DON McDERMOTT / PVT Jeff Rowe, the Nevada quarterback, hands off to Brandon Fragger, in the Wolf Pack's 31-3 victory against UNLV Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium. DON McDERMOTT / PVT Rocky Hinds, the UNLV quarterback, is under pressure from defensive lineman Jay Dixon. Advertisement

LAS VEGAS -- The first thing I thought about, after watching the University of Nevada-Reno football team trounce UNLV was, how much the forlorn Rebels needed the combative spirit and aggressive disposition displayed by Greg Morrell, Jason Crocco and Nathan Wong.

Who are they, you ask.

They were on the UNLV boxing team that defeated the Wolf Pack in the Gans-Nelson Reenactment bouts in Goldfield. They were tough and resourceful, two attributes the football-playing Rebels were sorely missing Saturday night when they got pounded 31-3 by the Wolf Pack.

Nevada-Reno was a team bigger, faster, smarter and more talented than UNLV. And add, UNLV's Mike Sanford took a major hit from Hall-of-Famer Chris Ault in the talent category. Ault, one of college coaching's all-time winners, obviously knows how to prepare a football team for such a big game.

"This game, against UNLV, is something we point at as a reaffirmation of where we want our team to be in this state," said Ault as he stood outside the Wolf Pack dressing room on a comfortably warm night at Sam Boyd Stadium. The sullen, often-combatant, ticked-off Rebel fans had already departed. In fact, most had strolled up the aisles, out of the stadium and into a nasty traffic jam before the final gun sounded.

"I am so proud of this team; they stepped up," said Ault. In stark contrast, Sanford blamed too many fumbles and interceptions "at the wrong time and the wrong place" for the demise of the Rebels. As if there were a "right time" or "right place" for such mistakes.

"I think we did a pretty fair job defensively; we just gave them a short field to work with," said Sanford, apparently discounting a 79-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Lowe to Mike McCoy in the first period, and a 66-yard TD run by true freshman tailback Brandon Fragger in the second half. On both plays, the Rebels didn't come close to being in position to stop Rowe -- one of the underrated quarterbacks in mid-level NCAA Division I football -- or Fragger, who started because senior Robert Hubbard was rehabbing from an injury.

Sanford did state the obvious: "Our offense has a long way to go," he said. "And all the blame can't be put on Rocky Hinds (who is supposed to be the Rebels' savior at quarterback)."

Yes, it is true the UNLV offensive line has plenty of problems (like blocking and protecting Hinds from being racked up by bully-boy linebackers and 300-pound defensive lineman who would be nasty riding 2,000-pound bulls). But, I thought, it's a good thing Hinds is how Rocky spells this last name. If it were Heinz, he would be missing most of the 57 varieties.

I would comment about the brawl in the final two minutes, but I will allude to how this story began. Those boxers have character; the football players involved couldn't spell the word.

Incidentally, one of the last college football games I witnessed in person, and not on ESPN, CBS, NBC, TNT or the mtn (a new cable channel), was in November 2000, when I watched my favorite team, the Ohio State Buckeyes, get dismantled by that team up North (shhh!... Michigan) in Columbus.

Seven months later, I was in Pahrump, and it wasn't because that loss was so discouraging. It was time to retire, and where better than to The Great American Desert and not far from Sin City? What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas ... even a bad college football team like the Rebels. The last game I did see was in November 2001. Nevada lost to Fresno State (with No. 1 draft pick David Carr), but the trip was to get an opportunity to see Tonopah High product Chance Krestschmer, who would lead NCAA Division I-A in rushing that season.

With UNLV, there was a "color-ful" relationship -- both Ohio State and the Rebels wear the Scarlet and Gray ... sort of. On the Buckeyes, the uniform is like armor. The Rebels wear it like a cheap suit.

A couple weeks ago, I watched UNLV lose to Hawaii 42-13 and I wondered, who called the plays for the Rebels, on both sides of the ball? The Rainbows ripped UNLV from Maui to the Strip of Las Vegas.

And unless the Rebels find the magic touch ... er, learn how to block, tackle, run pass patterns, throw the football, run to the right holes ... their decline will continue Saturday at Colorado State.

As for the Wolf Pack? ... as long as there is an Ault in command and a Rowe calling the signals, the Wolf Pack will be creating even more havoc for opponents.

And it won't be another five years before I go to another game. The Wolf Pack in a bowl game anywhere close (other than Hawaii) will be a fun trip. The jury is out on watching the Rebels in person again. People deserve more for their entertainment dollar. Oh, that's right. I didn't pay to get in...