UNLV-UNR Notebook: Despite loss, Rebels receivers dent record books

By Ryan Greene

Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008 | 2:15 a.m.

Of course, in the grand scheme of things, it's pretty obvious why it all went so unnoticed.

But no one can argue that UNLV's receiving corps -- arguably one of the tops in the Mountain West -- did its job Saturday night, despite the Rebels falling to UNR at Sam Boyd Stadium, 49-27.

The star of the show was junior Ryan Wolfe, who hauled in eight passes for 167 yards -- both team highs -- and a second half touchdown. A couple of those catches came in pretty clutch situations, including a diving 26-yard grab over the middle on a third-and-20 play. He also had a 49-yard touchdown catch called back due to a holding call against Johan Asiata.

"That's the kind of player he is," said sophomore QB Omar Clayton. "He's a kind of humble guy, but we all know Ryan Wolfe is our best overall football player."

With the performance Saturday, Wolfe ...

-Posted his seventh career 100-yard game, putting him one away from tying the school record of eight shared by Lenny Ware, Randy Gatewood and Jim Sandusky.

-Moved into fifth in UNLV history in career receptions with 158. He's tied with Carlos Baker, and needs just three more to tie Ware in fourth. His 158 grabs have come in just 28 career games, giving him an average of 5.6 per outing.

And other notable receiver accomplishments of the night included ...

-Phillip Payne's first quarter touchdown grab gave him a TD catch in each of UNLV's first five games. With that, he tied Sam Greene's school record for most consecutive games with a touchdown grab. That record was set back in 1980.

-Casey Flair's five catches give him 175 for his career. He's now eight away from second place on the school's all-time list, and is 12 away from tying Damon Williams' all-time mark of 187.

-Flair also extended his streak with at least one catch to 40 games, which is second in the nation among active streaks. He trails only Rice's Jarret Dillard (41), and is second all-time at UNLV behind Earvin Johnson (also 41).

Clayton's streak snapped

Also lost in the hub-bub was Omar Clayton's consecutive pass attempt streak without an interception getting snapped during Saturday's second half on a tipped ball over the middle. The run ended at 173 throws.

That streak was second in the nation only to Florida's Tim Tebow, who checks in at 183.

No biggie, said the gunslinger.

"I didn't worry about it in the first place," he said. "Other people can, it's up to them."

To offset that pick, Clayton did throw three touchdowns, which bumps his total to 12 on the year. With seven games to go, he could have a legitimate shot at the single-season record of 25, set by Jon Denton in 1999. His 12 are the most thrown in a season by a Rebel QB since Kurt Nantkes in 2003.

Getting technical

Even though stopping the run was a constant issue for UNLV Saturday night, someone did have to be at the end of all those sizable gains for the Rebels. For much of the night, it was junior linebacker Jason Beauchamp, whose 21 tackles fell one shy of a school record held by Quincy Sanders.

Beauchamp's stat line was pretty healthy elsewhere, too, as he recorded 2.5 tackles for loss, a sack and recovered a fumble.

He gave a little further insight into just what UNR was doing to rack up all those yards.

"That quarterback, he's a pretty intelligent quarterback, and he checked a lot," he explained. "They were calling a lot of the option, and a lot of the running you saw them doing ... They were running weak side every time, so whenever they saw everyone playing the trips, reading that tight end, they would check to that option. We've got to have a kill call, something to counter that call. We didn't have the answer for that tonight."

And don't forget to check out Beauchamp's blog, Judgement Days, each week at www.lasvegassun.com/rebels.

Tempo, not knee, limited Summers

Frank Summers was being watched carefully coming into Saturday's game with random bumps and bruises - Most notably a sore knee.

But Mike Sanford said that was not what held the senior bull of a tailback to just nine carries. He had trouble finding much room on those nine totes, too, totaling just 20 yards.

"What they basically did was clogged the inside," Sanford said. "We had the capability to do either - run or pass. The way that they were playing defense, that's why we made some decisions to throw the football."

Spotted at Sam Boyd ...

In the press box, Las Vegas Bowl representatives were in attendance, as were scouts from seven different NFL teams.

Down just off the sidelines, however, were a couple of bigger figures - literally.

Jonathan Ogden, a Henderson resident who retired last year after 12 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, watched much of the first half from behind the UNLV bench. The sure-fire future Hall of Famer also had some words of encouragement for the UNLV linemen before the game.

Also spotted behind the Rebels was former UNLV letterman Marion 'Suge' Knight, who made it big as a hip-hop mogul. He took off mid-way through the fourth quarter. It was his first time at a Rebel football game in 15 years. He played defensive line at UNLV from 1985-86.

Next up ...

The Rebels look to even up their Mountain West record when they hit the road for an 11 a.m. kickoff in Fort Collins, Colo., next Saturday against 2-2 Colorado State. That game will air on The Mtn. network.

The Rams took one on the chin Saturday in Berkeley, Calif., as Cal prevailed, 42-7.

CSU is 2-0 at home this season, having knocked off both Sacramento State (23-20) and Houston (28-25). The Rams' other loss came on a neutral site in Denver against Colorado in their opener, 38-17.

Around the MWC ...

Following back-to-back weeks with just one loss by a Mountain West program, the league went 3-4 on Saturday.

New Mexico topped in-state rival New Mexico State 35-24 in Las Cruces, San Diego State feasted on lowly Idaho out in Southern California 45-17, and Utah topped Weber State 37-21.

Wyoming was pummeled at home by Bowling Green to the tune of 45-16, Cal waxed CSU - as mentioned above - 42-7, UNLV fell to UNR and Oklahoma avenged a 2006 home loss to TCU by slapping the Horned Frogs in Norman, 35-10.

This and that ...

In the battle of brothers, Ben Jaekle found the individual success for UNLV, but older brother Brett won the war, taking home a win and the Fremont Cannon. Ben drilled field goals of 47 and 52 (tied for sixth-longest in UNLV history) yards for the Rebels, while Brett never attempted a three-pointer. He was, however, six-of-six on extra point attempts ... The announced attendance was 33,078, which ranks as the eighth-largest crowd to watch UNLV at Sam Boyd Stadium. It was the third-largest gathering to witness a Battle for the Fremont Cannon anywhere in the state of Nevada ... UNR's 620 yards of total offense was the most UNLV has allowed since surrendering 670 to San Diego State in a 44-42 Rebel win in 1996. As for the 444 yards rushing, it was the most UNLV has given up since Air Force piled up 459 in a 65-17 Rebel defeat in - you guessed it - 1996 ... UNR quarterback Colin Kaepernick's 240 yards rushing made him the first opposing player to rush for more than 200 yards in a game against UNLV since Iowa State tailback Darren Davis racked up 208 on Sept. 18, 1999 ... The Wolf Pack's fourth straight claiming of the Cannon gives them a 19-15 edge in the all-time series between the two in-state rivals ...