Columnist Steve Guiremand: Harter’s decision paved way for Rebels

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Sept. 10, 1999 | 10:27 a.m.

Steve Guiremand's college football column appears on Friday. Reach him at 259-2324 or steveg@lasvegassun.com

UNLV president Dr. Carol C. Harter was awarded the first game ball of the John Robinson era in the Rebels' steamy and cramped locker room following last week's long overdue 26-3 win at North Texas.

First thought: Robinson is no dummy. He knows who signs his pay checks. Nothing like a little brown-nosing.

But upon closer inspection, maybe Harter deserved the game ball over folks such as Jeremi Rudolph, Jason Vaughan and Nate Turner.

The reason? If not for the quick and timely decision by Harter and athletic director Charles Cavagnaro back on Dec. 3, there would be no Jeremi Rudolph, Jason Vaughan or Nate Turner to give game balls to.

Harter and company could have stretched things out and interviewed several other candidates to replace Jeff Horton. Instead, they took the ball and ran with it when they found out somewhat surprisingly that Robinson would be interested in taking on the challenge of rebuilding what was basically a glorified junior college program.

That enabled Robinson to get into town quickly, assemble his staff and begin recruiting the kind of junior college players he needed to plug the many holes on his new club.

Now mid-year JC transfers such as Rudolph, arguably better than any tailback Robinson had during his second USC tenure; Vaughan, a quarterback with the arm and feet to maybe play on Sunday one day; and Turner, who would probably be at Oregon State or USC right now if Harter had waited another day or two to hire Robinson; are already paying big dividends for the Rebels.

The signing of Rudolph also opened the door for the Rebels to bring in several key defensive players from Mississippi junior colleges, including linemen Ahmad Miller and Anthony Suggs.

"Hey, she definitely deserved it," said cornerback Kevin Thomas, who ran back an interception 49 yards for a touchdown. "She brought (Robinson) in."

So enjoy the game ball Dr. Harter. And better make room for a few more in the next few years.

* TOOT, TOOT SALUTE: BYU linebacker Rob Morris, a candidate for the Butkus Award, is nicknamed "Freight Train." And to bring attention to the hard-hitting linebacker, BYU has mounted a publicity campaign that includes sending media members a wooden train whistle with Morris' stats and accomplishments on it.

Clever.

The publicity package also included a letter from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers based in Cleveland which endorses Morris for the Butkus Award.

Once around the MWC

* AIR FORCE: Matt Farmer's seven receptions in the Falcons' 37-13 opening win over Villanova were the most by a player in a single game in the 16-year-old Fisher DeBerry era in Fort Collins.

* BYU: With Thursday night's victory over Washington, the Cougars have now gone an NCAA-record 300 consecutive games without being shut out. The last team to blank BYU was Arizona State, 20-0, in 1977.

* COLORADO STATE: Fullback Kevin McDougal, who rushed for 189 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams' stunning 41-14 upset of Colorado, was coached in high school by Dave Logan, a former Colorado All-American wide receiver. Logan tried to convince his alma mater to recruit McDougal but to no avail. The Buffs thought he was too slow.

* NEW MEXICO: Saturday's 13-10 loss at UTEP means Rocky Long's Lobos have lost 10 of their last 11 games.

* SAN DIEGO STATE: Quarterback Jack Hawley, who shunned UNLV for the Aztecs, was 8-of-15 for 67 yards in Aztecs' 41-12 win over Division 1-AA South Florida. Hawley is still No. 2 on the depth chart behind junior Brian Russell, who completed 8-of-17 for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

* UNLV: Ronnie Lott is scheduled to do a phone interview on the John Robinson coaches' show at the Sunset Station's Sunset Brewing Company on Monday night at 9:30 on KBAD-920 AM. Entertainer David Cassidy is also scheduled to appear on the show.

* UTAH: Starting safety Kimball Christianson is expected to be sidelined at least three weeks after spraining knee ligaments in the Utes' 27-7 win at Washington State.

* WYOMING: Starting quarterback Jay Stoner, who suffered a bruised shoulder in 42-17 loss at No. 3 Tennessee, could play in Saturday's home opener against Weber State. It was first feared Stoner had fractured his AC joint, but a bone scan showed no break.

Once around the nation

* ACC: No. 1 Florida State, which hosts No. 10 Georgia Tech on Saturday night, has held the Yellow Jackets to just 10 points in their three visits to Tallahassee and has outscored Tech, 163-20, in their last four meetings.

* BIG EAST: Saturday could be Pitt's last visit to Happy Valley for a while. The Panthers host Penn State next year at Three Rivers Stadium in the final game of the series between the two in-state rivals with no other matchups on the horizon.

* BIG TEN: Saturday's game with UCLA will be only the fourth night game in the history of Ohio Stadium. "This place should be rocking, let's put it that way," Ohio State coach John Cooper said.

* BIG 12: Nebraska, which hosts Cal Saturday at Memorial Stadium, has won 91 straight games when it has rushed for 300 yards or more.

* BIG WEST: New Mexico State rushed for 393 yards in its 73-7 win over Division II New Mexico Highlands.

* CONFERENCE USA: Houston, which travels to Alabama on Saturday, is running what it calls a 4-2-5 defense with three safeties: weak, free and strong. The three safeties combined for 41 tackles in Cougs' 28-3 win over Rice.

* INDEPENDENTS: Notre Dame coach Bob Davie said starting QB Jarious Jackson severely injured his right toe midway through last week's 26-22 loss at Michigan and could barely walk on Sunday. However, Jackson says he'll be ready for Saturday's game at Purdue.

* MAC: Miami of Ohio tailback Travis Prentice, who scored two touchdowns in the RedHawks' 28-3 win at Northwestern, needs 15 more TDs to break Ricky Williams' NCAA career mark of 72.

* MOUNTAIN WEST: First conference game in league history -- Colorado State at BYU next Thursday night on ESPN -- figures to play a pivotal role in determining the first conference champion in league history.

* PAC-10: UCLA coach Bob Toledo, who will be without five defensive starters for Saturday night's game at Ohio State because of the team's disabled parking scandal, said he may use wide receiver Freddie Mitchell and star tailback DeShaun Foster on defense for a few plays.

* SEC: Tim Who? Kentucky sophomore Dusty Bonner completed 34 of 62 passes for 446 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in his first start in place of No. 1 NFL pick Tim Couch. However, Wildcats still got whacked by Louisville, 56-28.

* WAC: Conference went 3-5 in opening week of play minus the Mountain West Eight. However, only UTEP (13-10 over New Mexico) beat another Division I-A team. Tulsa and Fresno State also garnered wins against I-AA foes.