Defense betrays Rebels

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Wide receiver Casey Flair was adamant, saying three times, “There’s not going to be a tailspin.”

He’s going to have to make that case on the football field when UNLV returns to action in two weeks, but that argument is a tough sell for those used to seeing the Rebels fall apart late in seasons.

UNLV is on the brink of another meltdown, failing to stop Colorado State, especially when it counted most.

The Rams handed UNLV a crushing defeat Saturday when tailback Gartrell Johnson went off right tackle and cut back for a 10-yard touchdown run with nine seconds left. His 2-point conversion and a subsequent score on the ensuing kickoff capped the Rebels’ 41-28 loss at Hughes Stadium.

After an encouraging start, UNLV (3-3, 0-2 Mountain West Conference) has lost back-to-back games and put its once-promising bowl chances in jeopardy. Coach Mike Sanford didn’t want to hear such talk, saying there is “a lot more football to play,” but the Rebels probably need to win four of their final six games to ensure a spot.

That won’t be easy with a schedule that includes Air Force, Brigham Young and Texas Christian.

UNLV also takes no momentum into the season’s second half, though the Rebels would have been worse off if overtime victories over Arizona State and Iowa State had gone the other way.

Maybe it caught up against Colorado State (3-2, 1-0). The Rams, following UNR’s 620-yard output a week earlier against the Rebels, virtually moved the ball at will in totaling 510 yards.

Johnson rushed for 191 yards and three touchdowns on 33 carries. Quarterback Billy Farris, who was benched a week ago at California, completed 15 of 21 passes for 294 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Rashaun Greer, a Mojave High School graduate, caught eight passes for 211 yards and a TD.

“At times, we play really, really well,” said Rebels defensive tackle Jacob Hales, a Las Vegas High graduate. “And at times, we just aren’t concentrating at all, and we’re not focusing.”

UNLV’s offense was stymied for much of the game, getting shut out in the second and third quarters.

“We kind of missed out on a half and missed a lot of opportunities, and they took advantage of it,” UNLV tailback Frank Summers said.

The offense awakened late in the third quarter, launching 68- and 94-yard scoring drives. Summers rushed for 109 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, picking up 86 yards on nine rushes in the second half.

Quarterback Omar Clayton, who was 14 of 26 for 173 yards and two touchdowns, put the Rebels ahead 28-27 with 6:05 left by completing a 21-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Jerriman Robinson.

But Clayton knew better than to celebrate prematurely.

“There was still plenty of time on the clock,” he said.

Too much time.

“You get yourself in that position, and you’ve got to finish it off,” Sanford said.

UNLV didn’t, of course, its defense failing to make a key play to stop Colorado State’s march to the end zone.

And now the season has a familiar — and unsettling — feel to it. The Rebels have not had a winning season since 2000.

The history is for UNLV to become colder than the weather as temperatures begins to drop.

“This team is not like years past,” Flair insisted.

UNLV will have to prove it on the field. Many fans aren’t buying the argument.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914.