Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Columnist Dean Juipe: Confident Rebels envision 2-0 record

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4084.

This is not a team that has the luxury of an easy game on its schedule, in part because the season-long competition is pretty decent and in part because of its own shortcomings.

But when UNLV players and fans first saw the team's 2003 schedule, they immediately figured the Kansas game in the second week of the season would be a win.

And now that it's here, they're probably more sure of it than ever after the Rebels opened last week with a crucial 28-18 victory against Toledo and the Jayhawks lost 28-20 to Northwestern.

With the betting line set at UNLV minus 11, there's even more reason to believe Saturday's game in Lawrence could be a one-sided affair. Plenty of people expect the Rebels to show up, slap the farm boys around and leave with a collective smile on their faces.

And maybe that's what will happen.

Kansas is, after all, not a very good team and not a very good program. The Jayhawks have spent a lot of time in the Big 12 North's cellar and haven't been to a bowl game since 1995.

They also have the fewest returning starters in their league (11) and last week started six junior-college transfers against Northwestern, which can be a sign of desperation.

They were also 2-10 last season and have won only one conference game in the past two years.

They also lost by 11 points to UNLV last season and, somewhat amazingly, have lost 12 consecutive games in which they were the home underdog.

That's a lot of evidence and a number of reasons to believe this will be UNLV's least strenuous game of the season. It's a great chance for the Rebels to get to 2-0 and contemplate not only upsetting Wisconsin next week but handling Hawaii and Nevada-Reno in the ensuing weeks to open 5-0.

Except that Kansas may not be quite as bad as advertised.

Yes, the Jawhawks lost to Northwestern but the game was played in a downpour and the Wildcats could be a middle-of-the-pack team in the Big Ten this year. The Jayhawks also passed for 255 yards, led going into the fourth quarter and were only one-point down until the final minute of the game.

Kansas hung with Northwestern and probably walked off the field feeling as if it played respectably. It likely feels it can also beat UNLV, especially after it saw the film clips of the Rebels jumping offside in a ridiculous situation against Toledo, compiling an awful 13 penalties and committing three turnovers.

UNLV's mistakes in that game were largely overlooked in the jubilant aftermath, as was the fact the Rockets didn't appear to be as sturdy as they had been in the immediate past. The better Toledo teams may not have given up 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and lost so meekly.

Not that the Rebels didn't deserve to win. Kurt Nantkes looked competent and comfortable at quarterback, which had been a concern, and he directed a diversified offense that rang up 458 yards in spite of the absence of wide receiver Earvin Johnson, who returns this week.

It was a good showing at a critical time. It got the Rebels off on the right foot in a season of special importance to head coach John Robinson and the program.

After two consecutive losing seasons and three consecutive season-opening losses, getting past Toledo allows the Rebels the freedom to not only believe in themselves but think optimistically about what's ahead. They're entitled to that.

But they need to be cognizant of the trappings of playing at Kansas and against a team from a major conference that may share a hunger to succeed. They need to forget that 11-point spread, because this game looks a little closer than that from this distance.

It looks as if it has the potential to go to the wire.

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