Columnist Dean Juipe: First game looks pivotal for Rebels

Dean Juipe

Friday, Sept. 4, 1998 | 10:12 a.m.

IT'S ENTIRELY possible they lose their first eight games of the season before the schedule eases and results in something like a final 2-9 record.

The early games will be especially brutal, with the UNLV Rebels overwhelmed physically and overmatched athletically.

As one beating follows another, players will be hurting and spiritually spent.

It'll get repetitious. Entering the season with a five-game losing streak carried over from 1997, the losses will keep accumulating and the pressure will mount as the number of consecutive defeats becomes embarrassing.

There will be speculation about the future of the coach, the direction of the program and, some will say, even the need for football at the university. What fans the team had will be replaced by critics and the numbingly disinterested.

There it is: The worst-case scenario for the Rebels, who open their season Saturday at Northwestern and then face Air Force, Wisconsin, Colorado State, Nevada-Reno, Brigham Young, Wyoming and Southern Methodist before lightweight Tulsa pops up on the schedule. With Rice and TCU at the tail end, UNLV might not better its 3-8 record of a year ago.

"It's easy to be negative," head coach Jeff Horton says of how the public perceives his lowly regarded team. And he's right, it doesn't take much effort to see the Rebels in for a series of negative-in-nature experiences this fall.

Now here's the contrast, the positive point of view: UNLV catches Northwestern by surprise, comes away with a critical victory for the program and uses that momentum to upend good but not great teams like Air Force, Reno and BYU and manages to go an astounding 8-3. En route the Rebels are lauded, the stands at Boyd Stadium begin to fill and a football resurgence captivates the typically placid local sports fan.

"We're at a fork in the road for this program," Horton said, and, of course, he's optimistic and confident he and his team have what it takes to break a losing trend that has led to a 6-28 record over the last three seasons.

Is it possible? Well yes, maybe. This first game with the big boys from Northwestern may not be as difficult as it looks on paper, and if the Rebels win that one who's to say they won't parlay it into a better-than-expected season?

But is it probable? Is the coaching staff's goal of a more-wins-than-losses season within reason?

"One thing about it, nobody expects us to do anything," Horton said, reflecting on the near-unanimous view across the country that UNLV is in for a rough time with a difficult schedule and a lack of artillery. Slyly, he half enjoys the role of underdog.

Yet assistant coach Ruffin McNeill acknowledges the season "will be a big challenge for us." At this week's luncheon with the team's staunchest boosters, he even asked "for all your prayers."

Some will oblige and offer a few words on the Rebels' behalf, putting their faith in divine intervention. Others will say not even a vigil's worth of petitioning the Almighty can alter the inevitable carnage UNLV is bound to suffer.

One thing about it, Saturday's game will be telltale. Good, bad or otherwise, it'll be an indication of what's to come.