virt(UNLV): Utah avenges loss to UNLV

The virtual Omar Clayton is a bit premature in taunting Utah’s fans after scoring a touchdown late in the first half. The Utes had the last laugh, breaking a 24-all, third-quarter tie with a 17-3 scoring spurt to end the game.

The virtual Andy Samuelson

Friday, Sept. 5, 2008 | 6 p.m.

Salt Lake City — UNLV's Omar Clayton had a virtual game for the ages with 330-plus passing yards and three touchdowns — but even his spectacular video-game-like stats couldn't provide the graphic-rendered Rebels with an upset over BCS-busting Utah.

Nope, Brian Johnson's numbers were equally out of this world (22-of-27 for 332 yards and five total touchdowns) and the Utes avenged their real-life loss to UNLV from a year ago with a 41-27 victory at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Things started well enough as the Rebels matched the Utes at 7-all, answering Utah's senior signal caller's score with one of their own when Clayton found Ryan Wolfe for a 20-yard strike.

But just as it is in the real world, the road woes in this pixelated universe are just as bumpy for a UNLV team that has lost 20 out of its last 21 away from Sam Boyd Stadium.

However, with the the help of senior wide out Casey Flair and his 12 catches and Clayton's big arm, UNLV managed to claw back into the contest and tie things again at 24-all when Alex Young caught a pass over the middle with two minutes to go in the third quarter.

But just as quickly as the momentum turned, it quickly soured in the sloppy Salt Lake City rain storm. The Utes scored 17 of the next 20 points to spark their dreams of a Mountain West title and send the Rebels back to a simulated Sin City with an all-too-familiar road setback.

This simulation occurred with EA SPORTS NCAA Football 09 running on computer versus computer settings.