Hot corner play rescues Rebels

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Oct. 11, 2004 | 10:02 a.m.

For Ruschard Dodd-Masters and Charles Ealy, it was their biggest challenge yet.

The two UNLV starting cornerbacks spent much of Friday night's 24-20 victory at BYU playing man-to-man defense against arguably the best two receivers in the Mountain West Conference in junior speedster Todd Watkins and freshman Austin Collie.

And after almost four hours, a BYU school-record 67 pass attempts by Cougars quarterback John Beck, and 96 total defensive plays, Dodd-Masters and Ealy had a reason to be very tired ... and very proud.

Collie (10 catches, 70 yards) and Watkins (9 catches, 117 yards) both got their share of receptions as expected. But the duo combined for just one touchdown and came up empty-handed during three tension-packed plays from the UNLV 10-yard line in the final 14.2 seconds as the Rebels (2-4, 1-1) held on for their second consecutive win against the Cougars (2-4, 1-1) in Provo.

"Our two corners just played wonderful football," UNLV coach John Robinson said. "I was really proud of them."

Defensive coordinator Mike Bradeson said: "This was the best set of wideouts we've played to date. There will be more challenges but they answered this call tonight."

Both Watkins and Collie, a former prep teammate of Rebels backup quarterback Sean Steichen who took a recruiting trip to UNLV, have developed a reputation this season for their big-play catching abilities. But the Rebels seemed willing to give them the short routes to prevent from getting beaten deep on the bomb.

"All we could do was hold them in check," Dodd-Masters said. "We know what they like to do. The deep ball was their play. My whole thing was to keep them in front of me and punish them when they caught it ... try and put them into the dirt."

Both Collie and Watkins took their share of hard hits over the game. Those hits seemed to take their toll as the game wore on, especially in the final quarter when they combined for just three catches. One of those receptions, a catch by Watkins on a quick slant with 2:38 to go, appeared to be headed for a touchdown before Ealy caught up and stripped him of the ball. The fumble, BYU's sixth of the game, was recovered at the Rebels 6 by hustling defensive end Brian Nicholson.

BYU had one last shot to pull the game out, however, when the Cougars drove to the UNLV 10 where they had a first-and-goal with 14.2 seconds to go and no timeouts. But Beck failed to connect with Collie on the first two plays and his final pass for tight end Daniel Coats with 0.8 seconds left wasn't close.

"I was pretty tired out there at the end but I just relied on my technique," Ealy said. "I was so nervous during those final three plays. I was just out there trying to get my hands on the receivers. But it was fun. I live for this."

Dodd-Masters said: "I was just telling everybody that it was no time to have any fear, its time to step it up. If we're going to go out, lets go out shooting. And we went out there with our ears peeled back and got this win."

Although they've now won two consecutive games against arguably their two biggest rivals -- Nevada-Reno and BYU -- since an 0-4 start and Robinson's retirement announcement, UNLV players weren't quite ready to declare their season as having been officially turned around.

"Hopefully it is," said senior safety Jamaal Brimmer, who had 8 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. "We'll see if we can get back to .500. If we get back to .500 -- 4-4 -- then we'll be all right to try and take a step forward toward a bowl game. We'll see."

Dodd-Masters agreed: "It ain't turned around yet. We lost those first four. That was like getting dragged through the mud to let us know its not going to be easy. But let's see where we are at after the next four. If we win all of them, then it makes our final three games interesting."

ESPN2 and LaVell Edwards Stadium replays confirmed that referee Scott Novak's crew missed three BYU fumbles in the game, including one that kept the Cougars' final drive alive. On that one wide receiver Jason Kukahiko caught a pass from Beck, turned around and was stood up for well over a second by Rebels linebacker Adam Seward before the ball popped out. Officials ruled the play an incomplete pass.

ESPN2 replays also confirmed that BYU wide receiver Todd Watkins used both hands to push Ealy in the back before going up to make a touchdown catch with 13.6 seconds left in the first half that gave the Cougars a 10-7 lead.

Robinson spent almost as much time on the field as the Rebels defense, which played an amazing 96 plays, arguing with the officials on the sidelines after each blown call, often pointing to the scoreboard replay as his proof. He has rarely criticized officials in the past but went off on Novak's crew afterward.

"I am going to do whatever I can (today), in the most respectful way, to file a complaint in our conference with our conference commissioner (Craig Thompson) about the officiating," Robinson said. "I've coached for some 30 million-thousand years and 300 and some games and its the worst officiating I've ever seen. I don't know what the cause is but it was embarrassing for everybody. ... I don't know what I can do but I sure as hell am going to write a letter to somebody because that was disgusting.

"As many years as I've coached I've never protested anything with officials. I just can't take it anymore," Robinson said with a chuckle. "I've never seen anything like it."

Was Robinson starting to think maybe his team was snakebit?

"Nah, I had other thoughts," he said simply.