Friday, Nov. 21, 2003 | 10:44 a.m.
Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.
It has been a long, mostly tedious and largely dreary football season at UNLV, which has two games to play and two chances to reverse each of these earlier impressions.
The Rebels need a victory not only Saturday against Colorado State but one the following week at Wyoming to salvage the season and earn a possible berth in the Las Vegas Bowl.
The chances of that happening? Not impossible, but not likely either.
In fact, avoiding losses in each of the remaining games -- CSU is here for what will be a cool, autumn evening and the game in Laramie doubles as the Tundra Bowl -- will be sufficiently challenging for a team that has had an extra week off to rest while still being affected by a serious bout of depression.
Once 4-1 but now 5-5 and very much on track to the 5-7 finish I predicted prior to the season, the Rebels have neither exceeded expectations nor underachieved. They are what they looked like they would be: moderately athletic but undersized, feisty yet lacking skill, resilient but shorthanded.
The net result: Critics are targeting head coach John Robinson for his alleged coaching and recruiting flaws, while players and fans alike wonder what happened to a couple of the team's supposed strengths. Back when it was 100 degrees every day in Las Vegas, the Rebels looked to be overstocked at running back and set at quarterback, yet now that they've played 10 games the backs are beat up and less fleet and the quarterback's lack of mobility and arm strength have been exposed as irrepairable weaknesses.
For two reasons, Kurt Nantkes may not even play Saturday. One, he's still hurting and has been limited at practice and, two, the fact that Robinson has already pulled the trigger and blown Shane Steichen's redshirt year makes it easy to rationalize playing him against CSU ... get him ready for next season, and all of that.
Is that what this season has come to? Getting ready for next year? If Steichen, a freshman, starts in place of Nantkes and ahead of two others on the depth chart, then the future is now for UNLV. And when the future is prematurely escorted to the forefront, the coinciding reality is that the present has become too dismal to bear.
That's a rough tumble and a significant letdown for a team that peaked in Games 3 and 4 when it exploited Wisconsin's errant ways and matched high-flying Hawaii in a shootout on national TV. Toss out a somewhat surprising win at New Mexico three weeks ago and UNLV has been mired in an offensive slump since, hitting rock bottom with a scoreless game vs. San Diego State in its most recent outing.
The Rebels will need to score three or four times to beat CSU, which arrives here in the midst of its own disappointing season. A mere 6-5 after fostering conference title dreams and harboring top-25 aspirations, the Rams are staggering to the finish line while still being cognizant of a loss to UNLV that concluded last year's regular season.
It was that outcome, that out-of-the-blue victory, that enabled UNLV to be encouraged about its 2003 season and tout itself as a Mountain West dark horse. But it was a false front of sorts as the Rebels, instead, find themselves in the basement of a league afflicted with widespread mediocrity.
It is not an uncustomary position for UNLV, as it has had but one winning record in conference play in its past nine seasons (including this one).
Were better things expected? Obviously, many of the team's supporters would say even if the preseason evidence suggested otherwise.
But there's a caveat at play here, too, and it's the simple fact that two games remain on the schedule. Any discouraging commentary pertaining to the Rebels -- and this qualifies as one, doesn't it? -- is subject to revision, based on how these final two games play out.
The tone of the season may yet have to be amended. A more cheerful view may yet emerge.
But it's going to take at least two more wins to do it, and confidence -- both in the stands and on the field -- is lacking as the first of those opportunities presents itself.
archive
