Last Saturday it was the Ole Miss Rebels on the road, and this Saturday it?s the UNLV Rebels at home.
So, don?t mind the Wyoming Cowboys for noticing a few striking similarities this week as they prepared for the Las Vegas Rebel version, which will be in town Saturday for a Mountain West Conference game with the ?Pokes.
Kickoff is set for 1:07 p.m. in a game that will be televised by SportsWest.
Last Saturday, the Cowboys faced a first-year head coach in Ole Miss? Ed Orgeron. This Saturday, it?s another first-year guy in UNLV?s Mike Sanford.
Last week, the Ole Miss Rebels were forced to go with sophomore quarterback Robert Lane, who was making his first career start against the Cowboys after veteran Michael Spurlock had gone down in a game against Vanderbilt the week before with a broken finger on his non-throwing hand.
This week, the UNLV Rebels will give junior college transfer quarterback Jarrod Jackson his first Division I-A start against the Cowboys after seeing veteran Shane Steichen go down last week in a game against Utah State with a broken finger on his non-throwing hand.
?It wasn?t any different this week than it was last week as far as our preparation was concerned,? said Wyoming coach Joe Glenn. ?You don?t concern yourself so much with the individual as you do for the team and their schemes. I don?t imagine they will change much.?
Just how much of an affect the loss of Steichen will have on the Rebels remains to be seen. He did a nice job of running UNLV?s new spread offense in the first four games. Not only did he complete 72 of 132 passes for 800 yards and seven touchdowns, he also rushed for 244 yards on 91 carries for two other scores.
Although Jackson has yet to see any action this season, he does have the credentials. He won a state championship in high school (Lake Oswego, Ore.) and then produced a 21-2 overall record at Grossmont College.
?Obviously, he?s a winner,? Glenn said.
The one thing Glenn and the Cowboys were concerned with last week was Ole? Miss?s speed, and that will once again be the concern this week.
Sanford, who brought the spread offense to UNLV from Utah, has a number of skilled players who can get out and run with the best of them. The list includes a trio of fleet juniors in tailback Erick Jackson, H-back Tremayne Kirkland and wide receiver Donell Wheaton.
All three speedsters have produced some nice numbers so far this season for the Rebels.
Jackson leads the Rebels in rushing with 277 yards on 61 attempts and three touchdowns, while Wheaton and Kirkland rank 1-2 in receiving. Wheaton has 22 catches for 289 yards and three touchdowns and Kirkland has 15 receptions for 150 yards and a score.
While UNLV has enough athletes to cause anyone concern, it?s a couple of the intangibles that are even more worrisome for Glenn and the Cowboys.
One concern is the fact that UNLV could just as easily be 4-0 at this point of the season instead of 1-3. They have lost three tough games by a combined total of 17 points.
?UNLV is a team that is a lot better than their record indicates,? Glenn said. ?They have been playing on the road, and that?s never easy. One of those road games was at New Mexico where they lost by just two points. And we all know how good New Mexico is. They?re right there kicking on the door.?
?It has been a great experience, but it also has been a frustrating experience,? Sanford said of his first head coaching job to date. ?I?ve enjoyed the experience of being a head coach. I feel really good about my staff, I feel very good about the commitment by the administration here at UNLV of having a good football program. It has been frustrating in that we have taken every game down to the wire, yet lost to some teams, in my mind, we really should have beaten I thought we should have beaten.?
Another intangible working in the Rebels? favor is the fact that they always seem to play well against Wyoming, and especially in Laramie.
The Cowboys haven?t beaten UNLV in Laramie since 1997, when they came away with a 35-23 victory. Since that game, the Rebels have beaten the ?Pokes on three successive trips to the high country ? 35-32 in 1999, 47-26 in 2001 and 35-24 in 2003.
That being said, the Cowboys are now a much different team than the Rebels are used to seeing.
Wyoming has improved by leaps and bounds in personnel and attitude in the Glenn era. The Cowboys have also played three of their first four games on the road, winning at both Air Force and Ole Miss and losing only at No. 5 Florida. The win over Ole Miss was the first ever for Wyoming over an SEC team on the road.
The Cowboy offense has been spearheaded by the quarterback play of senior Corey Bramlet and his host of receivers, led by senior Jovon Bouknight. The Cowboys have also benefited by an improved running game, led by redshirt freshman Wynel Seldon.
The biggest improvement has come on the defensive side of the ball. Three seasons ago, Wyoming ranked 114th in total defense, 107th in scoring defense, 108th in pass efficiency defense and104th in rushing defense.
According to the latest MWC stats, the Cowboys are tops in the conference in no less than six defensive categories.
The Cowboys are No. 1 and No. 31 (nationally) in total defense (313.0 yards per game); Nos. 1 and 37 in scoring defense (18.5 points per game); Nos. 1 and 18 in pass defense (154.8 ypg); Nos. 1 and 19 in pass defense efficiency (98.7 percent); Nos. 1 and 6 in passes intercepted (7); and Nos. 1 and 12 in 3rd-down conversion percentage defense (14-of-54, which is 25.9 percent). Wyoming also ranks No. 3 in the MWC and No. 20 nationally in turnovers created (9).
The only area where the Cowboy defense lacks is rushing defense, where it ranks No. 6 in the MWC and No. 73 nationally (158.2 ypg).
Following the UNLV game, Wyoming remains at home to take on two other MWC foes in TCU and New Mexico on successive Saturdays. The Rebels finally get off the road for a week when they host San Diego State.
So, don?t mind the Wyoming Cowboys for noticing a few striking similarities this week as they prepared for the Las Vegas Rebel version, which will be in town Saturday for a Mountain West Conference game with the ?Pokes.
Kickoff is set for 1:07 p.m. in a game that will be televised by SportsWest.
Last Saturday, the Cowboys faced a first-year head coach in Ole Miss? Ed Orgeron. This Saturday, it?s another first-year guy in UNLV?s Mike Sanford.
Last week, the Ole Miss Rebels were forced to go with sophomore quarterback Robert Lane, who was making his first career start against the Cowboys after veteran Michael Spurlock had gone down in a game against Vanderbilt the week before with a broken finger on his non-throwing hand.
This week, the UNLV Rebels will give junior college transfer quarterback Jarrod Jackson his first Division I-A start against the Cowboys after seeing veteran Shane Steichen go down last week in a game against Utah State with a broken finger on his non-throwing hand.
?It wasn?t any different this week than it was last week as far as our preparation was concerned,? said Wyoming coach Joe Glenn. ?You don?t concern yourself so much with the individual as you do for the team and their schemes. I don?t imagine they will change much.?
Just how much of an affect the loss of Steichen will have on the Rebels remains to be seen. He did a nice job of running UNLV?s new spread offense in the first four games. Not only did he complete 72 of 132 passes for 800 yards and seven touchdowns, he also rushed for 244 yards on 91 carries for two other scores.
Although Jackson has yet to see any action this season, he does have the credentials. He won a state championship in high school (Lake Oswego, Ore.) and then produced a 21-2 overall record at Grossmont College.
?Obviously, he?s a winner,? Glenn said.
The one thing Glenn and the Cowboys were concerned with last week was Ole? Miss?s speed, and that will once again be the concern this week.
Sanford, who brought the spread offense to UNLV from Utah, has a number of skilled players who can get out and run with the best of them. The list includes a trio of fleet juniors in tailback Erick Jackson, H-back Tremayne Kirkland and wide receiver Donell Wheaton.
All three speedsters have produced some nice numbers so far this season for the Rebels.
Jackson leads the Rebels in rushing with 277 yards on 61 attempts and three touchdowns, while Wheaton and Kirkland rank 1-2 in receiving. Wheaton has 22 catches for 289 yards and three touchdowns and Kirkland has 15 receptions for 150 yards and a score.
While UNLV has enough athletes to cause anyone concern, it?s a couple of the intangibles that are even more worrisome for Glenn and the Cowboys.
One concern is the fact that UNLV could just as easily be 4-0 at this point of the season instead of 1-3. They have lost three tough games by a combined total of 17 points.
?UNLV is a team that is a lot better than their record indicates,? Glenn said. ?They have been playing on the road, and that?s never easy. One of those road games was at New Mexico where they lost by just two points. And we all know how good New Mexico is. They?re right there kicking on the door.?
?It has been a great experience, but it also has been a frustrating experience,? Sanford said of his first head coaching job to date. ?I?ve enjoyed the experience of being a head coach. I feel really good about my staff, I feel very good about the commitment by the administration here at UNLV of having a good football program. It has been frustrating in that we have taken every game down to the wire, yet lost to some teams, in my mind, we really should have beaten I thought we should have beaten.?
Another intangible working in the Rebels? favor is the fact that they always seem to play well against Wyoming, and especially in Laramie.
The Cowboys haven?t beaten UNLV in Laramie since 1997, when they came away with a 35-23 victory. Since that game, the Rebels have beaten the ?Pokes on three successive trips to the high country ? 35-32 in 1999, 47-26 in 2001 and 35-24 in 2003.
That being said, the Cowboys are now a much different team than the Rebels are used to seeing.
Wyoming has improved by leaps and bounds in personnel and attitude in the Glenn era. The Cowboys have also played three of their first four games on the road, winning at both Air Force and Ole Miss and losing only at No. 5 Florida. The win over Ole Miss was the first ever for Wyoming over an SEC team on the road.
The Cowboy offense has been spearheaded by the quarterback play of senior Corey Bramlet and his host of receivers, led by senior Jovon Bouknight. The Cowboys have also benefited by an improved running game, led by redshirt freshman Wynel Seldon.
The biggest improvement has come on the defensive side of the ball. Three seasons ago, Wyoming ranked 114th in total defense, 107th in scoring defense, 108th in pass efficiency defense and104th in rushing defense.
According to the latest MWC stats, the Cowboys are tops in the conference in no less than six defensive categories.
The Cowboys are No. 1 and No. 31 (nationally) in total defense (313.0 yards per game); Nos. 1 and 37 in scoring defense (18.5 points per game); Nos. 1 and 18 in pass defense (154.8 ypg); Nos. 1 and 19 in pass defense efficiency (98.7 percent); Nos. 1 and 6 in passes intercepted (7); and Nos. 1 and 12 in 3rd-down conversion percentage defense (14-of-54, which is 25.9 percent). Wyoming also ranks No. 3 in the MWC and No. 20 nationally in turnovers created (9).
The only area where the Cowboy defense lacks is rushing defense, where it ranks No. 6 in the MWC and No. 73 nationally (158.2 ypg).
Following the UNLV game, Wyoming remains at home to take on two other MWC foes in TCU and New Mexico on successive Saturdays. The Rebels finally get off the road for a week when they host San Diego State.
