Game Preview: UNLV Rebels Looking For First Victory Versus Washington State

UNLV is doing what UNLV does. Disappoint. The Rebels showed alot of promise in their opener of the season against Minnesota, holding Minnesota to only 13 points in regulation before losing 30-27 in triple overtime to the Gophers. In that game, Tim Cornett had 23 carries for over 125 yards and the young Nick Sherry showed some promise with some nice throws. Unfortunately, that all went down the drain last week as UNLV blew a 14-0 halftime lead to lose to FCS foe Northern Arizona on a field goal with 12 seconds left in the game to have a final score of 17-14.

Now the Rebels have to try and put that behind them as they get ready to play their third straight home game against pass-happy Washington State. Last season, the Cougars demoralized UNLV by over 50 points, something that will definitely have an effect on the mentality of this UNLV team, whether that be a bad mentality or a good mentality.

Washington State, on the other hand, was able to defeat their FCS opponent last week, as they took down Eastern Washington 24-20 after getting demolished in Provo, Utah by BYU, 30-6. While Washington State did beat Eastern Washington last week, they were destroyed in yardage, as they were outgained by over 140 yards. Their defense allowed over 450 total yards to FCS foe Eastwern Washington, and they most likely should have lost. While they are 1-1, Washington State truly hasn't played well. The Cougars are 120th in rushing yards, with 51 yards per game and are right at the average team in passing yards, as they are 62nd with 238 yards a game.

The bottom line is the offense isn't up to Mike Leach's standards yet, and the defense isn't playing too well either. The defense has given up over 400 yards in both of their first games and the offense has been thoroughly outgained. If the UNLV team that played well against Minnesota in Week 1 shows up, then the Rebels might be able to put up a fight against Washington State and possibly even pull off the upset.

But then again, that's the exact same mentality I had last season when the Rebels traveled up to Pullman, when the Rebels got blasted.