Rebels eager to keep streak alive

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Oct. 15, 2004 | 10:01 a.m.

Lon Kruger and his UNLV men's basketball squad officially start their 2004-05 season with a practice on Saturday. But don't try telling the Rebels football team it's time to start getting ready for some hoops.

Not after back-to-back wins against UNR and BYU improved John Robinson's squad to 2-4 and 1-1 in Mountain West Conference play. The Rebels will try to make it three in a row Saturday against New Mexico (2-4, 0-2) beginning at noon at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"Everybody was quick to pull the plug and say, 'Hey, lets get ready for basketball season,' " UNLV quarterback Kurt Nantkes said. "But nobody in this locker room felt that way. We've just kept fighting and scrapping and never gave up.

"We have five games left. We're tied for second place in our conference right now. Our season is far from over."

"This team has done a good job of jelling together and staying positive," added senior linebacker Adam Seward. "I think the results speak for themselves."

Perhaps the biggest reason for the turnaround has been turnovers.

After coming up with just two takeways in their first four games, the Rebels have forced five turnovers in each of the last two games.

"It's something our coaches coach and it's something we need to go out and execute," cornerback Ruschard Dodd-Masters said. "We feel if we do that we have a better chance of winning. That's our mentality as a defense ... get turnovers."

It's a mentality that certainly hasn't gone unnnoticed by Rocky Long's Lobos, who are off to an 0-2 conference start for the first time since 1999 and turned the ball over six times in a 37-35 loss to the Rebels a year ago in Alburquerque.

"UNLV is doing a great job of ball-hawking," Long said. "There are times on film where you see their defensive players trying to cause fumbles rather than tackling the ballcarrier. It's like a feeding frenzy."

Long was asked if trying too hard to force turnovers can backfire on a team?

"If you hold onto the ball, it can backfire on them," Long said. "I mean, you should get an extra four or five yards every time they try to punch it and don't tackle. Sometimes those yards are enough to get a first down and keep the football."

Long said it's a different UNLV team that he sees since John Robinson announced his retirement on Sept. 26.

"They've picked up a lot of momentum since he made the announcement," Long said. "They're playing for him."

And having momentum is a big plus in a conference as close as the Mountain West is from top to bottom.

"This league's always been a momentum league," Long said. "Somebody gets on a roll and they win some close games and all of a sudden they end up at the end of the season competing for the championship. You've got to get in a close game, which I anticipate our game with UNLV will be, and if we can win a close game, we can get the momentum going in our direction. UNLV has it right now."

Now the question is can the Rebels keep it?