Sam Boyd memory: Fremont Cannon damaged after UNLV beats UNR

Note: This is the sixth installment of a weekly feature, except for UNLV’s two bye weeks, that will look at a notable Rebels game at Sam Boyd Stadium. UNLV moves to Allegiant Stadium next year.

UNR entered the 2000 game against UNLV having won the five previous meetings and 10 of 11.

But the Rebels turned the tables, beginning what became a five-game winning streak with a convincing 38-7 victory.

Fans rushed the field, and UNLV players immediately began spraying the Fremont Cannon red, turning it from the blue that represents the Wolf Pack.

“This is what you play all year for,” UNLV strong safety Randy Black said on the field after the game. “This is the game.”

Rebels fans tore down one of the goalposts and paraded it around the field. They also picked up and dropped the cannon, causing about $1,500 in damages and stirring the ire of UNR coach Chris Ault.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know if they understand the tradition,” Ault told the Reno Gazette-Journal. “You don’t break the trophy. You show it off.”

Black agreed, later saying on a Las Vegas radio show that the cannon should be “handled with respect,” marking one of the few times in this rivalry that UNLV and UNR have agreed on anything.

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Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.