Columnist Ron Kantowski: Giveaway day … followed by get-out-of-the-way day

Monday, Oct. 18, 2004 | 10:13 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Welcome to basketball season.

Judging by the size of Saturday's embarrassingly small crowd, about two-thirds of UNLV's football unfaithful already had turned its attention to hoop dreams anyway, that season officially having started with the first practice of the Lon Kruger era a couple of hours before the Rebels and New Mexico Lobos teed it up at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Then the Rebels made it easy for the rest of them to lace up their high-tops, too, by giving away a game to the Lobos on what might have been the most uninspired homecoming afternoon in school history.

It was Pomp 0, Pageantry 0. The queen's escort wore shorts and a T-shirt, so that should tell you something about the interest level.

New Mexico won 24-20, primarily because its mediocre quarterback, Kole McKamey, managed to hold onto the football whereas UNLV's two mediocre quarterbacks, Kurt Nantkes and Shane Steichen, did not.

Nantkes bristled last week when a reporter, relaying what coach John Robinson had said, wrote that at least he did not lose last week's game at Brigham Young by making silly mistakes or decisions. Well, he and Steichen specialized in both on Saturday, combining for five of UNLV's six turnovers.

Save for the flashes of average ability Steichen displayed in the second quarter, when he tossed passes in the general vicinity of Earvin Johnson, who turned them into touchdowns, the quarterbacks definitely lost this game.

Afterward, Robinson reprised his recently adopted routine of telling it like it was. Only this week, it was his quarterbacks, and not the quality of officiating, that was the source of his rueful tone.

"We had five turnovers, all at the quarterback position. Neither quarterback was able to function well enough for us to win the game," said Robinson after the 2-5 Rebels somehow failed to make it three consecutive wins after he announced after an 0-4 start that this would be his final year as coach.

Robinson must have forgotten Donell Wheaton's muffed punt return that New Mexico recovered, but that was understandable, considering how poorly his passers played.

"We were trying to find what we could at that position and neither player had any kind of success in the game," Robinson said in a generous understatement.

And so the quarterback position continues to be a royal pain in the backside. Literally.

Last year against New Mexico, Nantkes dislocated his tailbone. Saturday, Robinson said Steichen "kind of hurt his butt a little bit," after the second time he fumbled away, which only paved the way for Nantkes to fumble away the Rebels' last chance to pull out the win, which he did with 1:07 to play after UNLV had crossed into New Mexico territory.

It was amazing the Rebels were even in that position, given they turned the ball over six times to New Mexico's zero. It's too bad there isn't a Pepperidge Farms Bowl for the turnover plagued, because at least that would give the Mountain West another bowl-eligible team.

And it's too bad college football isn't like golf or tennis, where you can pick and choose which events you play. If that were the case, UNLV could just withdraw from Saturday's game at undefeated Utah, which is moving up the BCS charts with a bullet after blowing out North Carolina 46-16 Saturday.

"Obviously, we're going to have to play a hell of a lot better next week against an outstanding team," Robinson said, failing to invoke Utah's name, as if that somehow might make the Utes go away.

UNLV probably wasn't going to beat Utah under any circumstances. But with three consecutive wins under its belt, at least it would have had momentum on its side. Now, I'm afraid it might be the biggest mismatch to happen along I-15 since Gary Gilmore faced the firing squad at the Utah State Penitentiary.

"I don't think it's going to be hard to keep it together because this team is pretty tight," said safety Joe Miklos, who for my money would be declared team co-MVP along with Johnson if the season ended today. Or Saturday.

Miklos blocked a field goal that kept the Rebels in the game longer than they should have been. But this week, he and his defensive mates will be matched against a big and powerful offense that considers field-goal attempts an unnecessary option on its way to the end zone.

"Basically, now next week turns into our season," Miklos said bravely. "We've got a bye week the week after that but we can't even look forward to that. It all comes down to next week."

That's why I almost wanted to hand Miklos a blindfold and a cigarette.