterback John Fitzgerald, who ranked third in the WAC and 27th in the nation in total offense with an average of 232 yards per game, is out for the remainder of the season with a broken bone in his right wrist. Fitzgerald was re-injured in last week's 42-21 loss to Air Force.

Meanwhile, backup quarterback Michael Wall suffered a torn knee ligament, which does not require surgery at this time, but will keep him from making the trip.

That means redshirt freshman Robert Stephenson, a strong-armed 6-2, 220-pounder from Cypress Creek High in Houston who has thrown exactly one pass in his college career, will get the start.

Stephenson completed that pass for 28 yards, one of his six plays against Air Force. His only other college outing came late in a season-opening 49-14 romp over Southwest Missouri State when he saw the field for just seven snaps.

"Robert will do fine," Rader said. "He went in there (against Air Force) and didn't get rattled. I'm glad to see he responded to the situation."

"We haven't seem him play much, but I'm sure he's a good quarterback," UNLV coach Jeff Horton said. "We're certainly not in the position to take anybody or any team for granted."

The Rebels caught another big break when Tulsa's two top receivers --- Wes Caswell and Damon Savage --- also were left home with injuries.

Caswell, who will be missing his third straight game because of a severe ankle sprain, still leads the WAC in receptions with 45 for 529 yards (11.8 avg.) and four touchdowns. Savage, a first-team all-WAC Mountain choice a year ago, is third in the WAC with 39 receptions for 474 yards (12.2 avg.) and four touchdowns but is sidelined with a dislocated toe.

Despite all of Tulsa's injuries, Horton still believes the key to the game will be just how well UNLV bounces back from back-to-back crushing losses to Wyoming (28-25 in overtime) and SMU (10-7).

"We need to come out and play good solid defense and not turn the ball over," Horton said. "And we need to get our running game going. We can't constantly be in second-and-long or third-and-long or we'll be in for a long afternoon."

Considering Tulsa's defense ranks 93rd nationally against the run yielding an average of 198.9 yards per game, it figures James Wofford and company should be able to move the ball fairly well on the ground Saturday.

There's one streak Horton does hope will continue Saturday. UNLV is 2-0 at Sam Boyd Stadium on Halloween games, defeating San Jose State, 35-31, in 1992, and New Mexico State, 17-12, in 1985.

"Who knows?" Horton said. "A thirteen (game losing streak) falls on Halloween ... hopefully that's a good sign for us."

AGONY OF DEFEATS

UNLV shares the nation's longest losing streak -- 13 games -- with Hawaii. Following is the Rebels' tale of woe:

San Diego State 20, UNLV 17 (OT)

Fresno State 46, UNLV 28

Colorado State 45, UNLV 19

Wyoming 35, UNLV 23

San Jose State 55, UNLV 48 (OT)

Northwestern 41, UNLV 7

Air Force 52, UNLV 10

Wisconsin 52, UNLV 7

Colorado State 38, UNLV 16

Nevada-Reno 31, UNLV 20

BYU 38, UNLV 15

Wyoming 28, UNLV 25 (OT)

SMU 10, UNLV 7

archive