Though linebacker Starr Fuimaono and quarterback Colin Kaepernick were on the same recruiting trip to UNR in 2006, their situations were vastly different.
UNLV Football
UNLV has lost three fumbles, and its defense has only two takeaways. The Rebels’ minus-6 turnover margin is 108th in the nation.
At least they play an 0-3 UNR team this week — at 1 p.m. Saturday at Reno’s Mackay Stadium — that ranks 119th, or second to last, with a minus-9 turnover margin.
On its face, Mike Sanford limiting media access to his UNLV football team this week means as much as one raindrop in a monsoon. Absolutely nothing.
When did New Mexico become the conference’s Oakland Raiders, and what in the name of Al Davis is going on in Albuquerque?
Today’s Q&A is with junior linebacker Ronnie Paulo, a Western High School graduate who was born in Africa. He and the Rebels play rival UNR at 1 p.m. Saturday in Reno.
LARAMIE, Wyo. — UNLV’s defense figured to have trouble stopping Hawaii quarterback Greg Alexander and the run-and-shoot offense a week ago.
LARAMIE, Wyo. — UNLV tailback Channing Trotter sensed at the hotel that some teammates were too relaxed.
LARAMIE, Wyo. — Ten months later, UNLV coach Mike Sanford still shakes his head over the loss at San Diego State that ended the Rebels’ 2008 season.
UNLV’s Mike Sanford understands better than most coaches the difficulty of what Wyoming’s Dave Christensen is trying to accomplish by radically changing the Cowboys’ offense in his first season. … Upon Sanford’s arrival for the 2005 season, he threw out the Rebels’ traditional two-back set in favor of the spread offense. The transition was messy; in Sanford’s first season UNLV averaged 18.8 points per game and went 2-9. … Similarly, Christensen has abandoned a power running game to implement the spread at Wyoming, which will host the Rebels at noon Saturday.
When recruiting a quarterback for the spread offense, it usually makes sense to look for someone with experience in that system.
UNLV’s football team hasn’t won a Mountain West Conference road game in four years under Mike Sanford. None. Zilch. Zero.
Today’s Q&A is with linebacker Starr Fuimaono, who returns this weekend to the scene of his season-ending shoulder injury two years ago. UNLV visits Wyoming at noon PST Saturday.
When UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton was sacked with 47 seconds left Saturday, it looked like a replay of the Rebels’ game at Brigham Young last season.