BYU LOSS HURTS FOR SEVERAL REASONS

The thrashing Texas Christian put on previously unbeaten Brigham Young on Thursday The thrashing Texas Christian put on previously unbeaten Brigham Young on Thursday night may have delighted UNLV fans who can’t bring themselves to root for the success of the Cougars under any circumstance, but it was probably a bad thing for the Rebels overall.

First, a Mountain West Conference team in the BCS would bring a great deal of money to both the conference and the school.

Second, it helps in recruiting and prestige.

But those are all down-the-road concepts. Think, instead, of what it does for next week’s game.

UNLV travels to Provo, Utah, on Oct. 25 to take on a Cougars team that will no doubt be angry and looking to take out that hostility on whichever team dares cross its path.

Consider what happened after BYU took a lot of heat for a controversial victory over Washington on Sept. 6.

The Cougars returned home and thrashed their next two opponents, UCLA and Wyoming, by a combined 103-0. And that was after a win.

There’s no telling how fired up they will be next Saturday, but UNLV had better be prepared for an emotional team.

Now, only Utah has a real chance to qualify for the BCS.

The Utes host BYU on Nov. 22.

POST-BYE BLUES

Midseason bye weeks give teams a chance to regroup and typically allow coaches an extra week to assemble a game plan.

For that reason, many teams have success the week after a bye.

That has not been the case for Mike Sanford and his coaching staff at UNLV.

UNLV is 0-3 after bye weeks during Sanford’s tenure.

That stat is not completely surprising, considering the lack of success the team has had overall. But the numbers get much worse when you break them down.

The Rebels have been outscored 124-47 in those three games.

Again, bad. But it gets even worse.

In the first halves of those three games, UNLV has given up 65 points and scored just one touchdown.

Seven points. In three first halves.

One would think that whatever schemes were being worked on during the course of the extra week off would come to fruition right out of the gates of the next game. Not so.

All three games were played in the friendly confines of Sam Boyd Stadium, as will Saturday night’s homecoming matchup with Air Force.