Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Rebels Football:

Take 5: UNLV’s defense will have hands full with San Jose State’s Ervin

The Rebels (2-3, 1-0) must try to contain the league’s top running back while trying to jump-start their own offense

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Jeff Mulvihill Jr. / instaimage

UNLV’s Kurt Palandech (14) leaps for the pylon for UNLV’s second touchdown of the the Mountain West game between the UNLV Rebels and the UNR Wolfpack at Mackay Stadium in Reno, Nevada.

The Rebel Room

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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.

UNLV returns to Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday with the Fremont Cannon in its possession and a potentially big victory on the line.

The Rebels (2-3, 1-0) host San Jose State (2-3, 1-1) for a 6:05 p.m. kickoff that will stream on the Mountain West Network and Campus Insiders. With a victory UNLV could move into sole possession of first place in the West Division, depending on San Diego State’s trip to Hawaii, and to do it the Rebels are going to have to win with a backup quarterback.

Sophomore Kurt Palandech will make his first career Division I start, according to coach Tony Sanchez, and that’s as good a place as any to start looking at this weekend’s matchup:

1. Palandech will attack

Sanchez said early in the week that Palandech would get the start and they’re not looking for him to just manage the game. UNR loaded the box and cut UNLV’s rushing yards per attempt in half when senior quarterback Blake Decker left in the first half, so over a full game the Rebels need more than just a caretaker at quarterback and Sanchez is confident Palandech will get it done.

“Every time he’s come in he’s done some good things with his feet,” Sanchez said. “We just need to get him going and we need to do some things that will allow him to build some confidence so we can go out there and throw the ball. We’ve struggled throwing the ball as of late. If we’re going to continue to win football games we can’t be so one-dimensional.”

Sanchez said Decker would dress but he’s strictly a third-string, emergency option. If Palandech gets hurt or can’t get it done, Sanchez could move to pull the redshirt on true freshman Dalton Sneed.

Assuming he doesn’t appear in this game, Decker will have missed more than two full games this year. While his current nonthrowing shoulder injury isn’t expected to sideline him for long, Decker has dealt with many various injuries over two years at UNLV and it would behoove the Rebels to have a solid backup plan.

Whether that plan ultimately centers on Palandech or Sneed, Saturday should provide an answer.

2. Catch him if you can

San Jose State’s senior running back started his career doing anything he could to get on the field, including defensive back and special teams.

Ervin dealt with injuries in 2012 and took a medical redshirt in 2013 after getting hurt less than a quarter into the season opener, but since then it’s been opposing defenses hurting. Whether he’s rushing, receiving or returning, the guy listed at 5-foot-10 and 177 pounds has been great at making people miss.

Whether he can sustain this current pace, which would set program records for rushing attempts and yardage, will probably come down to how well he’s able to avoid big hits. According to San Jose State, of the last 10 running backs to rush at least 40 times in a game, as Ervin did in his 300-yard outburst against Fresno State, he’s the lightest.

His durability could end up deciding the West Division race, but teams have to catch him first. Last year against the Rebels, Ervin tallied a then-career high 133 rushing yards on only 11 carries.

Click to enlarge photo

San Jose State's Tyler Ervin, left, runs against UNLV's Najee Johnson (43) during the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014, in San Jose, Calif.

“He’s really fast,” said junior linebacker Tau Lotulelei. “… We have a little taste of how it is.”

3. Crowd noise

What’s Saturday’s attendance going to look like? That’s always a factor for UNLV as the calendar turns into basketball season, but Sanchez brought it to the forefront last weekend minutes after the upset victory at UNR when he called on fans to fill Sam Boyd with 30,000.

Two years ago in a very similar situation — in addition to facing SJSU on a beautiful day off a cannon victory, that UNLV team was playing for bowl eligibility on homecoming — the announced crowd was less than 16,000. There are certain parts of this process that Sanchez understands but is too impatient to wait for, and one of them is more community buy-in on the front end, when it can help the team win games as opposed to watching from home and waiting for them to succeed.

Will Sanchez’s extra energy have an impact on Saturday’s crowd numbers?

4. Win the cannon, win the West

Before it was replaced with the actual Fremont Cannon, that’s what a sign in UNLV’s locker room read. Now that they’ve accomplished the first goal the Rebels’ attention turns to the next one, which isn’t as crazy as it sounded in the preseason.

Only two teams in the West Division, UNLV and San Jose State, have outscored their opponents this season and all six are dealing with either key injuries or major disappointments. Who knows if the league will be this up for grabs again next season, so the Rebels need to do everything they can to take advantage this year.

The only division opponent the Rebels haven’t defeated in the last two seasons is San Jose State, and as unbelievable as it was in the preseason the winner of Saturday’s game could be in the driver’s seat for the league championship game.

5. Last hurdle to clear

The most memorable play from last week’s win was Ryan McAleenan’s interception return. The most memorable celebration, though, goes to Sanchez, who jetted over from postgame handshakes to UNLV’s fan section like he could still run routes for New Mexico State.

While making a beeline to the corner of Mackay Stadium, Sanchez had to decide what to do about the 3D Aquafina sideline advertisement standing in his way. He elected to use his momentum and go for the straight hurdle.

It would have been a great highlight either way and fans might have gotten Sanchez’s message even if he went face-first into the ground.

“I appreciated everyone who came to the game,” Sanchez said. “I just wanted to let them know that.”

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

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