Rebels look to put end to skid vs. Utah

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2003 | 9:55 a.m.

Remember when playing a homecoming game usually meant scheduling a patsy so you could send the alums home happy with a big win?

Someone must have forgotten to tell the folks at UNLV.

The Rebels (4-2, 0-1) host red-hot Utah (5-1, 2-0) on Saturday afternoon at Sam Boyd Stadium in this year's homecoming contest. And no team has given UNLV more trouble during John Robinson's five years than the Utes.

UNLV has lost seven consecutive times to Utah -- the past four under Robinson. The Rebels have been outscored, 160-61, in those four games including 94-28 in the past two games at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"I never heard of that," Robinson said of playing an easy opponent for homecoming. "Maybe that was the case many years ago. I think they just pick a week to have homecoming now. I really don't think it has anything to do with the game."

Robinson, who is 11-18 in Mountain West Conference games after Saturday's 24-7 loss at Air Force, has beaten every team in the MWC at least once except the Utes.

"They've just overpowered us physically," he said. "Their offense has been able to run on us."

Those teams were coached by longtime Utes head coach Ron McBride who specialized in big, physical offensive lines and powerful running games. But McBride was fired after a disappointing 5-6 campaign in 2002 and replaced by former Bowling Green head coach Urban Meyer, who has opened up the offense with a spread passing attack.

"It's a different type of offense," Robinson said. "They've gone to a more wide-open but balanced attack and they're doing real well with it."

In fact, Utah quarterback Alex Smith, the nephew of Michigan State head coach John L. Smith, on Monday was named the Mountain West Conference's offensive player of the week for the second consecutive week. The sophomore from Helix High School in La Mesa, Calif., hasn't thrown an interception in six games, a string of 116 passes, and is completing 71.3 percent of his passes.

Considering how one-sided the series has been, Robinson, who helped USC snap a 13-game winless streak against Notre Dame back in 1995, was asked if his team's biggest problem this week might be more mental than physical.

"You know, I think if you didn't tell our team that they've been losing (to Utah) they'd probably would have forgotten," he said. "Players don't really dwell on those kinds of things. Coaches and other people, the media, do."

"It definitely could be a mental thing," linebacker Adam Seward said. "But I think there's a spark in this team that knows it needs to win this game. There's a lot of optimism on this team right now that we can win this game. It's a big chance for us to get back into the conference title hunt if we win Saturday."

Dodds was a three-year captain at Mojave which didn't field a varsity team until his junior year in 1998. He started at both linebacker and tight end that year and caught seven touchdown passes.

One of the fumbles the 6-foot-3, 225-pounder recovered this season was in the end zone for a touchdown in Utah's 28-21 upset at Colorado State on Sept. 27th. He also intercepted a Bradlee Van Pelt in the closing seconds to preserve the victory.

"Corey is bordering on being a great player because he's always around the ball," Meyer told the Deseret News recently. "It's not by accident when a guy is always around turnovers. He's always giving a great effort and that's why he's around the ball so much."

Kemoeatu, an honorable mention all-Mountain West pick a year ago, will be replaced by redshirt freshman Eric Pettit (6-3, 290) in the starting lineup.

The Rebels are averaging a pitiful 14.1 yards per return. Of 10 kickoff returns this year, the Rebels longest is just 20 yards by Dominique Dorsey.