UNLV moving past UNR, looking toward New Mexico

The losing is definitely disappointing.

But it hasn’t deterred UNLV’s football team from fighting for its first win since the 2019 season finale.

“Guys are bought in. Locked in,” said senior linebacker Austin Ajiake. “It’s tough losing these games, but people come the next day ready to work with a good attitude. It’s always a good atmosphere. It’s easy to be down on each other right now, but there’s none of that. Which is great.”

The Rebels are moving past the 51-20 shellacking they endured Friday at the hands of rival UNR in Reno and are refocused on ending their 14-game losing streak. They fell into a 34-0 hole against the Wolf Pack and didn’t find their rhythm until the game had been decided.

UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo said Monday that the emotion of the rivalry may have played a factor in the team’s poor performance.

“The psychology of that, that many of all alluded to in the rivalry and all that stuff that builds it up, there’s a delicate balance there and there’s an inherent danger to putting all your emotional and psychological power into that and not focused in on what to get done to get the win,” he said.

“When you start getting emotionally and pyshcologically overpowered, you lose sight of all the little fundamental intricacies that put you in position to win those games,” he added. “That’s the balance we’re learning there.”

Arroyo said “99 percent” of the roster attended a voluntary weightlifting session Saturday, indicating that the Rebels (0-8, 0-4 Mountain West) have the requisite competitive spirit to win.

He also pointed to a couple positives from Friday. Like like the goal-line stand in the second quarter and the offense’s play in the third and fourth quarters.

Perhaps those events can spark a better performance Saturday at New Mexico, to which UNLV is a two-point underdog — signaling perceived parity between the two programs.

“These guys want to win. There’s no doubt about it,” Arroyo said. “It’s really important to these guys. I think the win more than anything is just going to give them the understanding — we finished the game, we did what wins, we had this chance at doing this. It’s a belief. That type of confidence has to show up at some point.

“I’m really hoping we can get that win. But it doesn’t happen by accident,” Arroyo added. “They’re dialed into that. … These guys want to get better.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.