Rebels do enough to slow Bramlet

Monday, Dec. 1, 2003 | 9:41 a.m.

UNLV didn't stop Casey Bramlet, Wyoming's prolific senior quarterback, from having a big game in his final one as a Cowboy. But the Rebels did keep him out of the end zone during the second half, which was good enough on an unseasonably warm day in Laramie.

Bramlet, touted as a sleeper in the upcoming NFL draft, completed 27 of 41 passes for 321 yards and two touchdowns, the 15th time in his Wyoming career that he passed for 300 yards in a game. But he would gladly trade some of that real estate for some points.

After passing Wyoming to a 24-10 halftime lead, Bramlet failed to get the Cowboys into the end zone in the second half as the Rebels rallied for 25 unanswered points and a 35-24 victory in the season finale for both times.

If you'll forgive the pun, it was the third consecutive game that mighty Casey and the Cowboys struck out in the second half. Wyoming was outscored 71-0 after intermission by conference champion Utah, Las Vegas Bowl-bound New Mexico and the Rebels, and thus came up losers in games that were nip-and-tuck at halftime.

"The air went out of the balloon in the second half and we could not get regrouped," said first-year Wyoming coach Joe Glenn, whose team showed vast improvement during a 4-8 season.

"They chipped away and took the lead. It was like you couldn't believe your eyes. We played so well in the first half and we couldn't score a point in the second half and couldn't stop them to save our lives."

Wyoming had its chances, piling up 202 yards in the second half. But every time the Cowboys threatened, they would either miss a field goal or make a mistake. They were denied twice on 4th-and-short, with Adam Seward stuffing Bramlet on the biggest one midway through the fourth quarter.

"During the second half we came together and said we had to slow them down, and we slowed them down," UNLV linebacker Zach Bell said about being riddled by Bramlet and his receivers in the first half.

So whereas Bramlet had the big stats and reputation, UNLV's Kurt Nantkes came up an unlikely winner in a relief role. After coming on for true freshman Shane Steichen in the second quarter, Nantkes completed 9 of 18 passes for 134 yards and three touchdowns as UNLV salvaged a 6-6 season that could have been so much better.

He showed no ill effects from a groin injury that hampered him for almost the entire month of November.

"He's had a tough road to hoe because of the injury," UNLV coach John Robinson said, adding that the Rebels were finally able to work with Nantkes on the physical part of playing quarterback during practice last week.

"It came back," Robinson said of Nantkes' mechanics. "He was more precise and much quicker (in delivering) the ball."