Rebels stun Air Force

Steve Guiremand

Saturday, Sept. 30, 2000 | 10:07 a.m.

The duo of Jason Thomas and Nate Turner combined for nine pass receptions totalling 102 yards Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium. But it was a play off the field that the pair combined for that pretty much summed up the night.

As the final seconds of the Rebels' milestone 34-13 victory over Air Force ticked off the clock, Thomas and Turner picked up one of the teams' Gatorade coolers and dumped its contents all over unsuspecting Rebel head coach John Robinson.

"It's a great win, man," Thomas said. "It's (Robinson's) first home victory in conference play. That's why we doused him with the water."

UNLV, only a little over one season removed from a dreadful 0-11 campaign in 1998, hadn't won a conference home game since a 21-19 win over TCU on Oct. 11, 1997.

It seemed only fitting that the 6-4, 230-pound Thomas was the one to give Robinson his first UNLV dousing.

After all, Thomas did just about everything else Saturday night as an ABC regional television audience and a Sam Boyd Stadium crowd of 22,321 can attest.

In just his fourth Division I college start, Thomas simply dismantled and disheartened a Falcon defense that led the Mountain West Conference in virtually every major defensive catagory entering the game.

Thomas completed 16 of 22 passes for 259 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 57 yards and another touchdown in leading UNLV (2-2, 1-1) to the surprisingly one-sided victory over the Falcons (3-1, 2-1).

That's 316 all-purpose yards against an Air Force defense that entered the game yielding just 306.0 yards in total offense per game against the likes of BYU and Utah.

"I salute UNLV's team, they were ready to play" Air Force Fisher DeBerry said. "Jason Thomas is going to be a marquee player in this league."

Going to be?

"When he has time to throw the ball, he's pretty good," Robinson said with a smile. "When he decides to run the ball, he's pretty good doing that, too."

In fact, Thomas seemed to wear out Air Force's defense, continually escaping a number of two-and-three man blitzes with a dazzling array of highlight-reel scrambles.

And when he had time to throw --- Thomas was sacked three times --- he was deadly accurate.

"I knew we had the potential to do this," Thomas said between hugs and pats-on-the-backs from adoring UNLV fans as he walked off the field. "Today we played together and we beat a good team. I'm proud of everybody --- the offensive line, the defensive line, everybody. We all did the things we had to do so we could make the plays."

"We wanted to go out and make a statement --- show people that UNLV is not a pushover at home," Turner said. "The locker room was crazy before the game."

And even crazier afterward.

Air Force actually led 7-3 in the first quarter before the Rebels would go on a 31-6 scoring binge.

Tailback Jeremi Rudolph (70 yards, 14 carries) capped a nine-play, 79-yard drive with a four-yard run up the middle with 20 seconds left in the first quarter that put the Rebels ahead, 9-7. Ray Cheetany's PAT was blocked.

Air Force took a 13-9 lead midway through the second quarter when halfback Scotty McKay scooted 12-yards for a touchdown just four plays after Falcon cornerback Tony Metters recovered a Kevin Brown fumble at the UNLV 36-yard line.

The Rebels came back to cut the deficit to 13-12 when Cheetany connected on a 28-yard field goal to end the half.

It was all UNLV after that.

The Rebels took the second half kickoff and drove 80 yards in 12 plays. Thomas capped the drive with a 20-yard run off right tackle, slipping away from blitzing Falcon corner Kurt Duffy and picking up a key block from freshman wide receiver Michael Johnson at the Falcon 10. But Cheetany's PAT was blocked again and UNLV led by just five, 18-13.

UNLV made it 26-13 by going 80 yards in just seven plays on its next possession, highlighted by a 20-yard run by Rudolph and a 15-yard run by sophomore fullback Steven Costa. Rudolph, picking up key blocks from center Pete Tramontanas and guard Tony Terrell, swept around left end from six-yards out for the touchdown. Thomas then hit an uncovered Turner in the flat for a two-point conversion.

The Rebels put the game away midway through the fourth quarter when Thomas drilled an 18-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Bobby Nero to make it 34-13 with 5:59 to go.