Rebels easily won season opener — but then, they were supposed to

By Ron Kantowski

Monday, Sept. 7, 2009 | 2 a.m.

All I could think about leaving Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday night was Blues Magoos, a psychedelic rock band from the 1960s.

I knew there would be repercussions to UNLV’s eliminating the free pregame meal for media and other press box freeloaders this year.

The Blues Magoos, like Appalachian State, basically were a one-hit wonder. Theirs was called “(We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet.”

Heed the message, UNLV football fans. But avoid the mushrooms.

UNLV beat Sacramento State, a member of the Football Championship Subdivision — Division I-AA to me and you — 38-3 on a gusty opening night of the college football season at Sam Boyd Stadium. Sounds about right, 38-3. The Rebels started fast, ended fast, sputtered in the middle. That’ll happen sometimes when you schedule an opponent whose logo resembles that of a supermarket chain. UNLV still won by five touchdowns.

As I said, sounds about right. Those checking the West Coast scores on the scoreboard page will skip right past UNLV-Sacramento State. It won’t even register. That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

But I still can’t get the Blues Magoos out of my head. It’s a bad trip, man. They must have sprinkled some hallucinogenic agent on the soft pretzel I was forced to buy from the concession stand for sustenance at halftime.

Remember the bridge to “(We Ain’t Got) Nothin’ Yet?” Probably not, if you had the mushrooms.

“We made enough mistakes.

But you know we got what it takes.”

That’s basically what Rebels coach Mike Sanford said after the game.

But first he said “there’s no nothing” in college football.

We Ain’t Got Nothin’ Yet. There’s No Nothing. A lot of double negatives were flying around Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday night, in addition to a lot of dust in the wind.

Sanford’s “no nothing” quote was spoken in the context of getting a team ready to play without the luxury of a preseason game, which is the beauty of college football. That, and the free meal in the press box beforehand.

“In college football, there are no mulligans,” Sanford said. “There are no preseason games, no scrimmages — there’s no nothing. And so you have to come out of the blocks playing good right away.”

Sanford is beginning his fifth year on the job. Apparently, he is taking the Wake Forest approach to building a program. It’s taking him years. His first three were awful. Last year was better. This year could be the year the Rebels post a winning season and sneak into a minor bowl game named for a muffler or something.

You could see that happening based on what the Rebels did when they had the ball against Cal State Safeway. Quarterback Omar Clayton was on target, as usual, with his passes. Running back Channing Trotter performed more like a thoroughbred and looks a serviceable heir apparent to Tank Summers, the go-to guy from last year’s team. Ryan Wolfe was Ryan Wolfe. He made a spectacular one-handed grab on UNLV’s first play from scrimmage for a 31-yard gain. You put the football where he can get it, he will. It’s just that simple.

What’s not that simple for this UNLV team — any UNLV team, really — is stopping the run. For some reason, Cal State Safeway came out throwing the ball, or at least bouncing it on the ground. In the second quarter, it became Air Force, without the stylish option pitches. Four yards, five yards, three yards. Move the chains. Four yards, five yards, three yards. Move the chains.

Then a holding penalty. Air Force doesn’t get called for a lot of those.

Still, Safeway held the ball for more than seven minutes on one drive. One of its shelf stockers, a guy named Terrance Dailey, ran 19 times for 101 yards. Dailey played at Washington last year, which would lead you to believe that at one time he was pretty good.

UNLV will have to be much stingier against the run against Oregon State next week. The Beavers have a running back named Jaquizz Rodgers who also is pretty good — only he didn’t have to transfer schools to receive more playing time.

“I felt at times we gave up a little too much in the run game on defense,” Sanford said. “We’ve got some things we’ve got to improve there.”

Do you think if the Rebels put 13 men in the box against Oregon State, anybody would notice?

Pass the mushrooms.