Columnist Ron Kantowski: Perkins’ fumble becomes a laughing matter

Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2003 | 9:25 a.m.

It managed to wriggle off the hook nearly unscathed in the Rush Limbaugh incident, but ESPN might have had to answer to John Robinson had Nevada-Reno rallied to win Saturday's game against UNLV at Mackay Stadium up in flannel shirt and Wranglers country.

The Rebels were ahead 16-12 and on the verge of putting a cannon ball through the Wolf Pack's heart when UNLV's Dyante Perkins fumbled the football through the end zone, nullifying an apparent touchdown and giving UNR the ball at the 20 on a touchback.

Thanks to Adam Seward's interception in the closing seconds, Perkins was allowed to fly back to Las Vegas his teammates rather than walk home, as the coaches joked he would have had to do had the Wolf Pack cashed in on his mistake.

Rather than tuck the football under his arm, Perkins tried to break the plane of the goal line by reaching out and diving for the end zone pylon. But the ball flew out of his hands.

"It's become the very 'in' thing to stick the ball out across the goal line," UNLV coach John Robinson said. "I guess those things look good on TV ... except he forgot to hang onto the darn thing."

Still, it was a pretty good game for Perkins, a former Bishop Gorman standout who showed good speed for a fullback in scoring UNLV's only touchdown on a 29-yard run in the third quarter that put the Rebels in front for good.

Robinson said Perkins, who has bulked up to 235 pounds, has enough speed that he might get a look at tailback next season.

"You could very well see him playing two positions next year," he said. "But he's still trying to learn one right now."

"Hey, I'm no virgin," he said, recalling his days as an NFL coach when he dodged triple-A batteries thrown from the upper deck of Shea Stadium whenever the Rams visited the Jets.

Robinson reiterated that one bad apple among a bunch of 31,900 mostly well-behaved ones couldn't spoil a wonderful evening of college football.

"It has been made out to be a negative," he said of the rivalry between UNLV and UNR. "But it just wasn't true Saturday night. It was everything you want a rivalry to be.

"There was never a bad word exchanged by the teams. They just played football."

The best part of the Las Vegas Invitational coming to town is I get to dust off one my favorite all-time lines, courtesy of tournament director Charlie Baron. A few years ago, after I lamented that Tiger Woods would be skipping our annual Birdie-a-Go-Go, Baron responded with a phone call. "Ron, I hate to break your heart," he said. "But Ben Hogan won't be playing, either." ... If the Las Vegas Wranglers are going to sign any more Thunder retreads, they should go after a former fan favorite such as Patrice Lefebvre. If my math is correct, Lefebvre is 36, which means he's still probably capable of killing a penalty or skating a couple of shifts with the third line. ... Last week, I mentioned there were only three Las Vegas-born players active on NFL rosters. Make it four. Vernon Fox, who played at Cimarron Memorial before going on to an outstanding career at Fresno State, is a defensive back for the Chargers. ... The Fremont Cannon may be an expens! ive trophy and all, but I was surprised to learn that it doesn't fire anymore. Maybe UNLV and UNR should just play for that big cannon they roll down to Mackay Stadium from the local national guard armory, or wherever it came from. To paraphrase Mick Dundee, now that's a cannon.