Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV Football:

Sanchez aims high for attendance as Rebels aim for third straight win

QB Palandech will make his first career start while UNLV’s defense tries to game plan for do-everything San Jose State tailback Ervin

Rebels Paint the Cannon Red

Steve Marcus

UNLV football coach Tony Sanchez speaks during a cannon-painting ceremony Monday, Oct. 5, 2015, at UNLV. The Rebels recovered the Fremont Cannon after defeating the Wolfpack 23-17 on Saturday in Reno.

The Rebel Room

Free Brewer

Buoyed by the Fremont Cannon victory, which he correctly predicted, Las Vegas Sun sports editor Ray Brewer makes all kinds of proclamations about the rest of UNLV's football season and what's in store for the basketball team while reporters Case Keefer and Taylor Bern attempt in vein to talk him down.

Rebels Paint the Cannon Red

UNLV football players paint the Fremont Cannon red during a ceremony Monday, Oct. 5, 2015, at UNLV. The Rebels recovered the Fremont Cannon after defeating the Wolfpack 23-17 on Saturday in Reno. Launch slideshow »

The Fremont Cannon is due back from the university paint center Friday and it’s expected to return to Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday after a 10-month vacation up north.

The Rebels (2-3, 1-0) host San Jose State (2-3, 1-1) at 6:05 p.m. Saturday looking to go 2-0 in Mountain West play for the second time in three years. Or the second time in 20 years. They’re both correct; it just depends on your preferred narrative.

UNLV is going to have to do it with sophomore quarterback Kurt Palandech, whom coach Tony Sanchez would make his starting debut in place of injured senior Blake Decker (left shoulder).

Sanchez said he and the team are confident Palandech will get the job done, and Sanchez is also confident that the fans who watched him hurdle the sideline ads at Mackay Stadium to celebrate last week’s victory will turn out in droves for this team …

• “When we run out against San Jose, we need to have 30,000 people in that stadium rocking.”

Two years ago the Rebels won the cannon for the first time since 2004 and returned home with five victories — one victory away from the fourth bowl bid in program history — for a homecoming game on a beautiful afternoon. The announced crowd was 15,837.

Sanchez understandably wants people to buy in the same way that he has, but if the number even approaches 25,000 it will be a victory in and of itself. Even with people looking around and realizing that in this year’s Mountain West the Rebels have a real chance at approaching .500, history suggests that Sanchez won’t get the crowd he wants.

Some bowl projections are giving him the success he wants though. ESPN put the Rebels in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, and while Sanchez doesn’t care about predictions for this year’s team, it doesn’t hurt future rosters to have UNLV mentioned …

• “It’s important because of recruiting. When people are talking about you and it’s a positive light and it’s not just the high school guy who got a college job; it’s about performance and it’s about success and it’s about winning and bringing the cannon home, those things are about my boys and that’s the most important thing.”

Infrastructure developments like recruiting and the on-campus practice facility take a back seat once games get going, but those topics have popped up again in light of the rivalry win. Echoing Athletics Director Tina Kunzer-Murphy’s comments from Monday, Sanchez said this was an important time to ramp up the fundraising efforts that have been ongoing since he got the job.

Being able to enjoy days like Monday’s cannon ceremony with the band and cheerleaders and smiles all around certainly doesn’t hurt, and that atmosphere was something that players like senior tight end Jake Phillips will look back on after college …

• “That’s something that you’re going to remember for a lifetime.”

But savoring those fond memories will have to wait till the offseason, because Phillips has been at the forefront of players talking about moving on to San Jose State as soon as Sunday evening rolled around. Only Saturday will truly tell whether the Rebels feel a celebratory hangover, but junior linebacker Tau Lotulelei said turning the page from UNR hasn’t been any different than moving past any other game this season …

• “You can celebrate that win and then just move on and focus on the next team. And that’s all it is.”

It probably helps that UNLV is hosting the best running back in the league, senior Tyler Ervin, and if the defense isn’t ready it could be the next victim of the guy who ranks second in the country in all-purpose yardage per game (227.6), one spot ahead of LSU highlight machine Leonard Fournette. Against Division I-A teams, Ervin has more touchdowns (eight) than the entire UNLV offense.

Ervin has rushed for 421 yards in two league games this year, and the quarterback could be a threat to run, too, as San Jose State has gone back to senior Joe Gray. Those two had big games last year vs. UNLV, with Ervin rushing for 133 yards on only 11 carries and Gray completing 20-of-30 for 265 yards.

It will most likely be Gray on Saturday, but the Spartans have also used junior Kenny Potter in three games and it’s possible he could get some snaps. Either way, Sanchez said the defense would prepare pretty much the same, and on offense with his own quarterback situation to figure out Sanchez said they wouldn’t play it safe with Palandech making his first career start …

• “We’re going to ask him to attack. … We’ll probably throw the football more in this game than we have in the last couple.”

Palandech has had success rolling out of the pocket and since the UCLA game he’s 15-of-22 for 105 yards, but unless he forces the defense to respect his arm, they will crowd the box and UNLV’s rushing attack could be limited to something similar to the 2.4 yards per carry it averaged under Palandech against UNR. While Decker will be in uniform, he’s expected to be the third-string emergency option, so if Palandech gets hurt or can’t get the job done Sanchez could pull the redshirt on true freshman Dalton Sneed.

Sanchez doesn’t expect that to happen and he would obviously prefer not to do it, but the Rebels’ bigger picture right now is about taking advantage of their opportunities and winning by any means necessary.

Something Sanchez would prefer to do, he said in another sales pitch to get people to the game, is enjoy some tailgating and refreshments on what’s supposed to be a beautiful afternoon at Sam Boyd …

• “I don’t know why you wouldn’t come out a couple hours before the game, bring your grill, bring your cooler, have some soda pops and come on in to cheer on the Rebels. It’s a great thing to be a part of, so we really want to create that atmosphere around here. I’m just sad I can’t go join.”

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

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