Thomas: ‘There’s no quit’ in Rebels

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Oct. 30, 2000 | 9:52 a.m.

Southern hospitality.

UNLV quarterback Jason Thomas got to experience it firsthand as he limped off the field at the University of Mississippi's Vaught-Hemingway Stadium Saturday afternoon following the Rebels' 43-40 overtime loss to Ole Miss.

A crowd of about 25 Ole Miss fans, young and old, slapped Thomas on the back as he made his way back to the locker room. Even the security guards offered Thomas praise.

"Great game by y'all," one said. "You're a great player."

About 30 minutes later, as he sat on a storage box with his sore right foot covered with a large bag of ice, Thomas was asked about the reaction by the Ole Miss faithful.

"That was nice of them to say I played a good game because I thought I played terrible," Thomas, who completed just 7-of-25 passes for 93 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. "I think they appreciated our team more because we didn't quit. We kept fighting and fighting and fighting, but we couldn't get over the hump."

That's been a familiar theme for the improving Rebels (4-4), who have lost road games to BYU (10-7), Colorado State (20-19) and now Ole Miss (43-40) by a combined seven points.

What's that old saying about close only counting in horseshoes and hand grenades?

"There's satisfaction in playing hard," Thomas said of UNLV rallying from a 15-point fourth quarter deficit to send Saturday's game into overtime. "There's no quit in this team. We showed it at Iowa State. We showed it at BYU. We showed it at Colorado State. We showed it (Saturday). But you've got to find a way to win the big game. That's what championship teams do."

The Rebels need to win three of their final four games to reach their goal of playing in a bowl game. That stretch starts with Saturday's contest at preseason conference favorite Utah (2-6). UNLV then hosts upstart New Mexico on Nov. 11 before finishing the season with back-to-back road games at San Diego State and Hawaii.

It won't be easy. What could make it even more difficult is that Thomas' sprained right foot isn't getting any better and probably won't until he can stay off of it for a few weeks.

"It really hurts, man," Thomas said. "But I'm not worried. My feelings hurt worse than my foot because I wanted to win the game. If we had won (Saturday), my foot wouldn't hurt at all."

But Thomas acknowledged the sore foot probably played a part in his worst passing game of the year.

"I can't set my feet to throw good balls," Thomas said. "But we still made the plays when we needed to. It's just one of those things. I've got to be a warrior for my teammates and play at all costs whether I have one foot, two feet or no feet."

* GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS: With his 25 pass attempts at Ole Miss, Thomas finally has enough pass attempts to once again qualify for the NCAA stats again.

The bad news is his 7-of-25 effort bumped him down to 11th in the nation in pass efficiency with a 148.7 rating. Thomas was No. 1 two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, UNLV, bolstered by its 378-yard rushing outing at Ole Miss, ranks 12th in the nation in rushing offense with a 233.5 average. Sophomore Troy Mason is sixth in punt returns with a 16.71 average.

* UNLV FAVORED: The early outlaw line at offshore books makes UNLV a one-point favorite at Utah on Saturday.