End of streak just another strike on Rebels' season

He was the last man out of the Cougar Stadium locker room following UNLV's 11th straight loss, 38-14, to BYU Saturday afternoon in Provo.

Almost an hour after the final whistle, senior wide receiver Damon Williams slowly walked out into the chilly late afternoon air, traded in his equipment bag for a fried chicken dinner, and talked about the end of "The Streak."

For the first time in his 40 games as a Rebel, the 6-4, 225-pound Williams failed to catch a pass, snapping his school-record 39-game string.

"It's over with," Williams said quietly while first waving away a reporter.

Then, a few moments later, he stopped and talked briefly about what it meant not only to lose another game at UNLV, but also to see his prized record come to an end.

"I wasn't aware until after the game (the record had been snapped)," Williams said. "But I knew I hadn't caught a ball, though."

With senior Chad Reed completing just 5 of 20 passes for a school-record low of 21 yards in his first college start, there weren't very many chances for Williams to extend the streak.

"I can't really pinpoint what it was," Williams said. "The quarterback really didn't have a lot of time to throw. Every time I turned around, he was running around."

Indeed, Reed, who was sacked five times by BYU's blitzing defense, constantly was harassed by Cougar linebackers Brad Martin and Rob Morris. Many of his throws were rushed before Rebel receivers had a chance to finish their patterns.

"We just never got clicking," Williams said.

"It always hurts when you don't catch a ball. I never felt like I was ever really involved. But I've got five more games left. I've got to keep my head up so we can finish the season out. It's frustrating when things don't go right. But when you start pouting and putting your head down, that's when things go really bad."

Ironically, one of the Cougar defensive backs who helped snap Williams' streak was starting strong safety Chris Ellison, a former prep teammate of Williams' at Culver City (Calif.) High School.

"If he had told me that, I would have let him have one catch," Ellison said. "But he didn't tell me."

Bizarre TD

UNLV sophomore defensive tackle Justin Conway scored one of the Rebels' touchdowns Saturday on one of the more unusual plays you will ever see in a college football game.

Late in the second quarter with BYU holding a 14-7 lead, Cougar quarterback Drew Miller was hammered by Rebel linebacker Greg Gales while attempting to pass. Conway picks it up from there.

"I saw a pass deflected," Conway said. "I saw No. 62 (Cougar right guard Matt Johnson) catch it. My immediate thought was to tackle (Johnson) because I thought he was going to run with it."

Instead, Johnson, his teammates and most of the UNLV players stood around for a full five seconds before Conway realized that a whistle hadn't been blown and the play was still live. He knocked the ball out of Johnson's hands, then picked it up and sprinted 24 yards for the game-tying touchdown.

"I was just thinking, 'I hope they don't blow the whistle, I hope I get seven for it,'" Conway said.

"It was fun. It's about the most glory that I'll get, so I was happy."

Not as happy as Johnson was after the Cougars rallied for an easy win.

"Looking back, I can laugh at it and not take it too seriously," Johnson said. "But I'm just really relieved that it didn't cost us the game. I'd feel real bad about that."

archive