Columnist Dean Juipe: Rebels find their path is steep one

Dean Juipe

Monday, Nov. 5, 2001 | 9:35 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

It appeared as if it was but a hump on the horizon, a gentle incline that would be surmounted and lead to untold riches on the other side. The UNLV football team would cross over and reap the benefits not only in this, but in succeeding years.

Instead, as we well know now, the hump the Rebels saw back in the preseason turned out to be a mountain that may never be conquered. A program that only a few months ago appeared bound for glory may now be stuck far short of the precipice.

UNLV may never become the top-25 program that was envisioned not only during the offseason but in last year's bowl victory over Arkansas. The tough schedule the Rebels faced this year did them in, and next year's team has its work cut out for it, too.

It could very well be that coach John Robinson has succeeded only in upgrading his team's caliber of opposition and adding a little life to the once-dour program, while being unable to advance UNLV's stature and gain the widespread public recognition he and his associates crave.

Could it be that this is as good as it gets? That the best any UNLV football team can hope to achieve is to be competitive? And that joining the ranks of the nation's elite is simply impractical?

That's what it looks like in the aftermath of Saturday's dreadful 42-14 loss to Utah at Sam Boyd Stadium, a demoralizing defeat that eliminates the Rebels from bowl consideration and drops them to 3-6 with two almost completely meaningless games remaining to be played.

The only top-25 listing the Rebels will make this season is one that exposes the country's most disappointing teams. In that regard, UNLV sits right near the top.

Playing the most demanding schedule in the school's history, the Rebels came up dismally short. Arkansas, Northwestern and Arizona dealt UNLV three nonconference losses to open the season and all bets pertaining to breaking into the Associated Press or USA Today poll were off.

The Rebels neither magically ascended in national prominence nor held their own after taking a few baby steps last year. They have clearly been pushed backward.

Getting righted won't be easy next year, either. UNLV will have five nonconference games and only the annual one with Nevada-Reno might be a breather, as Wisconsin, Kansas, Oregon State and, perhaps, California, will provide a series of tests that would challenge any program in the country.

Robinson has the best of intentions and it's great to see the Rebels playing this kind of schedule. It's just that after witnessing what happened this season, more of the same may be likely in 2002 even if the team has a couple of stellar running backs and offensive linemen stashed as redshirts right now.

UNLV didn't have the overall talent to compete with the big boys this year, and the revised reality is that maybe it never will.

The optimism that everyone affiliated with the program felt and expressed back in August has been derailed if not completely replaced. In its stead is a feeling that there may be limitations on what any UNLV team can accomplish.

It has only taken one bad season for this sense of dread to emerge. The hump is really a mountain, and the Rebels may never see the other side.