FALCONS TAKE FIRST QUARTER LEAD ON REBELS

Later in the quarter, Newell and quarterback Tim Jefferson each converted first downs on fourth-down runs to extend a drive that still continues as the second quarter begins.

UNLV had just 29 yards of offense in the opening period, though the Rebels did take the ball inside the Air Force 35-yard line before settling for a punt.

Air Force attempted just one pass in the first, but racked up 129 yards on the ground.

EARLY BREAK

Omar Clayton threw a deep pass down the left side of the field into double coverage on UNLV’s first offensive possession. It was overthrown by about 15 yards.

Casey Flair, realizing the ball had no chance to catch the ball, shoved one of the defenders and then dove to the ground.

The plan worked.

An official threw a flag and called defensive pass interference.

The Rebels were unable to take advantage of the play and eventually punted despite driving inside the Air Force 35.

REASON NO. 348 SANFORD IS IN TROUBLE

UNLV coach Mike Sanford made yet another horrendous coaching decision during the first half.

With his team lined up to take a 52-yard field goal, Sanford hurriedly called a timeout with just one second left on the play clock.

That’s fine. A 57-yard field goal would have been much more difficult if the Rebels had taken the delay of game penalty.

That’s when things went wrong.

Sanford instead sent out the punting unit. He had them take an intentional delay of game penalty.

What?!

Why not just allow the play clock to run out and save the timeout?

That becomes a 100 percent useless timeout.

It seems like a small thing, but there have been far too many clock management problems this year and they all add up.

OLD TIMERS

A group of about 15 old men took the field with the UNLV captains for the coin toss before the game.

The men were members of the 1968 UNLV football team, the first squad in the program’s history.

Doing the math, the players would mostly be in their late 50s or early 60s.

Most of them were out of shape and either balding or gray, but that team went 8-1 and outscored its opponents 266-103.

So most of them could also probably tackle better than the current Rebels have the last few weeks.

PERSONAL BEST

Air Force fullback Todd Newell’s 52-yard touchdown run was the longest carry of his career.

His previous-best was an 11-yard run.

On the play, Ronnie Paulo had Newell’s leg wrapped up at the line of scrimmage. Nobody came to finish the play, however, and Newell broke free and ran right down the middle of the field.

EARLY DEFENSIVE CHANGES
 
The Rebels made a few changes to the defensive lineup, as Mike Sanford had promised.

Wiselet Rouzard, Lorenzo Bursey Jr. and Bishop Gorman alum Beau Orth were all inserted in the starting lineup.