Columnist Steve Guiremand: Rebel-Badger game win-win situation for some

STEVE GUIREMAND is a Las Vegas Sun sportswriter. His college football column appears each Friday.

Tom Weisner and a few hundred of his closest friends flew back to Madison, Wis., on a charter jet Thursday morning to take in this weekend's UNLV-Wisconsin football game.

You might say Weisner, who owns six popular Las Vegas restuarant/casinos including Big Dogs Cafe and Casino, Holy Cow Brewery and Lucky Dogs, will be in a can't lose situation watching Saturday's game.

Weisner is a member of the Nevada Board of Regents and an active booster of UNLV sports. He was sitting at the same table as UNLV head football coach Jeff Horton's wife, Teri, at Tuesday afternoon's UNLV Football Foundation luncheon at Weisner's Big Dogs Cafe.

Weisner also is a former football star at the University of Wisconsin and a member of that school's Advisory Athletic Board. He was a captain on the Badgers' 1960 Rose Bowl squad and scored Wisconsin's only touchdown in a 44-8 loss to Washington.

So just who will Weisner be rooting for Saturday?

"I'll be rooting for a great football game," he said diplomatically. "If it's a good football game, either way I win."

Oddsmakers apparently don't think it will be. The Badgers and Ron Dayne are favored by 38 points.

Not so Sunny days

In Sonny Lubick, Colorado State arguably has one of the nation's top ten head football coaches, a man who has turned the Rams football program from a laughingstock to the best in the WAC over the last five years.

Rarely does a big-time coaching job open up these days without Lubick's name being mentioned. Yet Lubick, 61, has remained in Fort Collins ... so far.

You've got to wonder if that might change after this season, especially after reading some of Lubick's comments following the Rams' 26-14 victory at Nevada-Reno last weekend.

Lubick made it a point to rip CSU officials at his Monday press conference for his team's delay-riddled trip to Reno.

"If you want to write anything you can write about the trip and how Mickey Mouse that was ... we're still Colorado State," Lubick said. "It was uncalled for. That's Colorado State's mentality. That's the way it's always been and that's the way it always will be, I guess.

"I admire our players. We had our kids here at noon. We got there at 8 p.m. and missed a meal. Coming home was the same thing. We got home two hours later than we should have (around midnight Saturday). The good things about our players is they haven't been around. They don't know what the other teams have, the so-called top other 75 teams in the country."

In an effort to save money, the Rams took the lowest-bid charter. Because the plane was outweighted, it had to refuel in Salt Lake City going both directions.

According to the Denver Post, the players had one sandwich going to Reno during their eight hours of travel from Fort Collins. There also wasn't enough food to go around at the team hotel. And the postgame snack was described as inedible by coaches and players.

The folks at Colorado State better be careful or they may lose more than their appetites.

Once around the WAC

AIR FORCE: The Falcons entered Thursday night's Mountain Division showdown with Colorado State leading the nation with a plus-3.5 turnover margin.

BYU: Remember when the Cougars were the poster boys for a wide-open passing attack? Well, BYU has garnered 300 yards passing just once in its last 11 games heading into Saturday's game at Washington.

COLORADO STATE: After three road games and another on a neutral field (Mile High Stadium vs. Colorado), the Rams finally will play a game at Hughes Stadium next Saturday when UNLV comes calling.

FRESNO STATE: The Bulldogs are getting respect from somebody. Despite a narrow 29-21 loss at Colorado last week in its opener, Fresno State got one vote in the USA Today/Coaches Poll, marking the first time since 1993 that the Bulldogs have appeared in either poll.

HAWAII: True freshman Shawn Withy-Allen (6-4, 195) of Kailua, Oahu, may see some action at quarterback for the Rainbows Saturday at Utah. "He is the future for Hawaii at quarterback," offensive coordinator Don Lindsey said. "We're going to play him right away. I don't know when or how much time he will get, but Shawn proved himself time and time again in practice last week."

UNLV: Somewhat overlooked in last Saturday's 52-10 loss to Air Force was a sparkling 17-tackle performance by redshirt freshman middle linebacker James Sunia.

NEW MEXICO: It didn't take long for Rocky Long to work his defensive magic in Albuquerque. The Lobos (2-0) lead the nation in rush defense after holding Utah State to minus 19 yards rushing last week. Utah State's star running back Demario Brown gained just 13 yards on 18 carries.

RICE: The Owls controlled the ball an amazing 42:24 in 21-19 loss at Purdue last week, the longest in any game since Ken Hatfield became coach five years ago. Starting quarterback Jeremy Bates is out for the rest of the season with torn knee ligaments.

SAN DIEGO STATE: The Aztecs (0-2), who have a much-needed bye this week, lost starting quarterback Spencer Brinton for 4 to 6 weeks after he sprained ligaments in his thumb in a loss at USC. Sophomore Brian Russell, a transfer from Penn, takes over.

SAN JOSE STATE: Highly-touted transfer quarterback Bobby Sabelhous has left school to seek treament for "depression."

SMU: True freshman Josh McCown, who came off the bench to throw for 252 yards and two touchdowns in last week's 31-21 loss to Tulane, will make his first college start Saturday in Little Rock against Arkansas. SMU (0-2) has a three-game win streak going against the Hogs.

TCU: Senior offensive lineman Greg Davis played for the first time in a year in last week's tough 10-9 loss to Oklahoma. Davis became eligible last week following a one-year NCAA suspension for testing positive for steriods.

UTEP: Junior running back Paul Smith (6-1, 235) finally seems to be living up to his potential. Smith, who bench presses 450 pounds and runs a 4.6 40-yard dash, had 155 yards on 19 carries and scored a touchdown in Miners' 33-26 loss to Oregon.

TULSA: Tulsa native Bill Goldberg, the popular undefeated heavyweight champion of World Championship Wrestling, attended the Golden Hurricanes' 35-20 upset of Oklahoma State last Saturday.

UTAH: A dozen Utes, including injured starting quarterback Darnell Arceneaux (broken index finger) and standout linebacker Kautai Oleavo, are Hawaii natives who hope Utah can extend the Rainbows' mainland losing streak to 20 games on Saturday in Salt Lake City.

WYOMING: Don't let last week's 17-9 win over 1-AA Montana State fool you. The Cowboys, pointing toward Saturday's game at 12th-ranked Georgia, played very close to the vest, playing straight up on defense without showing any blitzes and running 70 percent of the time out of a two-back set.

Once around the nation

ACC: Senior wide receiver Torry Holt, the star of North Carolina State's upset win over Florida State last weekend, has personally outscored the 'Noles, 42-28, in the last seven quarters between the two teams.

BIG TEN: Iowa coach Hayden Fry said he forgives Iowa State quarterback Todd Bandhauer for saying, "Hayden Fry, we kicked your guys' ass" following the Cyclones' (28-point underdogs) stunning 27-9 upset of the Hawkeyes last week.

BIG 12: Missouri, which travels to No. 1 Ohio State Saturday, is facing the Associated Press' preseason No. 1 team for the 14th time in school history. The Tigers are just 1-12 against preseason No. 1s with the only win coming in 1976, 34-24, over Nebraska. However, Tigers coach Larry Smith, an Ohio native, has a history of pulling off big upsets on the road dating to his days at Arizona.

BIG EAST: Virginia Tech (2-0), which faces Miami (2-0) in a key conference matchup Saturday, is one of just two teams on the 'Canes schedule that Miami coach Butch Davis has failed to beat in three tries. The other is Florida State.

BIG WEST: Idaho, coming off a 17-12 upset of San Jose State, has one of the shortest "road" trips in college football this weekend. The Vandals (2-0) travel a whole eight miles to Martin Stadium to face defending Pac-10 champ Washington State in the Battle of the Palouse.

CONFERENCE USA: Army's Nate Hunterton, a 6-0, 216-pound linebacker who prepped at Bishop Gorman, was named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week after piling up 10 tackles in his first college start, a 14-13 loss to Miami of Ohio. Hunterton, who had eight tackles all of last season, was filling in for injured starter Adisa King. The Cadets host Cincinnati Saturday in the first league contest in the school's fabled history, snapping a streak of 1,011 nonconference games.

MAC: Saturday finally could be a big day in DeKalb, Ill. Northern Illinois, which owns the longest losing streak in Division I --- 20 games --- could end it when it hosts Division 1-AA Eastern Illinois. NIU has won 25 of 35 games against Eastern Illinois and hasn't lost to the Panthers since 1956.

PAC-10: Surprising Oregon State (2-0) hasn't beaten USC (2-0) in the Los Angeles Coliseum since 1960, or in 24 games anywhere, since the famed Giant Killers and Bill "Earthquake" Enyart upset O.J. Simpson and the eventual national champion Trojans 3-0 in muddy Corvallis in 1967. That's the longest ongoing streak in the Pac-10.

SEC: Kentucky (2-0) is ranked No. 1 in the nation in total offense (624.5 yards) and pass offense (478.5 yards) and No. 2 in scoring offense (60.0 ppg). The Wildcats host Indiana (1-0) Saturday and will be trying to score at least 50 points in their third straight game for the first time in school history. Kentucky beat the Hoosiers 49-7 last year.

WAC: Commissioner Karl Benson, reported as one of five finalists for the University of Denver's athletic director job, has withdrawn his name.

INDEPENDENTS: The University of Central Florida and talented quarterback Daunte Culpepper, considered a possible first-round NFL pick, will make its national television debut Saturday at Purdue (ESPN). Culpepper has accounted for 13 of his team's 15 touchdowns.

archive