Rebels’ offense aiming to avoid the Bear trap

Steve Guiremand

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

After gaining 97 yards and scoring two touchdowns in UNLV's season-opening 26-3 win at North Texas, tailback Jeremi Rudolph will probably be a marked man when the Rebels play at Baylor on Saturday.

And that suits the explosive 5-10, 185-pound Rudolph just fine.

"If they pay more attention to me, that means it will be easier for our receivers to get open," Rudolph said with a smile.

Baylor surrendered 350 yards on the ground in its opening 30-29 overtime loss at Boston College. The Eagles had an amazing 25 runs of six or more yards in the victory.

So it probably isn't a secret that Kevin Steele's Bears have been working hard in the muggy Waco heat this week trying to find a way to plug some of the many holes that Boston College exposed in their run defense.

"I don't think there's any question they are," UNLV coach John Robinson said. "It's probably as much because they played the run so poorly as it is us. I think they're probably dismissing us a little bit, saying, 'Hell, we'll beat these guys, we just need to work on this stuff.' "

Not true, said Steele.

"This program is not at the point where we have to concentrate on who the opponent is and what they've done in their last 17 games," Steele said. "One of my mentors told me that you've got to take care of your own business before you start worrying about the others. If we take care of our own business, it's really not going to matter whether it's UNLV or Florida State. And if you don't take care of it, it's not going to matter either."

Steele said he expects UNLV to try to pound the Bears like it did North Texas last week en route to its first win in 17 outings.

"They're going to run the old Southern Cal sweep," Steele said. "It's no secret that's Coach Robinson's bread-and-butter play. They're going to run that and run it a lot. So we're going to have to step up and make some plays."

Steele said many of his team's problems against the run were mental more than physical.

"The positive is that it was not the calls, it was not the plan," he said. "We just needed to see things full speed and eliminate some mental errors, some alignment mistakes. Which we can do. Those things are at least correctable. When I first came off the field, I thought maybe we had been manhandled a little more than we actually had. The things that happened, we can rectify."

"Baylor is going to be a test for us," Robinson said. "They've always been a very physical team. I think we can win the game. We just have to play better than last week."

Baylor opened almost a two-touchdown favorite at offshore books, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Rudolph and company.

"I think we'll be more focused for Baylor than we were for North Texas because they're taking us lightly," Rudolph said. "We're like 15-point underdogs or something. So we've got to go in there and prove ourselves this week. We've got to go in there more hungry and more prepared."

Rudolph said he doesn't believe UNLV will suffer a letdown this week after finally snapping its 16-game losing streak in its opener.

"I don't think we will be satisfied until we reach the goal we want to reach and that's getting to a bowl game," he said. "But we've got to take it one game at a time. Right now we just have to focus on beating Baylor."

* REBEL NOTES: It still isn't 100 percent official, but football officials still are very confident that Washington State transfer Kevin Brown and Florida State transfer Raymont Skaggs will be admitted to UNLV. Both running backs must redshirt this season. ... UNLV defensive coordinator Jeff McInerney is very familiar with Baylor's personnel after coaching against the Bears last year in a 27-17 win at Oregon State. The Beavers held Baylor to just 297 yards of total offense in that one. "Most definitely I get something out of that," McInerney said. "I know their personnel. Number 17 (starting quarterback Jermaine Alfred) is big-time improved." ... UNLV flew to Waco this morning and will hold a workout at Floyd Casey Stadium this afternoon.