Dramatic comeback keeps Rebels bowl hopes alive

Steve Guiremand

Saturday, Nov. 25, 2000 | 9:37 a.m.

SAN DIEGO --- The folks on the Las Vegas Bowl selection committee can exhale now.

The UNLV Rebels are still alive for a potential bid ... barely.

Senior cornerback Amar Brisco's 72-yard interception return up the left sideline with just 52 seconds remaining gave UNLV (6-5, 4-3) a dramatic 31-24 come-from-behind victory over San Diego State (3-8, 3-4) here Saturday night before a sparse turnout of 17,184 at damp and foggy Qualcomm Stadium.

With the score tied, 24-24, and less than a minute to go, the Aztecs appeared to be driving for a potential game-winning Nate Tandberg field goal try when Brisco came up with the biggest play of his UNLV career and the Rebels' 2000 season.

On a second-and-six at the UNLV 37-yard line, San Diego State quarterback Lon Sheriff, who had burned the Rebel secondary much of the night en route to 328 yards passing, tried to hit wide receiver Deric Martin on a quick pass to the right sideline.

Brisco picks it up from there.

"They had run that play three or four times earlier in the game," he said. "It's a comeback. They run it about about 15 yards hard down the field like they're going deep, then they break for the sideline and come back. I just had to watch (Martin's) hips and break for the ball.

"Once I knew I had him I looked back for the ball and it was there. Then it was like, 'I've got to get out of here.' I saw nobody in front of me."

Then the 5-10, 170-pound senior from Washington Prep High School in Los Angeles sprinted up the left sideline in a form that no doubt would have made his aunt, former Olympic gold medal sprinter Valerie Brisco-Hooks, proud.

"I couldn't have scripted it any better," Brisco said. "My whole family came down from Los Angeles to watch. My grandma and grandpa, my aunts and uncles, my mom. All I can do is thank God for what happened."

Junior tackle Ahmad Miller should get an assist for the game-winning play. He burst through the middle of the Aztec line to hit Sheriff as he threw the interception, then pancaked Sheriff again when he got up to try and chase Brisco.

"I'm glad somebody saw that," Miller said with a big smile. "We weren't getting much of a pass rush in the first half and we tried to turn up the pressure in the second half."

UNLV coach John Robinson, who watched his squad overcome a 21-7 second quarter deficit thanks in large part to the passing combination of sophomore quarterback Jason Thomas (19-of-31, 277 yards, two touchdowns) and senior wide receiver Nate Turner (career-high 11 receptions for 158 yards, one touchdown), appeared to be emotionally drained when he came out a loud and wild Rebel locker room to meet the media afterward.

"This has been this team's personality all year long," Robinson said. "If you are playing us you've got to bring it for four quarters. We keep playing and we don't give up.

"It was a helluva game."

A game that kept UNLV's bowl hopes alive for one more week. The Rebels must win Saturday night at Hawaii to earn a bid to the Las Vegas Bowl.

"We're looking forward to going to Hawaii," Robinson said.