UNLV seniors driven by wall plaques

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Sept. 16, 2005 | 9:25 a.m.

John Robinson won't be roaming the UNLV sidelines in a Battle for the Fremont Cannon contest against Nevada-Reno for the first time in seven years on Saturday night in Reno. But his legacy lives on.

At the entrance to UNLV's Rebel Park practice fields is a wall that displays five plaques. Each one has the year and the final score of that year's UNLV-UNR game, along with the names of the UNLVseniors who were on the squad.

There's one prerequisite, however. A plaque is added to the wall only if the Rebels (1-1), who bring in a five-game winning streak into Saturday night's game against the Wolf Pack (0-1), defeat their in-state rivals.

No win, no plaque.

Don't think that doesn't serve as even more motivation for UNLV's seniors.

"That would hurt not to have my name on one of those plaques," safety Joe Miklos said. "That's one of my main goals as a senior, going out with a win against them. I want my name on that plaque right there. That's huge to me."

"I've been around to see the other five go up on that wall," defensive end Leon Moore said. "For my name not to be on one of them just wouldn't seem right. It would really break my spirit."

"This is my senior year and I haven't lost to them yet," tight end Greg Estandia added. "I want to go out 3-0. I talked to (former Rebel linebacker Ryan Claridge) the other day and he said, 'I'm 5-0 and it feels so good to be 5-0 against those guys.' I really want to go out being undefeated against them, too."

Estandia, a junior college transfer from Moorpark (Calif.) Junior College, played in just one game last year before deciding to redshirt with a knee injury. That was against the Wolf Pack, where he caught one pass for 10 yards in a 48-13 Rebels victory at Sam Boyd Stadium.

UNR's last victory against the Rebels came in Robinson's first year in 1999, 26-12, at Mackay Stadium. Since that game, UNLV has outscored the Wolf Pack 150-61 en route to five consecutive wins.

One of them was then-Utah offensive coordinator Mike Sanford, whose goal was to land his first Division I head coaching position.

However, Sanford never interviewed for the job because only hours later Ault, at the apparent urging of Nevada-Reno President John Lilley, named himself the new head coach.

Sanford said he has not spoken with Ault since that phone call.

"I think that is just part of the profession," Sanford said.

When asked if he had any extra incentive because of the slight going into Saturday night's game, Sanford replied, "To me this game is about these players playing their best game of the season in a rivalry. That's the challenge. That's what we've got to do and that's what my job is to do."

Junior quarterback Shane Steichen leds the MWC in total offense with an average of 310.0 yards per game. That also ranks him 10th in the nation.

Senior defensive end Leon Moore, a Rancho High product, leads the MWC in both quarterback sacks (1.50 per game) and tackles for loss (2.0 per game) while walk-on punter Kip Facer leads the the conference in punting and is seventh in the nation with a 45.5 average.

"The MRI was a strictly a safety precaution," Sanford said. "He's still got a couple more days before he has to play. He's probably at about 90 percent right now."

Starting outside linebacker Beau Bell (groin) and safety Nate Kenion (ankle) both are questionable for the contest.