QB, cowboy still carry Rebel pride

The telephone rang a few Saturday evenings ago, and Glenn Carano answered. A cowboy was calling, his old wide receiver Mike Haverty.

An overtime field-goal attempt had just been blocked in Tempe, Ariz., and the last drop of blood had drained from Dennis Erickson’s face, and the guy who used to catch all the passes for UNLV in the mid-1970s had to hoot and holler with the one who threw them.

The Rebels had earned one of the program’s finest wins.

Their program. The quarterback and the cowboy.

“Mike called me up right after the game and said, ‘Can you believe we upset Arizona State?’ ” said Carano, 52. “It really made us former Rebels proud. We want to be proud.

“You know, one reason we went to UNLV is we believed that was the program capable of bringing big-time football to the state of Nevada. We had it going for a bit, and then things got sidetracked. It looks like things might be headed back in the right direction. It makes us real proud they have climbed back on the saddle. Now, they get Reno. It’s a very special game.”

Rivalries are like breeds of dogs. They come in all shapes and sizes. Some have more bite than others. Some extract the interest of only those in the house. Some of the more engaging ones extract that of the entire neighborhood. Some have the tradition of a Chihuahua who pushes soft tacos, and the whole nation knows about it.

UNLV playing UNR tonight for the right to paint a cannon red or blue probably ranks somewhere beyond the kitchen door but not past the driveway to anyone outside state lines, though to Carano and Haverty, well, it should always be welcomed with lights on a marquee.

After all, they helped start all this.

One (Carano) came from up north, a member of one of Reno’s longtime gaming families and still an integral part of that community; the other (Haverty) came from down the street, a prep standout who helped lead Clark High to a state championship.

They were on the 1973 UNLV team that arrived in Reno 8-2, unprepared and full of itself, only to be sent home a 19-3 loser. Lesson learned. The two didn’t lose to the Wolf Pack again, Carano being just one of two UNLV quarterbacks (along with Jason Thomas) to go 3-0 against UNR as a starter.

“That’s when the rivalry really began, when it started to have some prominence about it,” Haverty said. “That’s when it became a big deal. Those were the years that helped develop the rivalry of today.”

Haverty lives and works outside Fort Collins, Colo., and expects to attend UNLV’s game at Colorado State on Oct. 4. He said it would be the first time in years he will walk into a stadium at CSU or Wyoming or Air Force and not feel a bit uncomfortable wearing his Rebels’ T-shirt and hat. Continuous losing has this way of deflating even the most devoted supporter. It’s the one thing most responsible for destroying passion.

UNLV football remains a long journey from being seriously discussed on the national stage that Carano and Haverty once dreamed about placing it upon, but what a 3-1 start and wins against Arizona State and Iowa State has done is position the Rebels under a more positive glare. Beating an in-state rival to whom you have lost three straight is the next obvious step in the progression. It won’t be easy.

Carano and Haverty played at UNLV when UNR coach Chris Ault was an assistant with the Rebels and know well his obsessive nature when it comes to winning this game.

Two things about Ault: He remains one of the nation’s best coaches no one talks about, and the guy (even for him) comes off a bit nutty in his pursuit of victories against UNLV.

“I can guarantee you every Nevada player will know how much this game means and what it is about,” said Carano, who in his three wins as a starter against the Wolf Pack threw for five touchdowns and ran for four. “To be honest, I always felt the rivalry meant more to Nevada fans. But while those of us who left (Reno) to attend UNLV might have been looked on as turncoats by some up here, once we got there, we were Rebels all the way.

“There isn’t a Sunday that goes by that I’m not checking how UNLV did. We all still carry the Rebel pride, and if they can beat Coach Ault fair and square, well, gosh dangit, it just has to happen.”

Maybe his telephone will ring again late tonight. I get the feeling, should UNLV remain steady on that saddle, the quarterback and cowboy have a lot more hootin’ and hollerin’ left in them.

Ed Graney can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.