Monday, Sept. 8, 2003 | 9:31 a.m.
It was Sunday Night At The Movies for the UNLV Rebel football team at the Lied Athletic Complex. And what John Robinson's squad saw was more horrifying than Freddy vs. Jason, The Texas Chainshaw Massacre and the legendary King Kong vs. Godzilla all rolled into one.
Nope, the Rebels had to sit through the game film of their 46-24 loss to Kansas on Saturday night.
"I wouldn't give it a title," UNLV linebacker Adam Seward said of the film which featured a month's worth of missed tackles, not to mention way too many blown defensive assignments. "I'd just bury it somewhere and try and forget about it."
Actually, a bad title not be, "Night of the Living Dead."
The best thing that could be said about UNLV's performance against the Jayhawks (1-1) was the fact it was the only game of the year scheduled not to be televised this season.
How bad was it? Consider:
In other words, picture last year's 38-21 Toledo debacle times two.
"We just didn't play the way we know we can," Seward, who finished with 11 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, said.
In fact, UNLV may have set a team record for missed tackles in the contest.
"It was correctable stuff, mainly just fundamentals," Seward said. "We just didn't tackle. We missed something like 25 of 30 tackles, some unreal number."
Let the record show that, according to Rebels defensive coordinator Mike Bradeson, UNLV officially missed 26 tackles.
"An average game we miss maybe 10 (tackles)," Seward said. "Fifteen is a lot. To have as many as we did against Kansas is just unbelievable.
"When we gathered to watch that film (Sunday night) we were all disgusted. We didn't even finish the whole tape. We were just embarrassed."
Although the Rebels' defensive shortcomings were the most glaring, especially coming on the heels of an impressive debut in a season-opening 28-18 victory against Toledo, there was more than enough blame to go around.
Special teams, a major problem in an up-and-down 2002 campaign, once again were pitiful, especially in punt and kickoff coverage where the players who actually stayed in their lanes usually more than made up for it by missing a tackle. During the Rebels' light 45-minute workout on Sunday night, the major focus was on special teams coverage.
Offensively, the Rebels fell apart in the second half when starting tailback Larry Croom went to the bench with what is being called a strained thigh muscle. As bad as the UNLV defense was, it looked as though the Rebels might have found a way to outscore the Jayhawks until quarterback Kurt Nantkes tossed a game-changing interception, underthrowing wide-open Earvin Johnson near the end zone midway through the third quarter that would have put UNLV ahead, 24-19.
Kansas then responded with its 97-yard, 10-play drive that was capped by a 12-yard pass from quarterback Bill Whittemore to split end Brandon Rideau that upped the Jayhawks' lead to nine, 26-17.
Less than four minutes later, linebacker Gabe Toomey returned another Nantkes' interception 29 yards for a touchdown that increased the Jayhawks lead to 39-17.
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