Monday, Sept. 20, 2004 | 10:15 a.m.
An 0-2 start was somewhat expected in most circles for the UNLV football team.
Oh-and-3? That's another matter entirely.
But that's the predicament that John Robinson's squad finds itself in today after squandering a couple of early scoring opportunties and then just simply getting pounded up front by Air Force, 27-10, on Saturday night in their Mountain West Conference opener at Sam Boyd Stadium.
Fisher DeBerry's squad controlled the clock for an unheard-of 40 minutes and 29 seconds compared to just 19:31 for the Rebels. The Falcons ran 85 plays to just 51 for UNLV and finished with 278 rushing yards, 171 of them by the fullback trio of Dan Shaffer, Adam Cole and Jacobe Kendrick.
Rule No. 1 of defensing the option is to stop the fullback dive up the middle. But the Rebels, despite having two potential NFL draft picks helping man the inside in senior linebackers Adam Seward (18 tackles) and Ryan Claridge (18 tackles), could not slow down the first option on a conistent basis.
Option No. 2, true freshman quarterback Shaun Carney, both ran (64 yards on 21 carries) and passed (12 of 14, 139 yards, two touchdowns) through the Rebels defense. The Falcons rarely needed to pitch the ball on the third part of the option because everything else was working so well.
UNLV, a 6 1/2-point favorite entering the contest, once again struggled offensively finishing with only 258 total yards and 12 first downs against a Falcons defense that had yielded 413 total yards against I-AA Eastern Washington a week earlier.
Robinson pointed the finger directly at himself for Saturday night's poor performance, which marked the ninth consecutive year the Rebels lost their conference opener.
"I can't look anywhere else and see any reason not to start with me first and my coaching staff," Robinson said. "We can still salvage this season and make it a team that each of our players can be proud of. There's no point in them trying to search for answers. That's my job. I haven't come up (with the answers) yet, but don't give up on me yet."
UNLV's players say they haven't given up on Robinson or the season.
"You can't blame this stuff on Coach," said sophomore quarterback Shane Steichen, who completed 12 of 24 passes for 160 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. "It's the players on the field. We're coached up. We know what to do. We've just got to take care of business out there which we haven't done ... yet."
Outside linebacker Reggie Butler said of Robinson's mea culpa: "That's an easy thing for him to say. I don't know who to blame. We're not winning, though. It's frustrating. We're going out there and playing as hard as we can play and we're not getting a (win).
"It's tough," Butler continued. "We're 0-3. We've got a big hole to climb out of. Plus, this was a conference game."
As for the rest of the season?
"I really believe from the bottom of my soul everybody on this team is going to fight to get out of this hole," Butler said.
Steichen said: "I think all the players on this team have a lot of heart. I think we can bounce back. We've just got to get our minds off this and get ready for Utah State now."
Senior tailback Dominique Dorsey added: "There's no quit in this team. We're going to break through this."
Nantkes had left the Rebels' game the previous week at Wisconsin after experiencing shooting pains in the pubic bone area that had sidelined him all of spring practice. But Nantkes returned to practice on Tuesday and said he felt no lingering pain from the injury.
"I probably should have played him more (against Air Force) but I was really nervous about (the injury)," Robinson said. "I was worried about him hurting it again and then having an extensive injury. But he's fine."
Estandia, a 6-foot-8, 250-pounder, said he plans to work his way into practice drills beginning on Tuesday night.
"I think it will be close," Robinson said when asked if he thought Estandia will play this weekend.
Meanwhile, starting wide receiver Terry Furlow, who left the Air Force game on crutches with an Achilles' tendon strain, is listed as questionable for Utah State.
Offensive guard Brandon Gray, who injured a knee in the season-opening loss at Tennessee, also did some light running at Sunday night's practice.
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