‘Die-hard’ UNLV fans show spirit

Only a few cars were in the Sam Boyd Stadium parking lot two hours before the kickoff to UNLV's football season, but John Rice and some friends were already in a partying mood.

Rice and 30 friends gathered around his silver and red hearse before Saturday's UNLV-Utah State game. That's right, a hearse, complete with an ice-filled coffin holding four kegs of beer.

Given the Rebels' futility in coach Mike Sanford's first three years -- a 6-29 record, with two victories each season -- perhaps it was ominous that UNLV fans would come to a football game in a hearse. But this was opening night, and Rice, a UNLV graduate and a fan since the mid-1980s, wasn't ready to cave in to negativity.

"We're all die-hards," he said, excusing the pun as he leaned on the hearse. "We'll always come out. Regardless of how they do, we'll still show up."

He didn't have much company, as only 18,815 made the trek to watch the Rebels defeat the Aggies, 27-17.

Bradley Mayer was among those accounted for inside. The 2005 UNLV graduate rarely misses a home game, and he said he's looking forward to the day when football can achieve a modicum of the success basketball has enjoyed the past couple of seasons.

"A solid athletic program can define a university," he said. "I think any fan would be frustrated with the lack of success football has had. But that doesn't mean you give up. You still have to be supportive."

His friend Jack Buchanan is among the frustrated faithful. He's tired of losing, especially to UNR.

"We shouldn't be a laughingstock," Buchanan said. "The fact we've lost to Reno three years in a row is a disgrace. If we lose to them this time, he (Sanford) should be fired on the spot."

Rice isn't ready to can the coach just yet.

"I don't think he's a bad coach, but he's got a lot going against him," Rice said. "It seems like it's always one little thing every game -- a missed field goal, a fumble, a penalty -- some tiny thing that does them in. We can't seem to put two and two together."

A few feet from Rice, Jaymie Morris and Dawn Dudas were setting up their RV to tailgate. Their dad was Bill "Wildcat" Morris, a longtime booster who helped Bill Ireland start the UNLV program in the late 1960s. They wouldn't dream of missing a game.

"It's frustrating, watching them lose, but we have to support them," Dudas said. "But we need to turn it around."

Her sister said: "We've never missed a game. It's a legacy my father started. But sometimes people forget these are 18- to 21-year-olds. They're not professionals. They're trying hard."

Still, it's hard to support a perennial loser, as evidenced by the sparse turnout. But for those who did show up, they believe Saturday was the start of better days for the Rebels.

"Too many UNLV fans accept the fate of football losing and look forward to basketball," Mayer said. "But this is the year to turn it around. The time is now."

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913.