UNLV vs. Colorado State game notes

Monday, Sept. 28, 1998 | 10:01 a.m.

By Steve Guiremand

Normally, losing a conference game on the road by 22 points isn't much reason to celebrate. But during a September not to remember for UNLV's struggling football team, a 38-16 loss at Colorado State produced some optimism from the 0-4 Rebels. "We're disappointed that we lost, but at least we showed up," Rebels coach Jeff Horton said in a very telling quote about his squad. "We looked like a football team. We moved the ball and we were real physical on defense." So what if one of Colorado State's star running backs, Damon Washington, sat this one out with an ankle injury or that the Rams' starting quarterback, Ryan Eslinger, played just four plays before leaving with a mild concussion and badly cut mouth courtesy of a out-of-bounds hit by Rebels defensive back Randy Black that earned Black an ejection? Midway through the third quarter, the Rebels were still in the ballgame with the WAC preseason favorites, trailing just 17-7 thanks to an eight-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Crook to senior wide receiver Damon Williams. Had UNLV not blown a couple of earlier golden scoring opportunities following rare Ram turnovers, there might have been some real reason to celebrate. But when you haven't picked up a victory in almost a year --- Oct. 11, 1997 to be exact --- earning a draw in the final stats with Sonny Lubick and company is at least a moral victory.

UNLV tied the Rams in first downs, 24-24, ran 20 more plays (84-64), held a big edge in time of possession (34:21-25:39) and surprisingly won the turnover battle, 4 to 3, against last year's NCAA leader in turnover margin. And for the first time all season, UNLV didn't quit late in the game, recording a safety and touchdown in the fourth quarter. "I thought we were knocking the heck out of them out there," Horton said. "There were some vicious hits out there." ... All-WAC defensive end Talance Sawyer had a particularly impressive game, registering six tackles, including three for 13 yards in losses, a sack, forced two fumbles and broke up two passes. ... The Rebels, led by sophomore tailback James Wofford (79 yards on 18 carries), also rushed for 154 yards on 49 attempts. That almost tripled UNLV's rushing total (52) for the first three games. ... Senior punter Joe Kristosik had another big day, averaging 51.3 yards on five punts, including two greater than 60 yards. He also had a 59-yarder that was downed inside the Colorado State 1-yard-line that set up freshman defensive end La'anui Correa's safety on backup CSU running back Duan Ruff. It was the first safety in the Horton era. The last one came on Nov. 6, 1993 against Louisiana Tech by Tiger Townes.

Next opponent

The Rebels host in-state rival Nevada-Reno (1-2) Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium at 7 p.m. in the annual battle for the Fremont Cannon. The Wolf Pack, behind 328 yards passing from freshman quarterback David Neill, stunned host Fresno State 27-24 on Saturday and have won the last three matchups with the Rebels.

Attendance

Saturday's crowd: 27,632.