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Steve Guiremand

Saturday, Oct. 9, 1999 | 8:01 a.m.

LARAMIE, Wyoming --- Who would have thought?

UNLV, on the heels of three straight lopsided losses and a 25-point underdog, coming here and upsetting No. 27 Wyoming? And on Homecoming no less. ... not to mention Cowboy coach Dana Dimel's 37th birthday.

But that's just what happened thanks to the tough running of tailback Jeremi Rudolph (149 yards on 32 carries) and a defense that forced five turnovers, including two interceptions in the final 3 1/2 minutes of a stunning 35-32 Mountain West Conference victory before a crowd of 19,048 at sunny War Memorial Stadium here.

It was the first conference road victory in over five years for UNLV (3-3, 1-1) dating back to a 31-27 Big West Conference win at New Mexico State on Oct. 1, 1997.

"The thing I'm most pleased about is that we got our stinger back," UNLV coach John Robinson said. "We had started the season (with two wins) and played like this. ... not perfect football or anything. Then we'd gotten overwhelmed and stymied in our last three games and I'm sure there were a lot of people who were saying that maybe we'd never be able to get it back. We were worried. But we came out and played with energy and vigor and all that stuff."

The Rebels, who hadn't scored a point in the first quarter in a game all season, scored two touchdowns in the first 8:07 on Saturday en route to a quick 14-0 lead.

UNLV took the opening kickoff and, behind the running of Rudolph, drove 80 yards in 11 plays. The march, which featured Rudolph carrying 5 times for 37 yards, was capped by a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jason Vaughan to wide receiver Duane James.

The Rebels drove 78 yards in 6 plays in their next possession with backup tailback Coury Hankins capping the series with a nifty 47-yard run off right tackle.

Wyoming (3-2, 1-1) cut the lead to 14-3 on a 24-yard field goal by Aaron Elling with 3:16 left in the first quarter.

UNLV extended its lead to 21-3 midway through the second quarter on Vaughan's second touchdown pass of the game, this time a six-yard pass to Nate Turner in the right corner of the end zone that capped a 93-yard, 11 play drive.

The Cowboys cut the deficit to 21-9 at halftime with two more field goals by Elling from 27 and 32 yards.

Wyoming then drew to within 21-16 with 10:06 left in the third quarter on a three-yard touchdown run by Jon Jennings.

UNLV then appeared to put the game away with two touchdowns in a 16-second span.

First, James returned a Tom Waring punt 43-yards up the left sideline for a touchdown to give the Rebels a 28-16 lead with 3:09 left in the third quarter.

On Wyoming's first play from scrimmage on the ensuing possession, defensive back Amar Brisco deflected a Matt Swanson pass to safety Quincy Sanders who ran it back 34 yards for a touchdown and 35-16 UNLV lead.

But UNLV tried its best in the fourth quarter to blow it's 19-point advantage.

Instead of running the ball like it had successfully all afternoon, UNLV inexplicably put the ball in the shaky hands of Vaughan.

As has been the case for most of the season, the 6-4 transfer from Middle Georgia Community College struggled badly in that situation, first throwing an interception that Cowboy linebacker Matt Klotz ran back 27 yards for a touchdown. Running back Jon Jennings then added a two-point conversion and UNLV's lead was trimmed to just 35-24 with 14:03 left.

Five plays later, Vaughan (12 of 27, 162 yards, 2 TDs, 2 Ints.) committed another costly turnover.

On third-and-10 on the Rebels' 30, Vaughan scrambled from a heavy rush from Cowboy defensive end Kendrick Rawls and appeared to fumble forward to linebacker Cortney Barnes, who caught the ball in midair for what would later be ruled an interception. Barnes then rambled 31 yards for another touchdown and, thanks to a Swanson two-point conversion pass to Wendell Montgomery, Wyoming was back to within a field goal, 35-32, with 10:37 remaining.

UNLV blew a chance to extend its lead to six when Tim O'Reilly had a 33-yard field goal blocked. But the Rebel defense came through with two big interceptions in the final 3 1/2 minutes to squash any more Wyoming comback hopes, the final one by linebacker Tyler Brickell with 1:16 to go at the Cowboy 34 yard line.

"We believe in ourselves," Robinson said. "We're not a real good team or anything, but we believe in ourselves. And to have that belief reinforced is a good thing."

UNLV has a bye next Saturday before returning home to Sam Boyd Stadium to host BYU on Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the Rebels' Homecoming contest.