Columnist Ron Kantowski: Rebels’ road back starts with one stunning step

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005 | 9:25 a.m.

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

ALBUQUERQUE -- While it is universally accepted that Rome wasn't built in a day, that may only be because Mike Sanford wasn't drawing up plays for the mythical King Romulus in 750 B.C.

Granted, one hard-to-swallow defeat against a quality opponent does not constitute an empire, a dynasty or even a rebuilt college football program.

But another week should just about do it.

At least that's the way the small contingent of Rebels rooters waiting at Gate 11A at the Albuquerque International Airport for their return flight to Land of Disenchanted Football Fans were talking Monday night. And who could blame them, given the way UNLV battled back against a quality New Mexico team that has gone to three consecutive bowl games and is expected to challenge for the Mountain West Conference championship again this year?

UNLV, meanwhile, is supposed to be at least a year or two away, according to the most ambitious estimate for future success. Instead, the Rebels were only a point or two away from springing a major upset straight out of the box. A 24-22 loss was something for Rebels fans to hang their helmets on, especially after it appeared the UNLV bus had made a wrong turn at Truth or Consequences.

It was 17-0 New Mexico after the first quarter, at which point the Rebels had mustered a grand total of one first down and 24 yards (to New Mexico's nine and 171).

The newfangled spread option offense that Sanford had brought with him from Utah wasn't fangling. In fact, it appeared the first-year head coach was going to have to summon some of the rocket scientists from up the road in Los Alamos to explain it all to Shane Steichen, the Rebels' semi-experienced quarterback who basically is keeping the space under center warm until USC transfer Rocky Hinds becomes eligible next year.

Taking their cue from their quarterback, the Rebels early on looked like a hot air balloon that was running out of it.

"I know and everybody on our team knows we are going to be a good football team," Sanford said. "But I think we were a little overwhelmed by the pressure of the game early."

The first-quarter mistakes ran the gamut, from Steichen's misguided passes to his teammates' inability to keep their footing on the natural grass field at University Stadium.

You would have thought the Rebels, who practice and play on synthetic grass at home, had green chile on the soles of their shoes the way they kept slipping and sliding.

Sanford later would lament the Rebels' inability to do the "little things" right. These included not breaking the huddle quickly enough to prevent costly delay-of-game penalties and missing an extra point after converting all 28 of those afterthoughts last year. But after the abysmal first quarter, UNLV did a lot of big things correctly, such as stopping the run, coming up with a big play when one was called for and taking care of the football.

Last year, when the Rebels struggled to a 2-9 record that hastened John Robinson's decision to spend a little more time with his grandkids, UNLV had a brutal minus-17 turnover ratio. Almost from the start of fall camp, Sanford emphasized the need to protect the football and that's exactly what the Rebels did against New Mexico -- until the final two minutes.

On the first play after a beautifully executed onside kick gave UNLV new life, New Mexico's Gabriel Fulbright snuffed it out by flashing in front of Greg Estandia to intercept Steichen's pass, prompting the UNLV faithful to slap its collective forehand in frustration.

Why is it that unless Baylor is trying to run up the score, the close ones always seem to go against UNLV?

It was more of a bad read then a bad pass, as Steichen would later explain. Still, if he can play as well as he did Monday, the Rebels figure to win their share. Steichen's performance was certainly adequate and bordered on efficient, as he completed 18 of 30 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns and added 39 rushing yards on nine carries. The Lobos' blitzing defense only sacked him once.

Alex Smith numbers? Maybe not. But at least Steichen proved he can be a reasonable facsimile of the former Utah quarterback who last year ran the shotgun spread as if it was drawn up with him in mind.

"First quarter was rough. It took me a while to get in the groove," Steichen said in assessing his performance. "Second and third quarter, pretty good; fourth quarter was all right until that last play right there. That was a killer."

As for the shotgun spread itself, well, the Rebels' version of it started off more vanilla than the new Diet Coke, featuring very few of the multiple exchanges, pitches and laterals that Utah became known for during its perfect season last year.

But as the Rebels settled down, Sanford eventually called for a few wild cherries, such as a direct snap to a running back and a reverse pass, both of which worked, and a shovel pass on a 2-point conversion try with 1:31 to play that almost enabled UNLV to send the game into overtime.

While not exactly caution-to-the-wind type stuff, there was enough finesse to whet the appetite of Rebels fans who had grown accustomed to Robinson's predictable attack predicated on boring off-tackle plays.

"When the doldrums went away, I think we got a sense of urgency and started executing," Sanford said. "When we execute and our defense stops them like we were stopping them, then we're going to become a good football team."

Sanford was bidding to become the third UNLV coach in succession to win his debut as head coach. At the end of the day, the media guide will show he came up a little short.

But whereas Jeff Horton's Rebels beat Eastern Michigan and John Robinson's knocked off North Texas, Mike Sanford's faced a much tougher assignment.

That they nearly passed it is something for Rebels fans to be excited about.

So Idaho, UNR and Utah State had better beware. There's a new emperor at UNLV and a toga party may be brewing.