LOOKING IN ON: UNLV FOOTBALL

Saturday, Oct. 13, 2007 | 7:14 a.m.

Las Vegas Sun

What: UNLV vs. BYU

When: 6:30 tonight

Where: Sam Boyd Stadium

Tickets: $17 and up; 739-3267 or unlvtickets.com

By Brian Hilderbrand

So, which UNLV football team will show up this evening when the Rebels host BYU in a Mountain West Conference showdown at Sam Boyd Stadium?

Will it be the Rebels squad that gave then-No. 5-ranked Wisconsin all it could handle in a 20-13 UNLV loss and shut out Utah 27-0 two weeks later?

Or will it be the mistake-prone team that got burned by Hawaii, 49-14, a month ago and has lost its past two outings, to UNR and Air Force?

Head coach Mike Sanford talks about the need for his program to "get over the hump," but it always seems to stall as it approaches the summit. After a season-opening win at Utah State and the gutsy performance against Wisconsin, the Rebels seemed poised to take the program to another level. Instead, they took two steps back with the lopsided loss at home to Hawaii.

UNLV's win at home against Utah in the conference opener was the Rebels' first over the Utes since 1979 and had some players talking about competing for the conference championship. Then came the UNR and Air Force games , and the Rebels are limping into tonight's contest with a 2-4 overall and 1-1 conference record.

"We have six more opportunities to get over the hump, and I expect us to do that," Sanford said.

Tonight's game could be one that proves to be a turning point this year for UNLV, but Sanford refused to assign that kind of weight to the contest against the Cougars (3-2 overall, 2-0 in the conference).

"The way I see it, every game from here on out is critical," he said. "We're a blue-collar football team that has to fight and kick and scratch for everything we get, so you can't ever say that any game on our schedule is either a guaranteed loss or a guaranteed win.

"To me, we can win every one of them and if we don't do our job, we could lose any of them. So, for that reason, I think every game is critical."

Sanford said he has reason to be optimistic about the second half of the season based on how his team has played - at times - in the first six games.

"I would say that we have shown flashes of being a really good football team and we've shown times of extreme passion and extreme intensity," he said. "When you look at the second half of Utah State, the Wisconsin game and the Utah game, I would gauge those games and say that we are capable of playing at a very high level.

"I think our standard is higher for these next six games ... based on that highest level that we played in those particular games that I mentioned. We can play at that level - we have played at that level - but we've got to play at that level on a regular basis."

Young Rebels

Although he is not pleased with his team's 2-4 mark, Sanford said there are concrete signs the program is headed in the right direction.

Sanford noted that at one point during last week's 31-14 loss at Air Force, the Rebels were playing six freshmen or sophomores on offense.

"Recruiting, I think, has gone well because we've got a lot of guys that we've recruited recently who are playing and playing well," he said. "That is a positive thing as far as the future is concerned.

"Now, am I satisfied with where we are? No, but am I encouraged. And do I see a lot of hope for the future? Yes."

Home away from home

BYU has made itself at home at Sam Boyd Stadium through the years.

In racking up a 6-0 mark against UNLV in Las Vegas, the Cougars have outscored the Rebels 227-79, including a pair of shutouts in 1982 and 1999.

The Cougars also emerged victorious in their most recent visit to Las Vegas - a 38-8 rout of Oregon in last year's Las Vegas Bowl.