UNLV tries to rekindle magic against Air Force

By Ryan Greene

Friday, Oct. 17, 2008 | 7:57 p.m.

It wasn't all that long ago, really.

Four weeks ago, to be exact. That's when UNLV slayed Iowa State -- its second straight win against a BCS conference foe -- in overtime with a big defensive stand and some Phillip Payne flair. It bumped the Rebels to 3-1, with two winnable home games on the horizon leading into a bye week.

Life at Rebel Park was pretty peachy, and bowl eligibility almost felt like a slam dunk.

That feeling is what the Rebels, now 3-3 and 0-2 in Mountain West play, hope to reclaim Saturday night when Air Force (4-2 overall, 2-0 MWC) comes to Sam Boyd Stadium. Coach Mike Sanford's squad has now stewed over a 41-28 heartbreaker at Colorado State for two weeks, and has no choice but to pick things back up and make them the way they were. That's especially true when you consider that UNLV's next two opponents after Saturday are league heavyweights BYU and TCU.

"With these six games left and every game being a conference game, we're in direct competition with everyone to go to a bowl game," sophomore quarterback Omar Clayton said. "There's four (guaranteed) spots available, so we need to win every game to ensure that we get a bowl game. You've got to get to seven (wins) for anything to be for certain. Even six doesn't really mean anything anymore. We've got to win seven games at the least, and we're looking to win every game, so of course there's a sense of urgency."

The uphill climb toward prime bowl game pastures got a tad steeper Thursday, when TCU sliced and diced BYU down in Fort Worth, throwing a heavy amount of salt on the Cougars' BCS hopes. Should Utah -- which plays TCU and BYU in its final two games this season -- stumble, that means the likelihood of an MWC school cashing a BCS paycheck is faint. That also would put those three schools in three of the league's four guaranteed bowl game slots.

Behind Utah (7-0), TCU (7-1) and BYU (6-1) in the current conference standings, four teams have legitimate shots at attaining bowl eligibility: Air Force (4-2), Colorado State (3-3), New Mexico (3-4) and UNLV (3-3).

But, as Clayton said, getting in by the skin on its teeth isn't necessarily the way UNLV would prefer to make that happen. Seven wins would be the only way to mostly assure that's avoided.

A glance at the Rebels' remaining schedule reveals some noticeable trends. Following the showdowns with the league's juggernauts come three winnable games -- New Mexico, Wyoming and San Diego State -- against teams that are sixth, eighth and ninth in the conference standings, respectively.

Knowing that, it makes this weekend's game against Air Force the season's most pivotal contest to date. Not only is it that way because it's the next game, as coaches like to say, but for the sake of logistics and odds.

To come out on top, the Rebels need to change a couple of trends. They need to reverse the 0-3 mark they have under Sanford following the annual bye week. And to do that, they need to beef up in terms of stopping the run. In their past two games, they've allowed an average of 330 rushing yards and four touchdown runs to UNR and Colorado State.

And guess what? More than 78 percent of Air Force's offensive production has come via -- you got it -- the run game.

"We've just got to tackle everybody. They're going to be flying around, cutting, doing a whole bunch of crazy stuff with their line, running that dive right up the middle," said UNLV senior defensive tackle Jacob Hales. "That's what we've got to do is fly around, hit them and just tackle that dive. We can't worry about anything else but our responsibilities. We've just got to stay disciplined and tackle our assignments."

Also, facing an offensive line that likes to cut block quite a bit, there's a mental game to prepare for.

"Some guys do (get bothered), and if you do, then they'll cut you a couple times. You start playing timid, and when you play timid they double-team you and you get blown off the ball," Hales added. "You've just got to be tough and put it behind you, focus on playing hard every play, it is what it is. It's a tough day. It's going to be like that for 60 minutes."

The whole 60-minute thing has been an issue for the Rebels, who have built sizable first-quarter leads in each of their last three outings. In the opening frame this season, UNLV has outscored its opponents 59-13. The second quarter and beyond has been a different story. The most glaring difference has come in the middle quarters. Foes hold a 66-37 second quarter edge, and a 62-21 advantage in the third.

"I really don't think there's one thing specifically, because if there was, we could have got it from jump," Clayton said of figuring out what's wrong after the first quarter. "Just the main thing is just not being happy with that lead that we get. I think one of the things that happens in the second quarter when we get out to the lead is people start having mental lapses."

Mental lapses would be oh-so costly Saturday, as several different names are sure to be heard over the Sam Boyd PA system when the Falcons are on offense. Freshman Tim Jefferson has assumed starting duties at the quarterback slot, while senior Shea Smith will play some, coach Troy Calhoun said.

Air Force will also use a slew of tailbacks, led by freshman Asher Clark, who picked up 109 yards and a score in his first career start a week ago at San Diego State. He'll be spelled by the likes of Kyle Lumpkin, Kyle Halderman, Savier Stephens and Todd Newell. Each of them have rushed for at least 132 yards and one touchdown through six games.

Got all that down?

It's given the UNLV defense more than its fair share to prepare for. Saturday will also unveil the results of the coaching staff's secondary shakeup following the Colorado State loss. While starters haven't been revealed, and possibly won't change at all, guys like Beau Orth, Lorenzo Bursey Jr. and Deante Purvis could see more playing time than normal in an effort to keep fresh legs flying around.

But all that aside, the big picture remains the same -- a win Saturday is key to helping make sure that 3-1 start, which now may feel like it was months ago, wasn't all for naught.

"We've talked about that," Sanford said. "I think that we need to prove that on Saturday night. I do believe we have that, but we've got to prove that on Saturday night."