Air Force carves up UNLV defense

COLORADO SPRINGS --- The Matt Ray Era of UNLV football picked up where the Jason Vaughan Era left off on Saturday at Falcon Stadium here.

With another lopsided Mountain West Conference loss.

Showing their problems run much deeper than just finding a starting adequate quarterback, the UNLV Rebels lost their third straight game and sixth in their last seven, 35-16, before a sun-baked crowd of 44,187 at Falcon Stadium.

There were a few bright spots for the Rebels (3-6, 1-4), however. Ray for one.

Despite making his college debut on the road against the nation's 11th-ranked scoring defense, Ray showed good poise and scrambling ability as Air Force (6-3, 2-3) did its best to rattle the 19-year-old from Quincy, Calif., with a variety of blitzes. Ray completed 10 of 18 passes for 187 yards, no intereceptions and one touchdown.

And junior tailback Jeremi Rudolph, making his first appearance since suffering a groin injury on Oct. 23 against BYU, gained 75 yards on just eight carries despite obviously still being hampered by his injury. He didn't play in the second half when he began suffering from leg cramps.

But UNLV's defense, which was confident it could handle Air Force's vaunted option attack because it had an extra week of practice to prepare for it, got carved up for 504 yards in total offense, including 418 yards rushing.

"Air Force is a marvel of coaching," UNLV coach John Robinson said. "They execute things so well and they just keep coming at you."

Still, Robinson was happy with what he saw from a Rebel offense that at times featured six freshmen on it including Ray, who just turned 19 last month. "I thought Matt Ray did very well," Robinson said. "I thought he showed great poise out there."

"He did a helluva job," seconded Rudolph. "He kept his composure out there the whole game. He played like a veteran. For his first time out there and playing against that defense, you couldn't have asked for more from him." Ray was far from satisfied, however.

"Obviously, I wanted to win," he said. "Losing kind of leaves a sour taste in my mouth."

The Falcons, behind the running of Scotty McKay (74 yards on 7 carries) and backup quarterback Mike Thiessen (20 carries for 94 yards), jumped out to a 21-3 halftime lead.

McKay capped a 91-yard, 11-play drive with a 40-yard touchdown run up the right sideline to put the Falcons up, 7-0, with 1:45 left in the first quarter.

Thiessen, entering for starter Cale Bonds, took a hard-hit from a Rebel defender but still managed to make the pitch to the open McKay and who sprinted untouched up the sidelines.

UNLV cut the lead to 7-3 in the second quarter when senior Tim O'Reilly connected on a 37-yard field goal. It was the first three-pointer of the year for Rebels. O'Reilly was 0-for-3 coming into the game.

But Air Force came back with two more long scoring drives. The first covered 80 yards in 9 plays and was capped by a one-yard scoring plunge off left tackle by fullback Nathan Beard with 5:27 left in the half. Jason Whiting added the PAT to give the Falcons a 14-3 lead.

The Falcons then proved that a well-oiled option team doesn't need a lot of time to drive the field, going 80 yards in 12 plays in just 90 seconds. Becker scored on a one-yard off right tackle with 33 seconds left in the half to make it 21-3.

Air Force extended its lead to 35-3 in the third quarter with touchdowns by tight end Ken Chandler (29-yard pass from Thiessen) and running back Leotis Palmer (28-yard run).

Then Ray threw the first touchdown pass of his career, a 20-yarder to junior Nate Turner in the right flat. Turner side-stepped several Falcon defenders before tip-toeing into the end zone. O'Reilly's PAT cut the lead to 35-10.

UNLV, which finished 325 yards in total offense and never turned the ball over in the game, cut the deficit to 35-16 early in the fourth quarter on a 10-yard touchdown run by James Wofford.

"I think at the end there we showed what this offense is capable of doing," Ray said. "If we play four quarters next week like we did the last quarter today on offense, there's no question in my mind we'll have a good chance to win against San Diego State."

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