Rebels’ performance an ‘abomination’ in 31-28 loss at Fresno State

By Taylor Bern

Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015 | 2:54 p.m.

The rain came suddenly, a mini monsoon descending on Bulldog Stadium just as UNLV started its desperation drive. Maybe it affected the outcome, maybe it didn’t. The only thing we know for certain is the game never should have come down to a quarterback who struggles to throw the ball needing to do exactly that, and then failing to even get it out of his hands.

Unlike the quick and all-consuming downpour that hit almost out of nowhere as UNLV took the field with 2:37 remaining and trailing by three, the Rebels’ loss was a long, drawn-out process. Like watching someone stand on train tracks as the whistle blares a mile away, there seemed to be countless ways to step out of harm’s way. The Rebels couldn’t accomplish enough of them on either side of the ball and the resulting collision, compounded with last week’s similar letdown, leaves UNLV laid out flat, its realistic chances of goals like the West Division title and bowl eligibility washed away in a 31-28 loss at Fresno State.

“I take full blame for this effort we put out there tonight,” UNLV coach Tony Sanchez said. “That was an abomination. That was bad football.”

There was no shortage of Rebels willing to take blame. What they needed was someone to make a play.

UNLV (2-5, 1-2) took the opening kickoff and scored a touchdown, the third straight time it has done that and the fifth in seven games. The problem was that the two drives that followed, a pair of three-and-outs, were more reflective of the offensive performance under sophomore Kurt Palandech and an offensive line that struggled to give him any time.

The Rebels’ offense had 12 possessions Friday night. Half were three-and-outs and three of those came in the final 18 minutes, when UNLV just needed something, anything, to keep hold of its tenuous 14-point lead.

“I’ll take responsibility,” Palandech said. “… We’ve got to be able to move the chains.”

UNLV took a 14-point lead thanks to a muffed punt that Palandech capitalized on with a 29-yard touchdown to Devonte Boyd, who now has more touchdown receptions (five) than he did during his breakthrough freshman season. After that point, though, the offense completely fell apart.

Palandech went 2-of-7 passing for 10 yards with 50 yards rushing, not counting the four sacks he took during that stretch. Two of those sacks came on the game’s final two meaningful plays.

The rain and wind were so severe that a nearly 50-yard field goal attempt from senior Nicolai Bornand was effectively off the table. Instead Palandech dropped back looking for a way to extend the drive, and the game, and came up empty, going down for losses of two and three yards without ever getting rid of the ball and at least giving a receiver a chance to make a play.

Sanchez and Palandech said almost exactly the same thing — You can’t take a sack in that situation — but it comes on the heels of Palandech getting sacked at the end of regulation and again in overtime last week against San Jose State. Despite that, and Palandech’s overall 12-of-24 passing for 111 yards and two touchdowns, Sanchez said he never considered going with senior Blake Decker, who did practice this week but whose health status isn’t clear.

“We spent the entire week prepping with Kurt, and he did some good things and he moved the ball and that was the decision I made,” Sanchez said.

Palandech had to try to rally the Rebels late because Fresno State’s offense busted through arm tackles all night. Sometimes the Bulldogs (2-5, 1-3) didn’t even need to do that as quarterback Kilton Anderson’s second rushing score, a 12-yard run, and Marteze Waller’s go-ahead 38-yard scoring scamper both saw the ball carrier reach the end zone untouched.

All told, an offense that ran for only 12 yards two weeks ago against San Diego State piled up a season-high 217 rushing yards against a Rebels defense that looked far more like UNLV defenses of recent history than the group that had been carrying the heavier load for this team.

“It’s not the coaching. It’s the players,” said senior safety Blake Richmond. “We’re just not executing what we’re taught.”

The Rebels wanted to eat more clock when they had a two-possession lead, but the offense couldn’t hold onto the ball for long enough. On several of the possessions they gained few or no yards on first down, and often tried to decide between taking a risk with an interception-prone passer or keep trying to run against a loaded front.

“You’re trying to kill the clock. At the same time you’re trying to get first downs,” Sanchez said. “It puts you in a tough situation.”

You could see the game slipping away and then, in a flash, it was gone. Fresno State snapped a five-game losing streak and celebrated with the same cathartic relief that UNLV displayed last year when the roles were reversed and it was the Rebels at home notching a narrow victory.

Also like the Rebels last year, this win probably won’t do much for Fresno State’s season. The Bulldogs are below average and that fact makes UNLV’s setback hurt even more because it highlights how far the program really has to go to attain the type of consistency and success Sanchez envisions.

A few plays from 4-3 or even 5-2, UNLV instead heads into the bye week at 2-5 with Boise State waiting on Halloween. That will likely make the Rebels 2-6, and instead of building on the Fremont Cannon victory they will try to pick up the pieces and salvage any wins they can in the final four games.

This is the time of year and these are the types of results that shift Rebel fans’ focus from the gridiron to the hardwood. Sanchez got a lot of people’s attention in Reno and he’s now lost many of those in the subsequent weeks, a pattern that’s played out over and over at UNLV.

It’s just another part of the culture he’s trying to change, even if the results triggering those feelings are anything but new.

“I think that’s what happens a lot of times when you’ve had such a lack of success over 25 years,” Sanchez said. “It’s real easy when things go bad, people go running for the hills. And we’re not going to do it. We’re going to dig ditches and we’re going to jump in there together and we’re going to keep fighting.”

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.