Rebels take center stage in milestone game

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Sept. 29, 2000 | 10:27 a.m.

Lights. Camera. Action.

UNLV's rebuilding football program reaches another milestone on Saturday afternoon when the Rebels (1-2, 0-1) host undefeated Air Force (3-0, 2-0) at Sam Boyd Stadium in a game that will be regionally televised on the West Coast by ABC. Kickoff is 4 p.m.

It's the first time in the program's history that UNLV has appeared on an over-the-air network broadcast from Sam Boyd Stadium and the first time since a 1981 game at Wyoming that the Rebels have appeared on ABC.

"It means our program is alive," UNLV coach John Robinson said. "It doesn't necessarily mean that it's well. But I'm glad the game is being shown in Southern California where a lot of recruits can watch. I think it is a big deal for us."

UNLV's players seemed more concerned with how to defend the Falcons' vaunted wishbone attack than how many friends and family will be able to tune in and watch the game.

"I haven't even talked to anybody about it," said starting cornerback Amar Brisco, a Los Angeles native. "I've been just focusing on my assignments and what I'm supposed to do.

"Appearing on TV is nice and everything," Brisco continued, "but getting a win is more important. It would help us toward our goal of playing in a bowl game. And to do that, you have to be able to beat some of the top teams in the conference, like Air Force."

Fisher DeBerry's Falcons could move into the Mountain West Conference driver's seat with a victory. Air Force has already registered victories over two of the top three teams in the preseason poll -- Utah (23-14) and BYU (31-23) -- and plays the third, Colorado State, at home in November.

DeBerry pulled out some recent history to try to get his squad not to look past the Rebels.

"I told them about what UNLV did to Wyoming last year up there," DeBerry said referring to the Rebels' 35-32 upset of the Cowboys in Laramie. "I think that cost Wyoming a chance to play in the post-season.

"(UNLV) has a big offensive line like you would expect from a John Robinson team. I felt last year they had the best secondary in the conference and they have a lot of those guys back. Their defense as a whole is much improved. This will be a really big challenge for us."

But nowhere near the challenge facing the Rebels.

Air Force leads the MWC in both scoring offense (36.3) and scoring defense (14.3) and ranks third nationally in total offense, averaging 492.7 yards per game.

And unlike past years, the Falcons also have a top-notch passing attack to go along with a ground game that is averaging 337 yards per game and is gunning for its 17th straight conference rushing title.

Senior quarterback Mike Thiessen, arguably the best athlete in Air Force history, is the MWC's top-rated passer with a 201.71 quarterback rating, completing 23 of 39 passes for 427 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. Junior wide receiver Ryan Fleming has used his 6-5, 220-pound frame to average a conference-leading 99.3 yards per game.

"The key issue when you play an option team like Air Force is that you can't keep letting them get first downs," Robinson said. "You need to put them in some third-and-fours and third-and fives to get them out of what they like to do best."

Defensively, the Falcons like to use their speed and quickness with a variety of line slants and blitzes to try to put teams in long yardage situations.

"What we need to do is just score," Robinson said. "I think sometimes ball control is overrated. We need to get points no matter which way it happens."

The same thing could be said about a victory. A win on ABC over the Falcons would do wonders for the program's credibility.

"I think we're learning how to compete in these kinds of games," Robinson said. "The next step is finding a way to win these kinds of games."