Columnist Ron Kantowski: Pieffer looking extra good

Monday, Oct. 23, 2000 | 10:35 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's notes column usually appears Thursday. His inside notes column runs Tuesday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or 259-4088. Regular columnist Dean Juipe is on vacation.

Where have you been, Dillon Pieffer?

Pieffer, the Rebels' new kicker from Colorado, made like the Rockies' Todd Helton in his college football debut against Wyoming Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium. He went 6-for-6.

Those extra points really didn't figure in UNLV's 42-23 victory over the stubborn Cowboys. But they did make you ponder what the Rebels might be looking at had Pieffer been getting his kicks a little earlier.

Ray Cheetany reminded everybody what a marvelous punter he is when he angled a kick against the wind dead at the Wyoming 1-yard line Saturday afternoon. He's got a howitzer for a right leg. But unfortunately, many of his kicks from scrimmage have the trajectory of a Tony Gwynn base hit.

Many of those line drives wind up getting blocked. Extra points, as Pieffer demonstrated Saturday, are supposed to be automatic, yet Cheetany was only 13-of-18 this year.

He misfired twice in a bitter 20-19 loss at Colorado State, still the cream of the Mountain West Conference's dubious crop, a week ago last Saturday. Against Brigham Young, he had a chip shot field-goal attempt stuffed.

The Rebels wound up losing that game 10-7. If you'll recall, they were in field-goal range late in the game when the coaching staff's lack of confidence in the kicking game forced it to go for six instead of three. When Jason Thomas was sacked twice, that crucial UNLV possession finished in St. George.

Do the math. All that is separating UNLV from a 6-1 record and a stranglehold on first place in the MWC is four points -- a couple of routine kicks.

Still, it's almost time to set our clocks back and the Rebels have a winning record. The last time UNLV was 4-3 this deep into the season was 1994, but the four victories that year came at the expense of Eastern Michigan, Utah State, New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech. And one of the three losses was to Division I-AA Idaho.

In other words, that team was nowhere near as good as this one.

When the Rebels return home Nov. 11 to meet feisty New Mexico, they'll be attempting to cap a perfect home season. The last time that happened was in the long sideburn days of 1977, when UNLV handled Troy State, Northern Arizona, Western Illinois, Weber State, Cal State Fullerton and North Dakota. Those six together might equal one Mississippi, who the Rebels will visit this weekend.

UNLV picked a weird time -- smack-dab in the middle of its conference season -- to visit the land of magnolia trees and quality sour mash. But when a bowl game is the objective, as it now is for the Rebels (the UNLV ones, as opposed to the Ole Miss variety), this game is every bit as huge as the remaining MWC games against Utah, New Mexico and San Diego State.

If Air Force can hold it together and UNLV can upset Ole Miss, the Rebels would have a minimum of two quality wins when the bowl bids go out. Provided UNLV can count five or six more (to become bowl eligible) at season's end, the charisma of coach John Robinson and Thomas' excitement quotient would almost certainly be enough to land the Rebels in a bowl game.

There's still a lot of football to be played between now and then. But suddenly that UNLV basketball exhibition against Marathon Oil seems a long way away.