Rebels find Ray of hope in loss

UNLV departed Colorado Springs on Saturday afternoon with another lopsided loss, 38-16, to Air Force.

But perhaps more importantly, the Rebels (3-6, 1-4) also left with a quarterback.

True freshman Matt Ray, despite making his college debut on the road against the nation's 11th-ranked scoring defense, showed poise and scrambling ability as the Falcons (6-3, 2-3) did their best to rattle the 19-year-old with a variety of blitzes.

But Ray more than held his own. He completed 10 of 18 passes for 187 yards with no interceptions and one touchdown, despite getting sacked five times and hurried about a dozen more.

Ray led the Rebels on scoring drives of 72 and 89 yards in the final 16 minutes. He didn't appear to get rattled when hit by a heavy pass rush and several times managed to hit open receivers just as he was about to get hammered by a Falcon defender.

In a word, Ray displayed something that's been sorely lacking at the position at times the last couple of years -- guts.

"He did a helluva job," running back Jeremi Rudolph said.

"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."

"He did a great job," seconded senior wide receiver Len Ware. "He was out there going 'This is great' and was having fun. I think that kind of rubbed off on everybody. He did a great job of keeping his composure and hanging in the pocket."

"I thought Matt Ray played very well," UNLV coach John Robinson said. "I thought he showed great poise out there. It's going to be an interesting competition in the spring between Matt, Jason Thomas and Jason Vaughan for the starting quarterback job next year."

Vaughan, UNLV's starter in its first eight games of the season, made the trip to Colorado but didn't dress because of side effects from a concussion suffered on Oct. 23 against BYU.

"I'm still having headaches and I'm still a little foggy," Vaughan said. "It's been a scary couple of weeks for me."

Robinson said Sunday night that Ray would start Saturday's game against San Diego State at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Despite all the post-game accolades, Ray was not in much of a celebrating mood.

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

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

* GETTING THEIR KICKS: Senior placekicker Tim O'Reilly kicked a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter on Saturday, the first of the year for the Rebels.

The fifth-year senior from Bishop Gorman High School had missed his previous three tries.

It had been exactly 364 days and 31 quarters of football since O'Reilly and the Rebels hit their last field goal, a 40-yarder in the second quarter of a 38-16 loss at Rice on Nov. 14, 1998.

"We broke that (streak)," Robinson said. "It wasn't pretty, but we got it."

* REBEL NOTES: Robinson said that redshirt freshman left guard Allen Williams, who drew praise for his play on Saturday, would undergo surgery this week to have a broken navicular bone removed from his right wrist. "The surgery was scheduled a few weeks ago," Robinson said. "It's one of those injuries that if you don't get it done now, it could cause further problems later." Robinson was unsure whether Williams would be able to take part in contact drills in spring practice. Sophomores Shane Wagers and Pete Tramontanas will replace Williams at left guard. ... Tramontanas, who began the year at tight end, will also see time at center for the second straight week.

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