Take 5: The payday’s assured but UNLV must earn the win at Fresno State

By Taylor Bern

Friday, Oct. 16, 2015 | 2 a.m.

The Rebels still see themselves as contenders for the West Division title, and if that’s the case then tonight's tilt at Fresno State is one they must win.

UNLV (2-4, 1-1) was a couple of plays from sitting atop the division with a chance to move to 3-0. Instead it must take advantage of this opportunity as a road favorite and knock off the struggling Bulldogs (1-5, 0-3), who would need a miracle to make it three straight West Division titles.

The game kicks off tonight at 7:32 p.m. in Bulldog Stadium and will air on ESPN2. With a bye week and an Oct. 31 home date against Boise State awaiting them after this, the Rebels need this one to stay in contention.

“We’re in a good situation but you’ve got to go out and get a win,” said coach Tony Sanchez.

Breaking into TV

The Rebels and Bulldogs will each receive $300,000 for Friday night’s game, and a big Rebels performance could lead to another payday on Halloween. However, even if that happens Fresno State would make just as much off the game as UNLV.

Boise State made sure to get its money’s worth in 2013 when it canceled plans to join the Big East to remain financial king of the Mountain West. Part of the Broncos’ deal, which Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson has often said was necessary to keep the league intact, was at least $900,000 each year from three guaranteed national TV games.

In 2013, the first year of the new bonus structure, Boise State ended up hauling in $1.6 million while UNLV and Colorado State got nothing (the average payout was nearly $600,000). Since the Broncos were the only ones with guaranteed games and it was clear that as the most consistent national presence they would be selected for additional spots, the league’s television committee, including UNLV Athletic Director Tina Kunzer-Murphy, in 2014 approved a new distribution model.

“Those of us in the West Division realized after year one we weren’t getting any money, because we weren’t having the advantage of playing Boise State,” Kunzer-Murphy said.

Last year the Rebels didn’t appear in any league-controlled games on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, CBS, NBC or Fox, which originally was the only way to get a piece of the pie. Yet they received $200,000 at the end of the fiscal year because the committee decided that in any bonus-eligible games involving Boise State, the Broncos would receive their half — $500,000 for a weekend game, $300,000 on a weekday — and the other half would go into a pool distributed evenly among the other 10 teams. Hawaii has its own TV deal and is not eligible for the bonuses.

Kunzer-Murphy and the other ADs determined that a guaranteed something was better than risking nothing. Other changes in 2014 included an inconvenience fee that would give programs $50,000 if a non-bonus TV game forced them to kick off after 7 p.m. and $100,000 if a non-bonus TV game forced them to move a Saturday game to a weekday.

All of those are headways into Boise State’s lead, but the Broncos are still well out in front thanks in part to TV deals that run through 2019-20. UNLV will find out Monday where ESPN decides to put its Halloween home game against the Broncos, and if it's on ESPN or ESPN2 that will be $500,000 for Boise State and $50,000 for everyone else.

“It’s difficult to take and to stomach, but … we couldn’t go back in and break the contract,” she said.

Here’s what each school is slated to make through two and a half seasons of the league’s current TV bonus structure, including total appearances on one of the six networks and possible appearances yet this season because of flex games. All figures are approximate:

Team		2013	2014	2015	Total	Appearances

Boise State	$1.6m	$2.1m	$1.1m	$4.8m	12 (3)

Fresno State	$1.3m	$980k	$650k	$2.93m	8

Wyoming		$1m	$980k	$850k	$2.83m	7 (2)

Utah State	$300k	$780k	$650k	$1.73m	6 (2)

San Diego State	$800k	$180k	$350k	$1.33m	3 (1)

San Jose State	$600k	$480k	$50k	$1.13m	3

UNR		$300k	$480k	$350k	$1.13m	3 (2)

Air Force	$300k	$180k	$550k	$1.03m	3 (3)

New Mexico	$300k	$480k	$50k	$830k	2 (2)

UNLV		0	$180k	$350k	$530k	1 (1)

Colorado State	0	$180k	$50k	$230k	1 (1)

Friday Night Lights

It’s a familiar position for Sanchez to be playing a Friday night game on national television. If it were his choice, though, he’d leave that to his younger brother, Bishop Gorman High coach Kenny Sanchez, and the other high school coaches across the country.

“I think Friday night’s high school football,” Sanchez said. “I’d rather not play on Friday nights. I think that’s a sacred deal; I think it’s a special night around the country and those should be reserved for high school football. But I don’t think it’s going to be that way again.”

It’s not. There’s too much money to be made through TV deals, and for many programs that means playing on any day of the week that someone is willing to put them on the tube.

So while he doesn’t like it, Sanchez does recognize the importance of being seen as much as possible.

“Big deal for our guys and big deal for our recruiting,” he said.

Palandech’s Job to Lose?

Sophomore quarterback Kurt Palandech will get his second straight start on Friday, and while senior Blake Decker is healthy enough to be the backup there’s no guarantee that Sanchez would work Decker in the same way that he worked Palandech in for a couple of series when both were healthy.

“Both games we’ve won, Blake hasn’t played a down in the second half,” Sanchez said. “… So Kurt’s played more snaps this season and he’s progressively getting better.”

Sanchez inherited Decker while he picked up Palandech from Laney Junior College, which is where Sanchez began his playing career before moving on to New Mexico State. Palandech started the year as a change of pace quarterback, but for the season neither player has clearly separated himself and it’s impossible to say how exactly how healthy Decker is, though Sanchez put it at about 90 percent.

It’s very possible that with a strong performance against Fresno State, Palandech could keep the job moving forward.

All Hands on Pick

Way back in December, when the ink had barely dried on Sanchez’s contract, he talked about the style his defense would play this season. He wanted to take risks and be aggressive in an effort to create the type of big plays that could shift a game’s momentum and make up for the Rebels’ overall lack of depth.

Somewhat surprisingly — or a major surprise, depending on your perspective — the defense has been the more consistent and productive side of the ball, and it’s due in large part to big plays like the team’s 10 interceptions. That’s the fifth-most in the country and it’s three more than they had all of last season.

More impressively, the Rebels are tied for the nation’s lead with nine different players grabbing those picks. Freshman cornerback Tim Hough is the only Rebel with multiple interceptions, and both came in the victory against Idaho State.

Being aggressive doesn’t always pay off — a blitz on fourth-and-10 didn’t work in a key moment during last week’s loss to San Jose State — but the philosophy has been consistent and the overall positive results have been there.

Programs Passing in the Night

Fresno State isn’t used to this. Not lately, anyways.

The Bulldogs are the only West Division champs in Mountain West history, winning it each of the past two years. Two years ago they won the championship game and last year they were the de facto champ as no one from the division was really deserving.

But while the wheels were shaky last year they’re now close to falling off. After opening the year with a victory against Abilene Christian, the Bulldogs have lost five straight, allowing an average of seven touchdowns per game during that stretch.

Other than the defense, a big part of that has been the injuries and poor play that have forced the Bulldogs to use four different quarterbacks — tonight's starter is redshirt freshman Kilton Anderson — who have combined to complete only 52.2 percent of their passes with 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

When lines for select college games were released this summer, Fresno State was favored in this game by nearly two touchdowns. The swing to UNLV being favored by nearly a touchdown is a sign of how far the Rebels have come in Sanchez’s first season, but it’s also an indication of how far the Bulldogs have fallen as they try to avoid their first three-game home losing streak since 2006 and a second consecutive loss to UNLV after previously winning 10 in a row in the series.

“It’s a big game Friday night for where we are in our program,” Sanchez said.

The same could be said for Fresno State.

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