Rebels-Wisconsin game picked up by ESPN2

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, June 18, 2003 | 9:10 a.m.

The folks at ESPN2 won't have to worry about a power failure stopping this year's UNLV-Wisconsin football game.

That's because the Sept. 13 rematch at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison will kick off at 11 a.m. CST, or 9 a.m. in Las Vegas.

It's the second consecutive year the Badgers and Rebels will play on ESPN2. Last year's contest, witnessed by a state record crowd of 42,075 at Sam Boyd Stadium, was stopped with more than seven minutes remaining after a nearby power generator blew out and threw most of the stadium into darkness.

Wisconsin won, 27-7.

The news that ESPN2 elected to pick up this year's rematch means that the Rebels will appear on the national cable network in back-to-back games. UNLV's home game against Western Athletic Conference preseason favorite Hawaii was moved to Friday, Sept. 19, so that ESPN2 could broadcast nationally at 6 p.m.

The starting times for all five UNLV non-conference games have been set. The Rebels open the 2003 campaign with a 7 p.m. contest against MAC heavyweight Toledo at Sam Boyd Stadium. UNLV is scheduled to play at Kansas on Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. and faces rival Nevada-Reno at 7 p.m. on Oct. 4 at Mackay Stadium.

It was announced Tuesday that Paige Snyder, a 2002 graduate of UCLA who works in production at Fox Sports Net in Los Angeles, will be a sideline reporter on Rebels radio broadcasts this season.

"She is so fired up for this thing," Bruce Snyder said. "She loves football anyway. She's knowledgeable. Of course, I'm biased."

Snyder said it wasn't unusual for his daughter to attend practice and sit in on meetings during his days as head coach at Arizona State.

"When we went to the (1997) Rose Bowl, she skipped a lot of the nice functions they have so that she could slip on her jeans and watch practice instead," Snyder said.

KVBC-TV sports director Mitch Roberts will take over for Bruce Snyder as game analyst. Tim Neverett returns to do play-by-play.

He said he hasn't been contacted yet by the University of Washington, which could be in the market for a head coach when Rick Neuheisel's termination is complete. Neuheisel has challenged his recent firing for violating NCAA rules against gambling and has until June 26 to respond or agree to a buyout.

Washington AD Barbara Hedges on Tuesday appointed Keith Gilbertson to "supervise" the program while Neuheisel is suspended.

If Hedges decides to go outside the program to hire a new head coach, Missouri's Gary Pinkell and Nevada-Reno's Chris Tormey, both former Huskies assistants under Don James, are expected to get strong looks as well as Snyder and USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow.

Snyder was contacted by a reporter at his office on Tuesday night.

"Just going over some blitz schemes," he said.