Columnist Dean Juipe: Liberty Bowl is within UNLV’s grasp

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2003 | 8:59 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

In light of the poor to mediocre play of their conference mates, it's no longer out of the question for UNLV to consider winning the Mountain West football championship this year.

In fact, it's quite possible.

Throw out the awful game the Rebels played and lost at Kansas, and they might be the conference favorites right now. Only Air Force has a better record through four weeks of the season, but as a team-by-team review of the league will indicate, the Falcons have their blemishes as well.

UNLV, which has this week off, appears to have the best defense in the MWC. If that actually proves to be the case through the remainder of the season, the Rebels will certainly be in the title hunt and may even breeze to the championship and the Liberty Bowl.

Of course the drawback of being too optimistic at this still early stage is that the Rebels could also lose their next eight games and finish 3-9. We can't be too sure or too confident, given the lingering odor of the game at Kansas.

But the possibility exists for a clean sweep through the conference and something greater for the Rebels than a berth in the cozy Las Vegas Bowl.

Air Force, 4-0, regularly draws plaudits and is always a quality program, yet the Falcons opened with a win against a Division-5 team or something (in Wofford) and have surrendered 21, 21 and 29 points (to mudders Northwestern, North Texas and Wyoming) in their past three games. There's no reason to be overly impressed just yet, and a game at Brigham Young this weekend will give a better indication of Air Force's overall stature.

Same thing with BYU, which is 2-2 and in the midst of a tough schedule that could wear down its cast of 27- and 28-year-old world travelers and behemoths. The Cougars lost to Stanford last week despite the fact it was their fourth game of the season and only the second for the Cardinal, so they may already be wilting.

Colorado State, 2-2, is a key figure in the league, but its surprisingly shoddy play thus far only bolsters UNLV's ambitions. The Rams lost to Colorado -- which is no disgrace, except, in turn, the Buffaloes have twice surrendered 47 points and lost to Florida State by 40 last week -- and Miami of Ohio, which seems like an upset yet time may prove it really wasn't.

New Mexico was getting some attention before the season as a possible dark horse but has now lost three consecutive games to fall to 1-3 after opening with a win against something called Texas State. When the Lobos began playing real teams such as Texas Tech, BYU and Washington State, they were on the losing end and have scored a total of 20 points in their past two outings. They look more like an also-ran than a dark horse with the race at the backstretch.

San Diego State is 3-1 but seems to have played its best game in its loss, to Ohio State. The wins were of the routine nature, coming against lightweights Eastern Washington, UTEP and Division-33 Samford. Let's see how the Aztecs play at UCLA on Saturday, although that game looks a little easier after the Bruins were torched for 59 points by Oklahoma last week.

Utah, 2-1, has a win against winless Utah State and one against Cal, as well as a tough loss at Texas A&M. But the Utes are giving up plenty of points and are just now coming into the toughest portion of their schedule. It's hard to picture them as serious contenders.

Wyoming has a win against Montana State but little else in a 1-3 record that includes losses to Oklahoma State, Kansas and Air Force. The Cowboys have only one conference win in the past three years and are already in last place, so they're no threat for the title.

Add 'em up: Eight MWC teams, each with vulnerabilities and flaws. Based on what has happened thus far, there isn't any one team in the league that deserves any more respect than another.

And UNLV gives the appearance of being as solid as any in the lot.

The Liberty Bowl, heretofore never linked with UNLV in the same breath, may not be so far-fetched after all.