Las Vegas Sun

By Ryan Greene

Thu, Nov 13, 2008 (2 a.m.)

New week, same old situation.

The UNLV football team, which last week in defeating New Mexico 27-20 kept its bowl dreams alive while ending those of its foe, has a chance to pave more of the path to the postseason tonight against Wyoming. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.

The Rebels (4-6 overall, 1-5 Mountain West) are coming off their most complete performance since a 23-20 overtime win at Arizona State back on Sept. 13, while the Cowboys (4-6, 1-5) are working with a head of steam that came seemingly out of nowhere.

Just a couple of weeks ago, Joe Glenn's ballclub appeared to be dead in the water at 2-6 with an 0-5 mark in MWC play. Then came a 35-10 whipping of San Diego State, and last weekend's 13-7 victory at Tennessee.

"It kind of changed their whole deal. They got their defense going, they didn't turn the ball over the last two weeks that I know of, and played very well," UNLV coach Mike Sanford said. "They're playing good right now. Our ears were perked up before the Tennessee game, and that perked us up a little more."

Wyoming ranks last in the Mountain West this season in turnover margin, having given up possession a league-worst 30 times. But during its current two-game mini-streak, the Cowboys have only committed one turnover.

"They got turnovers," Sanford said, pointing to Wyoming's two huge interceptions in Knoxville, which led to both of its touchdowns. "They just played hard on defense. On offense, they didn't turn the ball over. That's been the difference with them between that stretch where they lost five straight to the last two games."

Coincidentally, the last two games have seen redshirt freshman Chris Stutzriem start at quarterback. While he hasn't blown the doors off opposing defenses, he hasn't thrown a pick in either contest. The Cowboys are on their third starting quarterback of the season, and have the league's second-lowest ranked passing offense, averaging just 104.9 yards per game with five touchdowns through the air on the year.

He's also been aided by the league's top rusher, Devin Moore with 1,134 yards, its eighth-leading rusher, Wynel Seldon with 483 yards, and an opportunistic defense headed up by middle linebacker Ward Dobbs.

But all of this is hardly enough to intimidate a UNLV team that enters its lone mid-week game of the regular season with more than enough reason to believe it can win out, get to 6-6 and be in prime position for its first bowl berth since 2000.

"We control our own destiny," said senior receiver Casey Flair, who along with several other Rebels will play his final game at Sam Boyd Stadium this week. "If we don't win, we don't go, and that's the bottom line. If we win, we have the opportunity to go, and that's all we can ask for. Right now, we've just got to worry about beating Wyoming and everything else will hopefully take care of itself."

Theoretically, the Rebels would need some help from others in the league to secure one of the MWC's guaranteed four bowl bids. The most likely landing spot for a 6-6 UNLV team would be the New Mexico Bowl. But for that to happen, other than the Rebels winning out, a Colorado State loss and Utah perfect regular season record would probably be needed.

In order to take one more step toward that potential scenario, though, the Rebels are trying to carry two things in particular over from last Saturday into this week's game.

First would be momentum-changing plays, which UNLV's coaches and players were quick to rave about in the afterglow of the New Mexico win. Two that stood out were a second-quarter Quinton Pointer interception that was returned deep into Lobo territory with the Rebels trailing 14-3. It was the defense's first interception in 28 quarters.

The other was a Deante Purvis blocked punt early in the fourth quarter, which was scooped by Rodelin Anthony for the night's final touchdown.

"The only difference was this week we actually capitalized on them," Flair added, pointing back to similar opportunities in road losses at Utah and Colorado State earlier this season.

The other intangible, though, involves what's been UNLV's most stable position all season. That's at quarterback, where redshirt freshman Mike Clausen will start for the second straight week for Omar Clayton, who is still recovering from a torn MCL suffered in the Nov. 1 loss to TCU.

Clausen took awhile to get settled against New Mexico, but completed eight of his final 11 pass attempts, going 17-of-34 on the night for 203 yards and a pair of scores.

"Way more comfortable," he said going into start No. 2. "Having that one start under my belt and having it go the way it did, I'm definitely way more confident than last week."

Last week he was able to get comfortable while facing a defense that seemed well aware of the fact that it was his first start. The Lobos sent pressure at him until Clausen was able to scare them off some with completions. He expects much of the same this week, but for a different reason.

"Their offense has been struggling, so I guess they have a defensive approach that they're going to have to score to win the games," he said. "You saw last week that they had two picks. It was enough to beat Tennessee, so we have to make sure we take care of the ball."

Final injury notes

Also joining Clayton in street clothes this week will be freshman receiver Phillip Payne and senior defensive back Lorenzo Bursey Jr. Both suffered concussions last week against New Mexico. For Payne, it was his second concussion in three weeks.

Payne is UNLV's third-leading receiver this season, with 29 catches for 436 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns. Rodelin Anthony was solid in his place against the Lobos, with three grabs for 55 yards and a touchdown.

Bursey is fifth on the team in tackles this season with 54 stops.

As for sophomore linebacker Ronnie Paulo, who aggravated a nagging lower leg injury against the Lobos, he is expected to be a go. Paulo's 69 tackles rank second on the team.

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