Rebels can’t sink any lower in loss to Northern Arizona

Now no one will listen when UNLV football coach Bobby Hauck talks about how much improvement his team has made.

Now no one will listen to Hauck's players when they talk about the locker room being much more cohesive.

They can say nothing after Saturday night's embarrassment of a 17-14 loss to Northern Arizona at Sam Boyd Stadium, at least nothing that will get anyone's attention.

Maybe the only ones who can say anything of note after NAU's Andy Wilder made a 33-yard field goal with 12 seconds left to beat the Rebels are university president Neal Smatresk and athletic director Jim Livengood as it relates to Hauck's job status.

Smatresk had no comment immediately after the game.

Not only is Hauck 4-23 in his third season, but arguably three of UNLV's worst defeats in school history occurred on his watch. In addition to this mind-numbing loss to NAU (1-1), the Rebels lost last season to another Football Championship Subdivision opponent, Southern Utah, and to previously winless New Mexico.

"I'm not sure what to say other than I'm shocked," Hauck said. "This is different than last season when we got beat by an FCS team. Tonight we got outplayed."

Now the trick is to find the places on the schedule where UNLV has a realistic chance to win. Probably not Friday's home game against Washington State, even though the Cougars are off to a shaky start. And probably not the week after that when Air Force visits.

And then UNLV gets into the heart of its schedule, which includes games against UNR and Boise State.

UNLV didn't look like it would struggle against NAU after taking a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Tim Cornett rushed for 99 yards in the first quarter alone, and his 42-yard run gave the Rebels a 7-0 lead. He finished with a career-high 141 yards, the fourth time in five games Cornett has rushed for 100 yards - the first Rebel to accomplish that feat since Dominique Dorsey in 2004.

Fellow running back Bradley Randle increased UNLV's advantage to 14-0 on a 1-yard run to convert a fourth-and-goal.

UNLV had the chance to add to the lead when Nolan Kohorst lined up for a 42-yard field goal midway through the second quarter. The Rebels faked the field goal, however. Holder Caleb Herring appeared to have room to run for the first down, but threw into the end zone and overshot Jordan Sparkman.

"We had a pretty good play," Hauck said. "We felt good about it. We had success with it in practice this week."

That became a turning point, with UNLV struggling to move the ball the rest of the game.

But its defense shut out NAU in the first half when Mark Garrick blocked Wilder's 34-yard field-goal attempt on the final play. It secured UNLV's first shutout in a half since leading Iowa State 21-0 in 2008.

The shutout didn't last long.

NAU's Austin Shanks returned a punt 75 yards for a touchdown only 1:13 into the second half, pulling the Lumberjacks to within 14-7 and eliciting some boos from the UNLV crowd.

The Rebels could've created some breathing room, but Kohorst hit the right upright with a 30-yard field-goal attempt 52 seconds into the fourth quarter.

NAU made the Rebels pay when Zach Bauman rushed for an 8-yard touchdown with 8:12 remaining to tie the game. Bauman finished with 103 yards on 20 carries.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.