Red-eyed Rebels look for more

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Oct. 4, 2004 | 9:58 a.m.

When it comes to his legacy as UNLV's eighth head football coach, John Robinson will be able to point to a number of accomplishments. Among them:

But perhaps his greatest contribution will be some simple 11 x 14 stone slabs cemented onto a cinderblock wall on the left side of the entrance to the Rebel Park practice field.

It was Robinson who came up with the idea to put up the stone slabs with the winning score of the the teams' annual Fremont Cannon battle with in-state rival Nevada-Reno in bright red paint. And under that score goes the name of each senior player who took part in the victory. Lose the game and there's no plaque for that season.

And after UNLV's 48-13 drubbing of the Wolf Pack on Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium, Rebels players said perhaps the biggest motivating factor for them was to make sure another plaque would be added to the wall.

In fact, before Sunday night's practice, senior linebacker Adam Seward paused on his way to the field and seemed to be measuring a spot for where this year's plaque will go.

Seward, one of the senior class members never to see the Fremont Cannon painted blue and silver during their five years on campus, said players were actually in tears before Saturday night's game after viewing a video of the plaques put together by grad assistant Phil Magbanua.

"They showed a picture of every win since our streak started in 2000," Seward said. "Then they showed the plaque with the 2000 class of seniors on it. Then they did it for 2001, 2002 and 2003. And when they came to 2004 they had a blank plaque, and then it cut to the names of the seniors who would be on it if we won.

"It was real emotional. Guys were breaking down, especially me. It's so emotional. All the seniors have fought for the cannon for the seniors in the past and then we all stood up and said how important it is."

The team watched the video before leaving for the team hotel on Friday. But it got an encore presentation just before the team left for the stadium.

"Coach Robinson, the great coach that he is, actually sat us down about 45 minutes before we left for the stadium and we watched it again," Seward, who had a team-high 15 tackles, said. "Emotional? Oh, man. Guys were walking out of there crying."

Senior quarterback Kurt Nantkes, who completed 11 of 19 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns, said: "Every day we walk by those scores on the way to the practice field."

Seward said: "We needed to bring emotion to that game. Oh-and-4, you've got to get something going and this rivalry game was the prefect thing for us."

The Rebels (1-4, 0-1) hope the victory against the Wolf Pack (2-3), which evened the all-time series at 15-15, will be a springboard for a turnaround to an otherwise disappointing season.

"Now hopefully we'll get this thing rolling," junior safety Joe Miklos said. "We know we can."

Miklos, who four tackles, three pass breakups, a quarterback sack and a 79-yard interception return, said he's already looking forward to next year's Fremont Cannon battle in Reno.

"Hey, I want my name on one of those plaques, too," he smiled. "Now we've got to go for six!"

How much do the Rebels miss Kirkland? In five games this season UNLV has attempted to return five punts for minus-1 yards, which ranks them last among 117 Division I-A teams.