Football Drops Home Opener
By ARNOLD KNIGHTLY
Published: Monday, September 20, 2004
The Rebel Yell (ryunlv.com)
After getting overpowered their first two games by top 20 teams, UNLV was out finessed Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium by Air Force 27-10.
Falcons' quarterback Shaun Carney connected with five different receivers to complete 12 of 14 passes for 139 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground eight different Falcons got touches, combing for 278 yards on 71 carries. Air Force also committed no turnovers and only two penalties.
"They're really good at ball control," senior linebacker Adam Seward said. "That's how they win games. Fisher DeBerry (Air Force head coach) does a great job every year. His boys are disciplined."
Air Force fullback Dan Shaffer had 98 yards on 21 carries, while freshman Shaun Carney added 64 yards on 21 carries. Adam Cole added 58 yards on 11 carries for the grind-it-out offense of the Falcons.
"They just keep pounding you, they're tough guys," Seward added. "Most teams don't like to get just three yards every time, four yards every time, but they like it."
For the third straight game, the offense was unable to sustain drives, leaving the Rebels defensive unit on the field for extended periods of time. UNLV only had two sustained drives of over 10 plays, but also had seven possessions of four plays or less.
"We're not producing much on offense," coach Robinson said. "The offensive guys are trying just as hard as the defensive guys, but there is just something in the way of that success."
The Falcons' offense controlled the ball just over 40 minutes of the game (games are 60 minutes). In the first two games, Tennessee had the ball over 34 minutes, while Wisconsin controlled the ball for 36, enabling their offenses to wear down the UNLV defense.
Senior running back Dominique Dorsey gained only 54 yards on 14 carries, while sophomore quarterback Shane Steichen, starting in place of the injured Kurt Nantkes, completed 12 of 24 passes for 160 yards and one touchdown. He also threw two interceptions.
In the first quarter, Sergio Aguayo missed a 42-yard field goal with 5:24 left that would have given UNLV an early lead. The drive followed a fourth and one stop by the Rebels defense when senior lineman Brian Nicholas stopped Cole at the Falcons' 29.
Air Force took a 3-0 lead on a Michael Greenaway 30-yard field goal early in the second quarter. On the ensuing possession, quarterback Steichen threw his first interception of the game at the Air Force 41 while trying to connect with Earvin Johnson. The Falcons then marched the ball 57 yards on 12 plays to go up 10-0.
On the next possession, the Rebels bounced back marching 80 yards on 11 plays for their longest drive of the game. When Steichen hit Johnson with a 12-yard touchdown pass with 40 seconds left before half time, it appeared UNLV would go into the locker room down by only three, even though Air Force had dominated time of possession and had out gained the Rebels by nearly a 2-1 margin.
On the kickoff, Air Force returned the ball out to their 47-yard line. With 35 seconds left on the clock, Cole rushed for 17 yards down to the 36. Following a 1-yard gain and a time out, Carney completed a 25-yard pass to Justin Handley and then a 10-yard touchdown strike to Alec Messerall with six seconds left. The five play, 53-yard drive in 29 seconds left the crowd of 23,823 silent.
UNLV started the second half with possession, but a Steichen second intercepted pass of the game less than a minute in gave the Falcons the ball at the Rebels' 22. After a Falcons' first down on the 3-yard line, the UNLV defense made four consecutive stops at the goal line to get the ball back on downs. The Rebels then moved the ball 77 yards on 11 plays before Aguayo's 37-yard field goal cut the lead to 17-10.
Air Force took the ensuing drive 68 yards on 10 plays for another touchdown and led 24-10 headed into the fourth quarter. On the extra point attempt, UNLV was called for being offside, followed by an illegal procedure penalty on the Falcons, the first penalty calls of the game coming with 59 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Falcons' Greenaway hit a 39-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
"This is very obviously a disappointing evening," coach Robinson said. "I told our team that as disappointing as it was, I'm not disappointed in them and what they've brought to this effort. We are just not getting any of the results that we should be getting out of our effort, and I think that's my fault."
In the locker room following the game, some of the players disagreed with Robinson's assessment of self-blame for the 0-3 start.
"Nothing's his fault," senior offensive lineman Joe Critchfield said. "That's the head coaches job to say 'blame it on him.' Nothing's his fault. He's a great coach."
Adam Seward agreed."You can't put all the blame on coach Robinson," Seward said. "We're the ones out there playing. Overall, we just need to play better, we're just not playing well right now."
The loss is the third straight for the Rebels against Air Force, dropping their overall record against the Falcons to 3-7. The loss also drops the program to an all-time record of 201-202-4, the first time UNLV football has been under .500 in its history.
On a positive note, Seward became the leading tackler all-time in the Mountain West Conference. With his 18 tackles, he now has 344 with eight games to play, maybe nine if the Rebels can salvage the season and grab a bowl bid. "Obviously, a bowl bid is a long shot," Seward admitted. "We'll probably have to go 7-4. It's definitely possible, we just need to take one game at a time."
Also, Earvin Johnson's seven catches for 99 yards moves him into fifth place on the Mountain West Conference career list with 2,021 yards.
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