Columnist Ron Kantowski: Victory provides some hope

Monday, Oct. 7, 2002 | 11:20 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

One media account Sunday referred to UNLV's 21-17 victory over Nevada-Reno as a "sliver of hope" in the context of salvaging the season.

Sliver of hope? A gigantic slice of hope is more like it.

That the Rebels were able to keep the Fremont Cannon in its artillery shack for the third straight year was impressive by itself. It's even more significant given this was/is a good Reno team, one that already has beaten one Mountain West heavyweight (BYU) and scared the heck out of another one (Colorado State).

And let's not forget how far the Rebels' backs were plastered against the wall of mediocrity going in. Reeling from blowout losses at Oregon State and Toledo, the Rebels had sunk so low that oddsmakers had to resist making Bye a 6-point favorite over UNLV during the off-week prior to the Reno game.

Rebels coach John Robinson was so embarrassed by his team's performance at Toledo that he threatened to install the old T-formation during the off week and simply run the ball straight ahead in an effort to get this season over with as soon as possible.

But you knew that Robinson had too much pride in himself and his craft to send the Rebels out in leather helmets and high-top cleats Saturday night.

UNLV had circled the wagons so tightly during the past couple of weeks that you couldn't get inside to see what was going on. Down in the dust, it turns out Robinson was drawing up some new plays, many of which featured Larry Croom.

Croom is the guy who started at Arizona two years ago and was supposed to bring the combination of speed and power that UNLV hasn't had in the backfield since Ickey Woods shuffled off to Cincinnati. How were we to know he was really a wide receiver disguised as a running back?

Out of desperation, Robinson moved Croom to wideout and introduced some higher-percentage pass plays in an attempt to get him the ball. Six of them worked. Croom caught six balls for 114 yards, including a game-winning 45-yard TD reception from Jason Thomas during crunch time that was a thing of beauty.

It was Croom with a view all night long. And what about the efficiency of Thomas? The much maligned senior completed 16 of 35 passes for 262 yards and made very few mistakes. Rebel fans wanted to move him to running back following the Toledo debacle but in case anybody is keeping score, Thomas has thrown only one interception since a disastrous season opener against Wisconsin in which he turned the ball over five times.

He can stay right where he is.

As good as Thomas and Croom were, if the game were hockey, I would have made them the No. 3 and No. 2 stars. The Rebel defense was my No. 1 star, for the way it shackled UNR's prolific passing attack.

Wolf Pack QB Zack Threadgill has been collecting 400-yard passing games at a weekly rate, but it was more like Zack Threadbare against the Rebels, who held him to 306 yards Saturday, on 22 completions in 49 attempts.

UNR has more receivers than the home audio department at the local Best Buy and often puts all of them into the pass pattern at once. But the Rebels showed they can defend the pass as well as complete some. Who knew?

So it was one of those all-around victories that coaches love to hang their hat on. And just like that, the Rebels are 2-3, which is exactly where I had them pegged heading into conference.

Salvage the season? Heck, the season is only just beginning.