We’re going back to the drawing board

We're coming off a loss in our rivalry game against UNR, which was obviously a bitter pill to swallow. The Wolf Pack get to keep the Fremont Cannon, so ending their streak in the series is going to get even more emphasis around here. We need to continue to focus on our rival throughout the year.

We felt good about our energy and focus coming out of the locker room last Saturday, but we were just not able to capitalize on our opportunities after forcing turnovers and getting multiple stops. Then we let it get away from us. We weren't doing many things well on offense, and some of that can be attributed to UNR playing so well on defense. We have to go out on Saturdays and execute, and that falls upon my shoulders to get everyone to do that.

We have to go back to the drawing board this week. We made a change at quarterback as junior college transfer Sean Reilly will start at Wyoming on Saturday. Former starter Caleb Herring is working hard and trying as hard as he can, but right now it's not going well enough. We will keep working with Caleb. He will continue to improve and become more comfortable. Sean has also worked hard and now gets his chance. He's been here since January and is a smart guy, so hopefully he'll respond well in Laramie.

In football, the quarterback position always gets much more media attention than the other positions, but in our program, our players at all of the positions are competing for their spots every day in practice and throughout the year. All of our guys know that's part of the deal. It's part of life. You either handle and respond positively to adversity, or you don't -- and I know Caleb will. I know our team will. It's becoming the culture in our program.

This week we get to open our Mountain West Conference season against Wyoming. The Cowboys got off to a fast start at 3-0 before hitting a rough stretch. They run a wide-open offense and are running the ball better than a year ago. In fact, they are one of the top offenses in the Mountain West. They play a good brand of football. They're well coached and do a lot of things that make them hard to prepare for. Week to week, they change up, and you have to be ready for many different things or else they make you look unprepared.

We look forward to the chance to go up there and try to get a breakthrough win on the road, which would be big for us. I think they'll have a nice crowd for their homecoming. They'll be excited and our guys will be, too. It shapes up to be an interesting game between two programs that have to play well to win.

We'll be up and at it bright and early on the Front Range because kickoff is at 11 a.m. Pacific on The Mtn (Cox 334).

Go Rebels!

Bobby Hauck writes a weekly column on UNLV football for Rebels Report.