LOOKING IN ON: UNLV FOOTBALL

Friday, June 15, 2007 | 7:19 a.m.

Consecutive games UNLV has lost on the road.

42,075

Sam Boyd Stadium attendance record (Wisconsin at UNLV, Aug. 31, 2002).

Coach Mike Sanford's decision to hold a portion of last year's fall training camp in the remote mining town of Ely produced many expected benefits for UNLV's football team.

The biggest benefit, however, didn't surface until three months after the Rebels spent 12 days practicing at altitude (6,400 feet above sea level), when UNLV outlasted Air Force 42-39 at home in the final game of the season.

"As far as the grind on a team that happens in two-a-days in the desert, it can take a toll on a team," Sanford said. "I think we were fresh at the end of the year. I think we improved as the year went on and that was a positive."

Such a positive, in fact, that Sanford said the Rebels again would spend 12 days this summer practicing "at an off-campus location." NCAA rules prohibit Sanford or other university officials from disclosing the location of any off-campus practices.

In addition to improving players' conditioning, Sanford said , training at altitude has other benefits.

"I think it's good to get our team away, all together in one place where we're depending on each other," he said. "That provides a bonding experience, and I think that closeness will develop even more this year. There's also a positive in terms of the times of day you can practice and being able to eat meals at normal times and practice at normal times."

Instead of practicing early in the morning and late in the afternoon, as UNLV has to do in Las Vegas' triple-digit summer heat, the team can practice late in the morning and early in the afternoon in Ely's 80-degree days.

"You could do that (in Las Vegas), but it would be stupid to do it as far as getting a lot out of your players," Sanford said.

Another benefit of training in Ely: UNLV opens its third season under Sanford against Utah State on Aug. 30 in Logan - elevation 4,700 feet.

UNLV will open fall camp Aug. 3 and will train off-campus - spell that E-l-y - Aug. 10-21. Ely is five hours north of Las Vegas.

Must-win game

Although UNLV hosts Wisconsin in its 2007 home opener Sept. 8, Sanford said the importance of the season opener at Utah State can't be overstated.

"We've got to beat Utah State," he said. "One of the big things for us - and this is going to be a theme of ours - is we've got to win on the road. UNLV has not won on the road since before I got here. That's something we've got to do, and that's a huge game."

UNLV's last road victory came Oct. 8, 2004, when it beat BYU 24-20 in Provo in John Robinson's final season as the Rebels' head coach.

Getting noticed

Sophomore wide receiver Ryan Wolfe, the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year, is receiving a lot of national recognition this summer.

Wolfe, who led UNLV last season with 911 receiving yards, has been named first team all-conference by several college football publications, including Blue Ribbon Yearbook, Lindy's College Football Preview, Athlon Sports and Phil Steele's College Football Preview.

Fellow Rebels Jeremy Geathers, Beau Bell, Frank Summers, Casey Flair, Joe Hawley, Sergio Aguayo, Rocky Hinds, Mil'Von James, Ronnie Smith and Tim Goins also were given nods by the various preseason publications.