‘We find ways to lose’

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Nov. 8, 2004 | 9:16 a.m.

UNLV safety Joe Miklos was still trying to take off his uniform and make his way to a well-deserved shower about 45 minutes after Saturday night's wild four-hour, seven-minute 53-45 triple-overtime loss to Wyoming at Sam Boyd Stadium.

A graduate of famed prep powerhouse De La Salle High School in Concord, Calif., Miklos never lost a game in two years as a starter with the mythical national champion Spartans, going 25-0 during that span.

But after taking part in his team's seventh loss in nine games this season, Miklos summed up what many Rebels fans were already thinking about John Robinson's final squad at UNLV.

"We find ways to lose games," said Miklos, a 6-foot-2, 205-pound junior. "In the fourth quarter, I was thinking how we were going to win this game. I knew we were going to win this game. And then we just found a way to lose it.

"It's totally the story of our season ... finding ways to lose games."

This time around it was shoddy tackling mixed with a school-record 22 penalties for 167 yards, 17 of them by an overzealous defense that repeatedly kept Cowboys drives alive with personal fouls, encroachment or pass interference penalties.

This hadn't been a major problem for the Rebels before. They averaged just 66.5 yards in penalties in their first eight games.

"That almost defies any kind of explanation," Robinson said. "It's one of the worst exhibitions of poise by our defense that I have ever seen.

"We just totally stopped playing and were distracted by the officials. I don't think the officials did anything bad. I mean, no one is perfect. But there's no way you can blame officials for that debacle. That was us."

So was the poor tackling which made itself very evident in overtime.

During regulation UNLV held Wyoming to 39 yards rushing on 37 attempts. But the Cowboys ran for 44 yards on just five carries in overtime including a 20-yard touchdown run by backup running back Ivan Harrison in the first overtime that left cornerback Ruschard Dodd-Masters grabbing at air.

"It's that Boston Red Sox black cloud sitting over Las Vegas right now ... moving from Boston to over here," Dodd-Masters said. "The close ones it seems like we just can't go out and win. We go out and practice and give it our all and prepare and the results just aren't there."

You could probably go back to the first half of UNLV's 18-3 loss at Wisconsin to see where the disturbing close-but-no-cigar trend began.

In that contest the Rebels were in position to take a 3-2 halftime lead against the Badgers. But placekicker Sergio Aguayo's 30-yard field goal try was blocked and safety Jim Leonhard scooped up the ball and raced 86 yards for a touchdown and a 9-0 halftime lead.

Two weeks later the Rebels committed five turnovers, including four interceptions by senior quarterback Kurt Nankes, in losing to woeful Utah State at home, 31-21.

After seemingly getting things back on track with consecutive wins against Nevada-Reno and BYU, the Rebels again self-destructed with six turnovers in a very winnable 24-20 home loss to New Mexico.

And in Saturday's Senior Day home finale against the Cowboys, the Rebels came within two penalties of tying San Jose State's NCAA record for most penalties in a game (24).

"It's just disappointing," senior linebacker Adam Seward, who had a career-high 20 tackles, said. "Two-and-seven. It's tough. Things just didn't work out for us. I think everybody on this team gave 100 percent."

Senior linebacker Ryan Claridge added: "I would have liked to have sent coach Robinson out with a win along with all the (19) seniors, but it didn't happen."

Robinson said he couldn't fault his team's effort.

"We're playing hard," he said. "We're trying, but we just lost any sense of poise. It's somewhat mind-boggling. I don't know what it is. It could be the situation we're in, or trying too hard, or not making things work. But it's a difficult issue."

An issue that Miklos promises won't be evident during his senior year in 2005.

"That's something that's not going to happen next year," he said. "I promise you that."

As for what he has left to play for in UNLV's final two games of the season at Colorado State and San Diego State, Miklos pointed to a hand-written piece of paper with the word "Pride" taped over his locker.

"I'm not going to think about our record or our losses right now," Miklos, who had eight tackles, a sack and two pass breakups, said. "I'm playing my next two for pride. I'm not going to go out there and roll over. I'm not going to let that happen."

It is unclear whether Nantkes, who started six games this season and 18 in his career with the Rebels, will be able to rejoin the team for the final two games of the season.

Nantkes turns 25 on Friday. He is from Aurora, Colo., about 75 minutes south of Fort Collins, where the Rebels play Saturday against Colorado State, and the site of his best performance in a Rebels uniform when he rallied UNLV to a 36-33 upset of the 13th-ranked Rams two years ago.

Nantkes' wife, Mande, gave birth to the couple's second child, daughter Trennah, this past summer. He also has a 5-year-old son, Conner.

Nantkes didn't return calls to his house or cell phone Sunday.