Hoopla and hype helped trip up Rebels

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Sept. 21, 1999 | 9:52 a.m.

Nobody's perfect, but for two games UNLV quarterback Jason Vaughan wasn't far from it.

The 6-4, 205-pound junior from Suwanee, Ga., completed almost 72 percent of his passes and hadn't thrown an interception in 46 attempts in UNLV's victories at North Texas and Baylor.

Then came Saturday night's dismal 24-0 home opening loss to Iowa State at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Vaughan, the model of efficiency in UNLV's first two games, underthrew open receivers. He audibilized into bad plays. And he finally threw an interception after going 58 straight passes without one.

Worst of all, the Rebels were shut out for the first time since 1995.

So what happened?

"I was trying too hard to make things happen instead of just letting it come to me like I had been doing all season," Vaughan admitted.

Vaughan was hardly the only Rebel player to have a long night on Saturday. But because his position is the center of attention on offense, he stood out a lot more than, say, several offensive linemen who looked like matadors against the Cyclones.

"I didn't feel like I was throwing the ball as well as I needed to," Vaughan said. "I was just missing six or seven times. I was trying too hard. I was pressing a little."

Like a lot of his teammates, Vaughan said he got too caught up in all the hoopla surrounding the unveiling of refurbished Sam Boyd Stadium and Robinson's Las Vegas coaching debut.

"I think the hoopla distracted us," he said. "I think we were a little fat and happy being 2-0. Nothing seemed to go right."

Vaughan said he was also nervous making his home debut for UNLV.

"A little bit," he said. "It was my first game here in front of all those people. I kind of turned it into more than what it really was ... another football game."

* REBEL NOTES: Robinson made it official Monday that junior kickoff man Ray Cheetany would take over punting duties from struggling freshman Ryan McDonald. ... Linebacker Arnold Parker, who along with Rebel freshman defensive tackle Kawika Sagapolu helped lead Cimarron High School to the state title last fall, has yet to play for Utah this season and will likely redshirt.