Quick start just never happened for 0-8 Rebels

It was the best of times and worst of times for UNLV freshman wide receiver Sam Brandon on Saturday afternoon at the Cotton Bowl.

For 59 minutes and 38 seconds, it looked like the 6-3, 200-pound Brandon was going to be the hero of UNLV's first victory in over a year. It was Brandon's 11-yard touchdown grab of a Chad Reed pass in the third quarter, his first touchdown reception as a collegian, that gave UNLV a 7-3 lead.

But after SMU rallied for a 10-7 victory on a 21-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Chris Sanders to Jacoby Rhinehart with 22 seconds left, Brandon couldn't help but think about a key drop he had on the Rebels' first offensive play of the game.

Here's what happened.

On the opening kickoff, UNLV's Dana Barshun startled the Mustangs by lofting a soft line drive onside kick toward the left sideline. Rebel cornerback Andre Hilliard caught the ball on the fly about 12 yards downfield and UNLV took over at its own 49.

Going straight for the jugular, UNLV coach Jeff Horton pulled out a trick play.

Reed threw a backward pass across the field to wide receiver Damon Williams, a former top-notch prep quarterback at Culver City (Calif.) High School. Williams, displaying an arm perhaps better than any Rebel quarterback, lofted a pass about 50 yards down the right sideline to Brandon, who had a step on his defender.

But instead of taking a quick 7-0 UNLV lead, Brandon dropped the pass.

Two plays later, the Rebels were forced to punt and came away empty-handed despite another brilliant special teams play.

"There's nothing to say," Brandon said when asked about his drop. "I just didn't hold on to it. I didn't look it in and I couldn't hold on to it. It was a good pass.

"People say you made up for it with the touchdown. But if I made that play early in the game, it's a different score when I make that other touchdown."

Still, it was a breakout game for the former Riverside (Calif.) North High star.

Coming into Saturday's game, Brandon had caught just four passes in his UNLV career. Against SMU, he had a team-high five receptions for 26 yards and a touchdown.

Ironically, Brandon beat all-WAC cornerback Rhinehart for the touchdown.

Rhinehart, inserted late in the game as an extra receiver for the Mustangs, would atone for that miscue with the first touchdown catch of his career, beating Rebel freshman corner Kevin Thomas on a slant pass with 22 seconds remaining.

"(Rhinehart) was kind of jamming me," Brandon said of his touchdown catch. "I kind of ran it too fast because (Reed) has to do a fake and he throws it up there. I kind of slowed up off the start, gave (Rhinehart) a little move, got behind him and (Reed) put it right on the money. I just went up and caught it."

It was the play of the game. ... until Rhinehart's 21-yard touchdown grab.

"It rips your heart, it rips it to shreds," Brandon said of UNLV's 13th straight loss and 25th in a row on the road.

"We worked so hard. But we can't lose faith. We're going to go back out next week, work hard and hopefully come back with a victory."

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