Rebels ready for rematch

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Sept. 8, 2000 | 10:24 a.m.

John Robinson's second season as UNLV football coach is being promoted as "Round 2" by the UNLV sports information office.

Various players appear on posters and on the cover of the team media guide in boxing robes doing their best Mike Tyson-like stare. But the big question is if the 2000 Rebels will display something Robinson's first club didn't have -- a knockout punch.

A good indication should come Saturday in Ames, Iowa, when the Rebels (0-0) face Iowa State (1-0) at Jack Trice Stadium.

A year ago when the teams met at Sam Boyd Stadium, Dan McCarney's Cyclones defeated UNLV, 24-0, in a game that would have been stopped very early by TKO if it were a prizefight.

The bigger and stronger Cyclones laid a whipping on the Rebels.

Iowa State finished with a 319 to 8 edge in rushing yards and held a huge 38:46 to 21:14 advantage in time of possession. The Rebels had just seven first downs and their best scoring chance came on a 46-yard field goal.

But Saturday's rematch should be a much more even fight.

Robinson has added a number of potential game-breakers to his offense in USC transfer Jason Thomas at quarterback, former all-Pac-10 running back Kevin Brown at tailback and speedster Bobby Nero at wide receiver.

Defensively, the Rebels have three new defensive ends who earned JC All-American recognition a year ago in Anton Palepoi, Scott Parkhurst and Adrian Watson. Hard-hitting safety Sam Brandon returns after redshirting and should also be a force in the secondary.

"We're definitely a better team now than we were a year ago when we were often just physically overmatched," Robinson said. "We still have a ways to go, but at least I think we can be more competitive this season. We're young, but we seem to have a lot of guys who really enjoy playing football."

So Saturday's meeting with Iowa State should be more competitive than last year's mismatch?

"I think so," Robinson said. "They're favored and all that and are probably stronger than we are. But I'm hoping that our quickness can match that."

McCarney, whose team defeated Ohio, 25-15, in its 2000 opener last week, is expecting a tougher battle from UNLV this time around.

"We know an awful lot about the players they've signed, they've recruited, the transfers they have coming in," McCarney said. "Everybody in the world was trying to recruit Jason Thomas. And Kevin Brown was one of the top running backs in the Pac-10 Conference when he was at Washington State. Through recruiting, there is no question John has upgraded his football team, and we expect a much better team in here Saturday than the one we saw out in Vegas."