UNLV not thinking about revenge before ‘huge, important game’

Don’t call it a revenge game.

UNLV football coach Barry Odom dismissed that phrase Monday when asked about Friday’s road game against Kansas.

Yes, it’s a rematch of the Rebels’ 49-36 loss to the Jayhawks in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix on Dec. 26. But UNLV isn’t looking at the game as a way to settle old scores. It’s viewing it as an opportunity to show how far the program has come.

“It’s a huge, important game to us — whether we played them last year or not,” Odom said. “We know that we’ve got to prepare the right way. We’re playing a really good team out of the Big 12 conference on a national stage.”

Odom said last year’s game wasn’t much help in terms of preparation. Both teams have changed.

Senior offensive lineman Jalen St. John agrees.

“Last year is last year. This year is this year,” he said. “They could have gotten better over the offseason. We got better over the offseason. So at this point, it’s just time to go play.”

Some of UNLV’s focus on the present stems from the goals the team has set. The Rebels (2-0) want to remain undefeated until the end of the season and earn a spot in the newly expanded College Football Playoff.

Also, with the news that four Mountain West schools are leaving the conference to join the Pac-12, UNLV needs to put itself in the best position possible moving forward. A road win against a Big 12 team would certainly bring more attention to the program.

Momentum appears to be on the Rebels’ side. They set a school record by recording 695 yards on offense in their 72-14 win over Utah Tech on Saturday. UNLV, which also defeated Houston 27-7 in its season opener Aug. 31, earned seven votes in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Those results still haven’t satisfied Odom.

“I think we’re not where we want to be yet in terms of winning,” Odom said. “Winning a championship, that’s the expectation and the standard of this program. And that’s never, ever going to change.”

The Jayhawks will need to show they can match that intensity Friday.

Kansas running back Devin Neal said the team failed to match the “fire” Illinois had in a 23-17 loss to the Illini on Saturday. The game was one example of how the Jayhawks program has “drastically changed,” coach Lance Leipold said. Teams are looking to make a statement against Kansas, which finished No. 23 in the final rankings last season.

“People are going to prepare and feel that they can get a win against us,” Leipold said. “It’s going to be more than just the usual.”

UNLV certainly believes it can win Friday. Senior center Jack Hasz remembers the Guaranteed Rate Bowl and believes that experience can benefit the Rebels. Kansas returns a lot of its starting defense from last season.

“I’m really fortunate that we got the opportunity to play them last year, just to kind of get familiar with them,” Hasz said.

The Rebels, for their part, strengthened their secondary this offseason after allowing 130 points their final three games, all losses. The group has looked much improved through two games. Friday will be its largest test yet.

A previous version of this story misstated the day UNLV’s game against Kansas is. The game is Friday. It also misstated the Rebels’ last opponent. They played Utah Tech on Saturday.

Contact Callie Lawson-Freeman at clawsonfreeman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.