REBELS TRY TO GET BACK ON TRACK AGAINST AIR FORCE

The UNLV football team returns to action tonight off a bye week, celebrating homecoming with a matchup against Air Force at Sam Boyd Stadium.

The Rebels find themselves in jeopardy of wasting an impressive 3-1 start if they can’t get things going back in a positive direction.

Before the bye week, UNLV had lost back-to-back games to UNR and Colorado State. The defense has taken most of the blame for the setbacks.

Coach Mike Sanford has promised major changes on the defensive unit.

It remains to be seen what those plans are, but this is the game they were supposed to take place.

Tonight’s game is almost a must-win. The Rebels have Brigham Young and Texas Christian next, so a loss tonight would mean the very real possibility of entering the stretch of three winnable games at the end of the schedule on a five-game losing streak.

Just before kickoff, it looks like if the Rebels do get a victory, plenty of empty seats will be here to see it.

FUTURE OPPONENTS

Either New Mexico has adapted to life without injured starting quarterback Donovan Porterie, or San Diego State is really bad.

Perhaps both are true, but the latter is pretty evident.

The Lobos thrashed the Aztecs 70-7 in Albuquerque today.

New Mexico plays in Las Vegas on Nov. 8, while the Rebels visit the Aztecs on Nov. 22.

Those are the only two future opponents of UNLV in action today. Texas Christian blew out Brigham Young on Thursday night and Wyoming is idle this week.

QUESTIONABLE INVESTMENT

Many companies are feeling the pinch of the rough economy.

Every dollar must be spent wisely, especially when it comes to advertising.

During the pregame festivities, a blimp flew over Sam Boyd Stadium featuring a rotating video screen with advertisements.

It probably would be a good idea to do something like that at games people actually go to, but there were about 200 people in the stadium at the time of the flyovers.

There were also some fans outside tailgating, but how many of them would take the time to look up at the blimp?

There was also another problem with the creative marketing campaign.

Most of the ads were not readable from inside the stadium. It doesn’t make much sense to sink advertising money into a screen that is difficult to read.

This is an idea that is going to require further research before being implemented again at Sam Boyd Stadium.