Hauck: ‘It’s a big week’

Bobby Hauck hasn't been involved in a UNLV-UNR football game. He knows Wolf Pack coach Chris Ault only on a limited basis, and he hasn't seen the Fremont Cannon.

But as the Rebels' first-year coach, Hauck doesn't need to look at the schedule to know which team is coming to town this week.

"It's a big week, and if our guys aren't juiced up for this one, then we've got problems," Hauck said. "But you can tell, our guys will be fired up to play.

"What we can't do is go out and lose our minds, but they're going to come out with a certain intensity, and certainly we need to be in that frame of mind ourselves."

UNLV (1-3) faces perhaps the Wolf Pack's best team, a squad that is 4-0 and ranked No. 25 heading into Saturday's
7 p.m. showdown at Sam Boyd Stadium. UNR is ranked for the first time since 1948, when Stan Heath -- who died Sunday at 83 -- was quarterbacking the Wolf Pack.

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick is at the core of UNR's success this year.

He passed for 208 yards and rushed for 173 in last season's 63-28 UNR blowout in Reno. The year before in Las Vegas, Kaepernick passed for 176 and rushed for 240 in a 49-27 Wolf Pack victory.

Kaepernick enters this game on an amazing roll. He has completed 68.9 percent of his passes for 924 yards, with seven touchdowns and only one interception. He also has rushed for 451 yards -- second on the team to running back Vai Taua's 453 -- and eight touchdowns.

"I think he has potential to be the best college quarterback in the country," Hauck said. "He runs the ball as good as most running backs in the country.

"I don't know if I have recall of somebody who can do both (run and pass) as well as he does."

UNLV's defense is coming off its most encouraging performance, though it was against lowly New Mexico.

Still, the Rebels allowed 291 yards, forced three turnovers and made four sacks in the 45-10 victory.

They have blitzed more often as the season has progressed, but Hauck said that growing aggressiveness wouldn't necessarily dictate a trend.

"It's week to week, and it's kind of opportunity-based," Hauck said. "It's really more about the style of offense we're playing and what we think will be productive. It's always on the call sheet, and then you see how things are going."

Offensively, UNLV has health concerns at running back.

Tim Cornett rushed for 50 yards on two carries, including a 46-yard touchdown run, and is averaging 10.9 yards per carry for the season. But he suffered an unspecified injury Saturday, and more won't be known until UNLV releases its weekly injury report today.

C.J. Cox has missed the past two games with an arm injury.

The position took such a hit that cornerback Deante Purvis switched from cornerback against the Lobos, and he rushed for 12 yards on four carries.

"We've got some guys that are going to have to be ... two-way players for us," Hauck said. "So I would anticipate Deante would be a two-way player for us. In terms of putting a little speed on the field, he's one of our faster guys."

■ NOTES -- UNLV safety Travis Dixon had an MRI on his leg Monday, and more should be known today. "It doesn't look good," Hauck said. ... UNR running back/kick returner Mike Ball, who went to Desert Pines High School, will serve the second of a two-game suspension for breaking team rules. Ball rushed for 184 yards and five touchdowns against the Rebels last season.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914.