Columnist Ron Kantowski: Rebels need not apologize for KU win

Monday, Sept. 9, 2002 | 9:55 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.

Some UNLV fans and media are treating the Rebels' 31-20 victory over Kansas as if it were a small fish. They want to throw it back.

But if I were John Robinson, I'd filet it and have it for dinner.

Wins over Big 12 teams -- even bad Big 12 teams, which Kansas is -- don't come easily. Prior to Saturday's game, the Rebels stood just 1-8 against the Big 12, with the victory coming against the other minnow of the conference, Baylor. And it took a 100-yard fumble return on the last play of the game for UNLV to beat the Bears in Waco three years ago.

Nothing to it, right?

Here's the way I look at it: After 3 1/2 quarters, when the lights usually go out at Sam Boyd Stadium, the Rebels were ahead 31-10. They were only favored by two touchdowns but were up by three.

That the game went the distance might have been the Rebels' biggest problem. You know how at the end of the third quarter, when players raise four fingers to signify it's time to begin the fourth quarter, when many games are won and lost? Well, UNLV only had to raise its pinkie halfway until Saturday.

Those 10 points Kansas scored in the final 5:47 were little more than window dressing. By then, the mannequin already had left the building, and Jason Thomas was accepting apologies on the sidelines while backup Kurt Nantkes mopped up.

Following the Rebels' first two series, when Thomas' passes fluttered around the stadium like a balloon losing air, UNLV fans lustily booed him again and called for Nantkes to enter the game when it mattered.

But Thomas regrouped and finished with workmanlike stats: 12 of 23 passing for 144 yards and a touchdown, 74 rushing yards on just 9 carries for two more scores. While he is capable of more, those numbers will suffice when he doesn't turn the ball over. Thomas was responsible for four of UNLV's five first-half turnovers in a season-opening 27-7 loss to Wisconsin but against Kansas did not come close to one.

The Rebels put the ball on the ground just once, and they got it back. Check the boxscores. Teams that do not turn the ball over do not get beat very often. And when they do, it's usually not by very much.

But preventing turnovers is not an exact science. A coach may be able to convince his QB that taking a sack or throwing the ball away is preferred over trying to make a low-percentage completion. But when the other guy puts his helmet on the football, chances are it's going to pop loose.

That's why the Rebels can't rely solely on playing turnover free football. Mistakes will happen, and if UNLV would only show a little more imagination on offense, perhaps it will develop enough firepower to offset them.

Thomas had another nice night running the football, but nine carries is about six too few. To the Kansas defenders that tried to tackle him, he must have looked like a grain silo on wheels. At 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds, he can withstand the punishment.

Most of Thomas' runs were on quarterback draws or keepers only mildly designed as option plays. Maybe there's poison ivy growing outside the tackles, because the Rebels seem reluctant to use the entire field. I'm still waiting for little speedster Dominique Dorsey to get the ball on a reverse and see what happens. Who's calling the offensive plays? Wally Cox? The Rebels are that boring.

But all in all, it was a good win. Kansas isn't the biggest fish in the Rebels' pond, but at least UNLV didn't let the Jayhawks wriggle off the hook.