Rebels vow not to pack in season

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Nov. 28, 2003 | 9:56 a.m.

By all rights, the UNLV Rebels have every right to pack it in for Saturday's season finale at Wyoming.

Other than trying to wear off a little Thanksgiving turkey and stuffing, the Rebels really don't have anything to play for after their bowl hopes went down the drain with a bitter 24-23 loss to Colorado State last week.

And when it comes to cities to spend the last weekend in November, there probably are fewer places in the nation that are as cold and stark as Laramie, Wyoming ... unless you're a hunter. Positioned right in front of UNLV's team hotel, er make that motel, is just your average neighborhood ammo store.

Sweet.

But the Rebels (5-6, 1-5) say they'll be ready to give it their best when they face the Cowboys (4-7, 2-4) at War Memorial Stadium.

"We want to finish the season strong," freshman quarterback Shane Steichen, who will make his second college start against the Pokes, said. "We can't go back and change what happened in the last game. But we've got one game left. We have to come out and finish with a victory."

"You've got to keep pushing on," added junior linebacker Adam Seward. "You can't give up. Finishing the season with a win is definitely better than finishing it with a loss."

The Rebels should know. They've finished their past three seasons with a victory including the last two on the road in the Rockies. UNLV upset Air Force, 34-10, in their 2001 finale in Colorado Springs and ended the 2002 campaign with a stunning 36-33 victory over 13th-ranked Colorado State in Fort Collins.

"We've got to keep that streak going," UNLV coach John Robinson said with a smile. "I think practice has gone fine this week. I certainly expect us to play well."

"For a lot of us seniors, this could be our last football game," running back Larry Croom said. "So we'll be focused for it."

Still, Croom admits he was hoping there would be a lot more riding on the outcome of the contest.

"When we started the season off 4-1 you couldn't have told me that we weren't going to go to a bowl game," he said. "It was just a matter of which one we would be going to. But unfortunately it didn't work out like that. We play in a very tough conference.

"We definitely want to end this season with a (win). Then we'd be 6-6 which is a somewhat respectable record with the schedule we've played. And it would give the underclassmen something to build on for next year."

Wyoming, which is 0-4 against the Rebels since Robinson took over in 1999 and dropped a wild 49-48 overtime contest to the Rebels last year at Sam Boyd Stadium, promises to bring its A-game for the finale.

"We feel this is a must-win game for us," first year coach Joe Glenn said. "We're going to wind up and give it everything we've got. Whether or not we can win remains to be seen, but we're gonna take the field and lay it on the line."