UNLV: The time is here

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Sept. 2, 1999 | 10:34 a.m.

DENTON, Texas -- With a good year, Len Ware can leave UNLV with most of the school's career receiving marks.

But what the 6-1, 195-pound senior from Montclair High School in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., really wants is to have a happy flight home following a Rebels' road game.

"I've never been able to get on a plane and party on the way back," Ware said. "Hopefully, (tonight) is the night."

UNLV, which has not won a road football game since Oct. 1, 1994, will try to snap that streak as well as an overall 16-game losing skein tonight when it faces North Texas University at Fouts Field.

It marks the dawn of the John Robinson era for Rebel football. Robinson replaced Jeff Horton last December and became the eighth head football coach in the school's history.

The 64-year-old Robinson, in what is likely the last stop of a successful coaching career, has done a masterful job over the last nine months of revitalizing college football in Las Vegas, making appearance after appearance after appearance promoting his squad.

But even Robinson realizes all that hard work will be lost if he does not put out a representative football product on the field.

To that end, Robinson has gone on record to say that he will not be satisfied with anything less than a winning record his first year, citing the fact this is the last chance for his seniors to accomplish such a goal.

Ware, whose 130 career catches puts him 57 away from Damon Williams' school mark, said he would have been disappointed if Robinson shot for anything less.

"Hey, I don't have a next year," he said. "There's a sense of urgency to do it right now. If his goal was just to win a few games, I'd say, 'To hell with you.' I want to win. This is my last chance.

"You wouldn't have any kind of character if you didn't really care about having a winning season."

North Texas, under second-year coach Darrell Dickey, is coming off a 3-8 campaign, but went 3-2 and finished second in the Big West Conference. Among the team the Eagles -- they also like the nickname The Mean Green -- defeated was Nevada-Reno, 27-21.

The Eagles return just five starters from a conservative offense that ranked last in the Big West in total offense. However, one of those players -- 6-4 senior wide receiver Broderick McGrew -- was a Street and Smith's preseason second team All-American after catching 26 passes for 393 yards and one touchdown as a junior. Perhaps more impressively, McGrew led the nation in kickoff returns with a 32.6 average.

"Brock's the guy we're going to build the team around," Dickey said.

Small and quick tailback Ja'Quay Wilburn, who rushed for 501 yards in the Eagles' final three games last season, also is back as is senior quarterback Jason Attaway, who started eight games a year ago before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

North Texas returns eight starters from a defense that finished fifth in the Big West in total defense a year ago. Like UNLV, the Eagles must rebuild a questionable defensive line. However, all three linebackers, including brothers Fred and Corry Pertile, return and the secondary (three starters are back) is experienced and deep.

Dickey said he doesn't believe his team will be any more motivated to win the opener because it's Robinson's debut.

"I don't think it will be much of a factor, but I know there has been a lot of hype," Dickey said. "This is a team that has a new coach with a great reputation who we know will bring in a football team that will play hard and be well prepared."

* REBEL NOTES: UNLV has a 2-0 record against the Eagles, winning 34-24 in 1995 and 27-26 in 1986, both at Sam Boyd Stadium. ... UNLV is 16-15 in season openers, but has not won a road opener since 1981 when it defeated San Jose State, 16-6. ... Rebel head coaches are 4-3 in their debuts. Robinson, however, was 0-2 in his debuts during each of his two USC stints. ... This is only North Texas' fifth year of Division I competition. The Eagles have never won more than five games in a season. ... The Eagles have won 14 of their last 16 home openers. ... Some of North Texas' more famous football alumni are Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Famer "Mean" Joe Greene, former 49ers and Raiders star Cedric Hardeman, 1960 AFL Player of the Year Abner Haynes and former New York Giants star Beasley Reece. ... For the record, UNLV's last road victory was a 31-27 win at New Mexi co State on Oct. 1, 1994. They have lost 26 straight road contests since. The Rebels last win was a 21-19 decision over TCU on Oct. 11, 1997.