UNLV-ASU notebook: Schedule now becomes Rebels’ friend

By Ryan Greene

Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008 | 3:31 a.m.

TEMPE, Ariz. -- With the UNLV football bandwagon potentially filling up by the minute, some may be scratching their heads and wondering: Who do the Rebels play next?

The only team Mike Sanford's squad faces the rest of the year that could be considered on par with Arizona State is BYU (on Oct. 25), and the UNLV coach sees the potential with what lies directly ahead on the schedule.

By the way, the answer is Iowa State.

"The thing that's exciting about (Saturday's win) is I really believe we can build on it," Sanford said. "And that's a huge thing for our football team right now. We have to capitalize on this."

Sanford pointed out last year's 27-0 win at home against Utah when finding something to compare Saturday's situation to. But he pointed out how he felt the momentum from that victory -- which made the Rebels 2-2 at the time -- wasn't built upon right way, as UNLV lost its final eight games.

The 2008 slate sets up nicely for the Rebels to atone for 2007's shortcomings. The biggest highlight is that six of the final nine games will be played at home.

Next up are the Cyclones, who at 2-1 will be coming to Las Vegas on the heels of a 17-5 loss to rival Iowa Saturday in Iowa City. Their two wins prior to this weekend were against North Dakota State (44-17) and Kent State (48-28).

With that said, it's worth pointing out that under second-year coach Gene Chizik, Iowa State is 0-6 away from Ames.

After that, UNLV welcomes rival Nevada-Reno (1-2) to town, followed by a trip to Colorado State (1-1) heading into the team's bye week.

Clayton OK ... sort of

Omar Clayton didn't start the second half for the Rebels behind center, and took a few extra minutes to come out of the locker room.

While hitting Phillip Payne for a touchdown late in the second quarter, Clayton was hit straight on by a defender on the chin. He was spitting up blood, and the training staff took some X-rays during the intermission to make sure his jaw wasn't broken.

Everything came back looking OK. Feeling OK, though? That's a different story.

"Something in there is messed up," he said after the game. "It doesn't even matter right now."

Also on the injury front, right guard Evan Marchal left the field on crutches following the game, after sitting much of the second half with an ankle injury. Elsewhere on the offensive line, center John Gianninoto, who played hurt a week ago at Utah, didn't start the game but entered following the first few series.

Overlooked after all

Sanford, who said Wednesday following practice he didn't think Dennis Erickson and his staff would allow Arizona State to overlook the Rebels with Georgia on the horizon, revealed his hand a bit following Saturday's win.

The Rebels even had a quote posted in their locker room during the week regarding ASU potentially sleeping on them.

"I think that would be pretty obvious," he said when asked if they played the "being overlooked" card during the week. "One of the things we feel we have not gotten is UNLV has not gotten the respect it deserves, and that's just a part of it tonight. But we're out to gain respect for our football program."

Gracious in defeat

Some of the Arizona State players opted to head straight for the locker room while UNLV's players swarmed Malo Taumua and proceeded to the opposite end zone, where the Rebel fans who made the trip waited to rejoice with their team.

Some hung around.

"All those guys, they were good guys," said junior linebacker Jason Beauchamp. "They were saying 'You guys deserved it'.

A spotless record

For the first time in program history, the Rebels have gone three games into a season without turning the ball over on offense.

With his two touchdown passes Saturday, Clayton has thrown six scores and no picks, while tailback Frank Summers hasn't lost a fumble in 59 carries.

On the flip side, Beau Orth's interception in the second quarter gave the Rebels' defense four takeaways on the year.

And on a final note of perfection, the kicker-by-committee is working so far for Sanford. With Ben Jaekle handling the longer tries and Kyle Watson doing the work from up close, the duo is a combined five-for-five so far.

Depth chart shakeups

Freshman C.J. Cox saw ample opportunities Saturday in the No. 2 tailback slot behind summers, a role filled in the season's first two games by Channing Trotter. Trotter had totaled 51 yards on eight carries. Cox, touted by the coaching staff for his speed, had just 5 yards on four carries Saturday.

A change in priorities

Dack Ishii, who is the Rebels' third-string quarterback, now appears to have a stronghold on the starting punting gig. After junior transfer Brendon Lamers was lifted following an 8-yard shank at Utah, Ishii has yet to disappoint. He punted five times for UNLV Saturday, averaging 42.8 yards a kick with a long of 50. One of his first-half boots even bounced on its own to inside the ASU 2-yard line, where it died on its own.

Pac-10 dominated

UNLV's win at Arizona State made the Mountain West 4-0 on Saturday against the Pac-10.

BYU slugged UCLA, 59-0, while New Mexico pulled off a surprise of its own, ousting Arizona, 36-28. Of those three MWC teams victorious against the big brothers of the West, UNLV was the only one to do so on the road. TCU also took care of Stanford in Fort Worth, 31-14.

As a whole, the Mountain West was 7-1 over the weekend.

This and that ...

... UNLV is now 2-7 all-time in overtime games ... Phillip Payne now has four touchdown receptions three games into his freshman season. With nine games to go, he's already halfway to Len Ware's UNLV freshman touchdown grab mark of eight, set in 1996. Payne has 12 catches in total. The single-season best for a UNLV freshman was 55 by Ryan Wolfe in 2006 ... An 18-yard catch down the seam by freshman Jerriman Robinson was the first of his career ... ASU's one-two receiving punch of Michael Jones and Kerry Taylor was almost silenced. The two combined for just 34 yards on four catches ... Frank Summers' 103 yards pushed him past the century mark for the first time this season, and the fifth time in his UNLV career ... Saturday's announced attendance was 59,852.