Columnist Dean Juipe: Rebels face biggest game of the season

THE BIG game has arrived.

There will be pressure.

And tension, for sure.

Maybe even intrigue.

And suspense.

Even bad teams have important games and here's one for a UNLV football team that is 0-4: Nevada-Reno is here Saturday.

UNR isn't too impressive either, by the sound of things up North. The Wolf Pack is 1-2, having lost to Oregon State and Colorado State before getting past winless Fresno State last week. A disappointing 5-6 a year ago, the Wolves may not be any better this time around.

In the Sagarin Football Ratings this week, UNLV is a lowly No. 125. UNR is a borderline No. 78.

Offshore sports books have the Wolves favored by at least 10.

Recent history indicates the Rebels usually find a way to lose to UNR, having dropped three straight and eight of the last nine. Be it a blowout or a nail biter, there has been little in the way of variety when it comes to the outcome of this annual in-state rivalry.

The significance of this year's game is underwhelming in one regard, as neither team is apt to capture America's fancy or play for a significant title. Yet for each team, this game is crucial.

It's downright vital for the Rebels, faced as they are with the possibility of going 0-11.

A UNLV victory and it's at least a reprieve, a reason for optimism in the midst of what has been and what may well continue to be a difficult season. At 1-4 the Rebels could surmise they're capable of winning three or four other games, what with SMU, Tulsa, Rice and TCU still ahead.

But a loss and it's potentially catastrophic, a football equivalent of Pascagoula, Miss., after a brush with Hurricane Georges. The Rebels would be dispirited if not broken; chagrined if not devastated.

And this team can't afford to lose its spark or its will to live, as right now its collective attitude is its greatest strength. Despite the opportunity to do so, the Rebels haven't quit and have shown a certain resiliency in the face of repetitive and one-sided losses to hard-to-contain teams.

They've persevered.

But that perseverance will be difficult to sustain should they lose to Reno. A loss and the bottom may drop out, especially with Brigham Young and Wyoming following on the immediate schedule.

In that scenario, UNLV would be 0-7 and beyond salvaging the season. The task of winning a single game could become downright imposing.

A victory Saturday at Boyd Stadium, however, and the pressure is off both the team and its under-fire head coach, Jeff Horton. A victory and the Rebels can relax, or at least avoid the embarrassment of being labeled one of the country's worst Division I teams.

In addition, a win and Horton almost certainly retains his job for another season.

So it's a very significant game on any number of counts.

Including this one, which has its own undercurrent among UNLV boosters: If the Rebels can't handle UNR, a smaller school with far fewer assets, what does that say about the status of the present program or the likely direction of its future?

That's pressure. That's reason enough to believe this is the most important game the Rebels will play this season.

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