Freshmen give reasons for hope

A moment of pause here for good thoughts sent to Robert Herron, the Wyoming football player taken from Sam Boyd Stadium in an ambulance Saturday night with 1:49 remaining in what would be a loss to UNLV.

Perspective. It always has a way of sneaking up on you. Nothing is more eerie than a stadium fallen silent by such a moment.

Coach Bobby Hauck has talked recruiting a lot the past month, specifically that his UNLV staff has to do a ton of it and with great success for the Rebels to emerge from an annual practice of losing.

They should pursue more guys like Tim Cornett.

Yeah. That would be good.

The Rebels won their second game of a forgettable season, and you knew this because whoever shoots off fireworks after each UNLV score couldn’t spend the entire night sleeping this time.

It was the Fourth of July in November. Smoke-filled field and everything. Crazy things happen around here when UNLV wins. Colorful fireworks. Streamers flying into the sky. Fire alarms going off in the press box.

It’s a regular Mardi Gras.

UNLV beat Wyoming 42-16 before an announced homecoming crowd of 16,111, a tussle between Mountain West Conference bottom-feeders in that both entered having lost five straight and had combined for a total of three wins before kickoff.

It was going to take some doing, but finally a team was unearthed that has struggled stopping the run more than UNLV.

The Cowboys rank 117th nationally in the category as opposed to 116th for the Rebels, who allowed a 72-yard touchdown run on the game’s first play but then limited Wyoming to 61 yards rushing thereafter.

UNLV, on the other hand, found success on the ground.

Cornett was among those Hauck signed in his first recruiting class, the standard late haul for a coach who takes over a program three days before Christmas.

A running back, Cornett is listed at 6 feet, 195 pounds. Good size. Very good speed.

He’s also from Texas, which never is a bad thing when talking where to find capable football players. If his last name were Riggins, then the Rebels really would have discovered a gem.

But while it hasn’t been a memorable season for anyone carrying the ball at UNLV, Cornett still has managed a team-best 380 yards rushing. He scored three rushing touchdowns Saturday, from 7 yards, 3 yards and 1 yard. He also caught a 12-yard scoring pass.

He finished with 70 yards on 21 carries and just looks the part. UNLV must find itself a quarterback who immediately can compete for the starting spot next season, but there are far worse fates than beginning an offense with a player like Cornett to line up behind whoever calls signals.

There are far worse options than throwing to a wide receiver like Marcus Sullivan, a freshman from Cheyenne High whose one catch Saturday went for a 41-yard score and who ranks 13th nationally in kickoff returns.

You watch Cornett and Sullivan and other young players have an impact as they did Saturday and think better days might be ahead.

UNLV lacks sufficient talent to compete weekly in most areas and is well behind the better Mountain West teams in critical ones, but one thing a 2-8 record has allowed Hauck to do is perhaps believe that the puzzle is not completely barren.

A key piece or two already might be in place.

They are positive signs in an otherwise dismal season of losses and depleted depth. The Rebels have three games remaining in Hauck’s first season and needed to find a way to get a win Saturday.

It might have been the final one.

UNLV now has a short week before hosting the nation’s third-ranked rushing offense in Air Force on Thursday night. The Falcons gain an average of 309 yards on the ground; the Rebels allow an average in the 220 range.

It’s the kind of math that should keep Hauck and his defensive assistants up late all week, but if there is a glimmer of light in the big picture of future seasons, it might be a few freshmen who led the way Saturday.

Recruit more kids like Cornett and Sullivan.

Yeah. That would be really good.

And if they can sign that Tim Riggins kid, well, watch out.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 2 to 4 p.m. Monday and Thursday on “Monsters of the Midday,” Fox Sports Radio 920 AM.