Saturday, July 29, 2017
Las Vegas, NV -- This one was too close for comfort, as the Rebels get their 10th win of the season. Keith Whitely scored the go ahead touchdown with ten seconds left in the clock. This is considered a comeback, as UNLV found themselves down 21-7 early. They had no answer for BYU's rushing attack and gave up large chunks of yards. But they didn't give up and stuck to the passing attack that has bailed them out many times this season.
"We've got a great group of kids", said Rebels head coach Sean O'Bradovich. "They never give up. You see some teams rip off three or four blowouts in a row but don't know what to do when they can't do that. These guys can win in any situation."
Rebels quarterback Nick Sherry threw for 410 yards and 3 touchdowns. Receiver Anthony Williams caught for most of those yards with 177. Tight end Tyler Bergsten continues to impress as he had 103 receiving yards.
At this point, the biggest thing the Rebels have to worry about is the temptation to look past these next two opponents and focus on San Diego State. The BYU Cougars are 4-6 and haven't beaten a quality team this year. The betting man takes UNLV on this one.
Las Vegas, NV -- It was the closest game of the season for the Rebels, but they found a way to score the final points in the game tonight. They didn't score a lot, but made the plays when it mattered.
The two teams battled back and forth in the first quarter, but nobody could get on the board. In fact, it wasn't until inside of one minute left in the first half. UNLV quarterback Nick Sherry found receiver Keith Jordan with a pass to the end zone. But Boise State also scored before the half, with one second left. In the third quarter, Boise State kicked a field goal to go ahead 10-7. But the Rebels answered with another touchdown. And in the fourth quarter, Boise State scored again, but UNLV was right behind them, scoring within two minutes of the end of the game. Boise State had one more chance, but the Rebel defense kept them in check.
Sherry had 286 passing yards which is low by his standards. Tyler Bergsten had another big day with 115 yards and a touchdown.
Every week I say the same thing. But is this going to be the week that the Rebels fall? Both teams are undefeated in conference play, so there are similarities. And once again, Boise is superior in terms of talent. But UNLV has proven time and time again that they can overcome that. Will they do so once again?
Fresno, CA -- The Rebels keep finding a way to win, and this was the closest game to date. It looked to be Fresno State's game to lose as they stayed ahead for most of the game. By halftime it was 17-14. In the 3rd quarter, the Bulldogs scored another touchdown and were up 24-14. But in the 4th quarter, UNLV stood strong and stopped the Fresno State attack. The biggest contributor was Fred Wilson, who intercepted a pass that stopped Fresno State from pulling away with this one. With that, Rebels quarterback Nick Sherry went on a tear and drove down the field twice. Both drives ended in rushing touchdowns, but Sherry finished the day with 328 passing yards.
"We went with our Nickel cornerback Damon Collins there in the end", said UNLV head coach Sean O'Bradovich. "We had to go away from the 4-2-5 because they were really passing on us. Plus Damon is a pretty big tackler for his size."
Whatever it takes, coach, just keep doing it. We're onto a special season.
Friday, July 28, 2017
That's right. The Rebels have cracked the top 25 after going 7-0. But Fresno State might be the team that puts an end to the winning streak. They're on a roll of their own and are dangerous at home.
Davonte Boyd returns for the Rebels which is good news, considering tight end Jake Peterson has had to play slot receiver for a few games.
Reno, NV -- It was an unusually rainy day at the University of Nevada. But it went along with their gloom of adding to their losing streak as UNLV left with a victory. It actually started out as a great game and Nevada was up 17-7 at one point. But Rebels quarterback Nick Sherry got back into his old rhythm and started chucking the ball at will. UNLV scored three straight touchdowns and never looked back. Sherry had 289 yards and 2 touchdowns. Keith Whitely took all the glory, though, as he finished most of those drives with 3 touchdowns. Tight end Tyler Bergsten had a big day as he caught for 108 yards and a touchdown.
The Rebels are still on track for a huge season.
(Author's note: I used the OS community sliders for that game, so I'll stick with them.)
There are two reasons why this should be a tough game. First off, it's rivalry week and we know anything can happen. But second, Nevada has a fairly stacked team this year. They rate higher than UNLV, so it's going to be quite a challenge for the Rebels.
Linebacker Tau Lotuleilei is still nursing a strained Achilles, but he looks probable for this game.
On Being Undefeated
Coach O'B knows that the other shoe could drop at any time. Just last season, his Texas State team was riding high in the top 10 of the national rankings until a little team called Western Kentucky came along and smacked them with a dose of reality.
"We haven't done anything yet as far as I'm concerned", said O'Bradovich of his current team. "We're off to a great start and nothing else. It's how we handle the rest of the season that will tell the tale of 2015."
He's right, though. Once the target is placed firmly on UNLV's back and nobody is overlooking them, things get twice as tough. But this definitely shouldn't be a negative article. Let's look at the positive for once. There hasn't been much positive with this school since the 90s. This football team has more wins than they have in I don't know how long. Bobby Hauck couldn't win this many in a whole season during his entire time here. So we're going to celebrate. Sorry Coach O'B.
Recruiting
True to his word, O'Bradovich is targeting players to transform the defense. The Rebels have already gotten commits from five players that will immediately upgrade that side of the ball. Heavy on safety, but you can see the plan in action. They're playing a 4-2-5 and focusing on stopping the run.
| UNLV Rebels Recruiting - 2015 | ||||||
| NAME | POS | CLASS | HOMETOWN | HT | WT | CALIBER |
| Jacob Brown | SS | HS | Santa Barbara, CA | 6'3" | 196 |  |
| Michael Johnson | SS | HS | Spring Creek, NV | 6'2" | 190 | |
| Kenny Mitchell | SS | HS | La Mirada, CA | 6'0" | 208 | |
| Chris Brooks | MLB | HS | Tyler, TX | 6'2" | 241 | |
| Anthony Love | FS | HS | Clifton, AZ | 6'3" | 206 | |
The rest of the season
Conference play will no doubt heat up as UNLV still has strong teams such as Boise and the powerhouse San Diego State. One of the big concerns right now is staying healthy. Wide receiver Davonte Boyd will return in a couple of weeks, but starting halfback Niko Kepali is probably out until the possible bowl game. The running attack has been nonexistent since his departure, and we can't afford to lose any more weapons. Hopefully the rest of this team can hold up. So as you can see, it will not be as easy as it has been. But it will be fun to watch UNLV football. When's the last time you heard that?
When O'Bradovich was offensive coordinator, I was ok with putting up crazy offensive stats because that's what I do best. But I never did this well defensively when I used default Heisman sliders like I'm doing now. I guess I'm just getting better. I'm sure some teams will beat UNLV at some point this season if I keep the current difficulty. But I wanted to build this team rather than be good off the bat. The fruits of a well-planned personnel build is what makes recruiting so fun. If I can already shut down a good running game, what's exciting about landing a great run stopping defensive tackle if it doesn't really matter?
So I'm stuck with a decision. Do I tweak the sliders, (which, by the way, I'm not the expert when it comes to that), or do I go with the OS community sliders? I'm questioning whether or not I'm ready for that. Would I be able to win at all?
I guess my thing is, I don't want to play a slider set that just makes the game hard. I'd like to be assured that the sliders I use will reflect a player's ratings. For instance, I want a slider setting that will reward a quarterback's pinpoint accuracy rating while also exposing a quarterback that's rated terribly; that will reward a D lineman's 90+ BSH while also making a weak D lineman get pancaked by the same competition. I can live with that and I will play that kind of slider set all day whether I win, lose, or draw.
Sorry for the rant, but I have to make some changes here. As for now, I'm going to tweak from default a little bit and see if I can get some better game outcomes. If I can't figure it out, I'll go with the OS community set.
Las Vegas, NV -- The O'Bradovich era is kicking off with a bang as the UNLV Rebels have gone undefeated in the first half of the inaugural season. What was probably the closest game of the season, UNLV found a way to keep the Bruins out of the end zone on multiple occasions and continue to score game winning amounts of points.
The Rebels looked to be in trouble early on in the game. On the first possession from scrimmage, not being able to run or pass, UCLA forced a three-and-out and responded with a touchdown pass from Brett Hundley to Devon Fuller. UNLV could only manage a field goal on their next possession, and UCLA matched that field goal to put the score at 10-3 Bruins. Rebels quarterback snick Sherry finally got a rhythm going and threw pass to Keith Jordan for a touchdown. Then another one to Lionel Ray. Two Bruin field goals later, and the score was 17-16 UNLV at the half.
UCLA couldn't do anything on their drive to start the third quarter, but the Rebels responded with a touchdown pass to Tyler Bergsten. Hundley responded with a 19 yard run to get the game back within two, and missed the tying conversion. Sherry found Anthony Williams for his fourth touchdown pass of the game to get ahead by 8. UCLA could only muster one more field goal before time ran out and they conceded to their fourth loss of the season.
"We're doing great but it's no time to get complacent", said Rebels head coach Sean O'Bradovich. "Teams will continue to get better so we must do the same."
Thursday, July 27, 2017
The Bruins come in with a pretty tough schedule of games already. Save for the Michigan game (which was probably just a matter of the Wolverines looking past UNLV), UCLA will be the toughest challenge to face the Rebels yet. Especially playing without Davonte Boyd and Niko Kapeli. Getting thin at the receiver position, O'Bradovich has employed both tight ends on some usual 4-wide and 5-wide sets. It has worked so far and, quite frankly, the offense is of less concern than being able to stop UCLA's attack.
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Las Vegas, NV -- The Rebels scored the necessary points early in the game to be victorious, as Hawaii found a way to stay in this game. They got within 14, but the throwing of Rebels quarterback Nick Sherry kept the Rebels ahead.
Tight end Tyler Bergsten had 135 yards receiving and a touchdown. Keith Jordan also found the end zone on a 65 yard reception and run after the catch for the score.
Hawaii's Steven Lakalaka couldn't get anything going on the ground. What's worse, Hawaii lost their starting quarterback for the season due to a broken foot.
Hawaii comes into Vegas this week trying to knock off the undefeated Rebels. Their schedule has been fairly tough, and they're just coming off a loss to last year's runner up, San Diego State. Their runningback Lakalaka leads the charge as they employ a heavy dose of running. This should be a real challenge for UNLV.
Amherst, MA -- The UMass Minutemen seemed determined to shut down the run and that's what they did, so the Rebels took to the air. A lot. Quarterback Nick Sherry threw for 493 yards and broke the record for touchdown passes in a game, with 7. Devonte Boyd led all receivers in yards with 145, but unfortunately, he would go down late in the game with a back injury. He could be out several weeks.
The tight end duo of Tyler Bergsten and Jake Phillips combined for 5 touchdown catches.
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