Graney: Loss won’t diminish what UNLV football has done for city

BOISE, Idaho — His eyes were red with the emotions of defeat. Jackson Woodard, the heart and soul of UNLV’s football team, glanced out at the bright lights of a postgame news conference and tried to make sense of it all.

“I mean, we set out to win a championship, and got to the championship and lost,” the senior linebacker said. “Which makes it an unsuccessful season. And that hurts, when you pour your life and soul into this game, make sacrifices and ultimately we came up short.

“That hurts. That hurts for my brothers, my teammates, my coaches, the city of Las Vegas. And it’s hard.”

A loss, yes.

An unsuccessful season, hardly.

It wasn’t meant to be during this magical run. Wasn’t in the cards for UNLV.

There wasn’t going to be any Mountain West championship and berth into the College Football Playoff.

The Rebels, in their biggest game in school history, were outclassed Friday night on the blue turf of Boise State.

The Broncos would win 21-7 at a frigid Albertsons Stadium because they were better in all phases, because for the second straight season in the same game between the same teams, UNLV had few answers when it counted most.

But it shouldn’t in any manner erase what UNLV has become under coach Barry Odom these past few years. The historic strides it has made. The 19 wins and consecutive bowl games it has earned.

From a decadeslong losing program to one that existed within the last 15 to 18 teams this season fighting for a spot in the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff.

None of it should be disregarded.

What the Rebels have done is create a level of athletic excitement locally not seen since 1990, since the basketball team of Jerry Tarkanian won a national championship.

A win here would have arguably qualified as even bigger for UNLV than that title. Football is a monster of riches. There is no comparing it across the collegiate landscape now.

A spot in the playoff, given the depths from which UNLV football has risen, would have been the greatest of the school’s athletic achievements.

One year ago

Las Vegas on Friday remembered a year to the day the horrific shooting on campus that saw three professors killed and another seriously injured. And in attendance here were the two police officers who found themselves confronting the attacker.

Damian Garcia and Nate Drum also work security for UNLV football.

“I think this team represents something much bigger than football,” Odom said. “Officer Garcia and Officer Drum are vital parts of our team and our family, and it’s very special to have them here. Our team knows that.

“You can go a lot of different layers to everything that went into this year. You know, some day they’ll have a reunion for this team, and guys will be old and come back and be able to have a lot of great stories.”

It’s not difficult to understand why UNLV lost. It couldn’t block Boise State, evidenced by six sacks from the Broncos. The Rebels had trouble all night up front communicating and executing.

The Go-Go offense was a No-Go for much of the evening.

It struggled again in the red zone. Couldn’t convert when, well, it absolutely had to.

The stats will also show Boise State running back and Heisman Trophy finalist Ashton Jeanty ran for 209 yards, including a 75-yard score near the end of the first half.

Made the score 21-0. Made it game over.

Next stop L.A.?

So now UNLV moves forward, most likely headed to the Los Angeles Bowl on Dec. 18 at SoFi Stadium. It moves forward, undoubtedly knowing changes are coming. A senior-heavy lineup will need to be replaced next season, when it’s also unknown how many coaches might be plucked from the sidelines for other jobs.

“I want to say how proud I am of our football team and our program on the steps that these guys have taken to build on a national stage, and two years in a row now competing for a championship from where we started,” Odom said. “It’s obviously hard when you come up short of what your goals, your dreams and the things that you poured your soul into. It’s really hard when you come up short.”

On a scoreboard, yes.

In how his football program has energized and awoken an entire city, hardly.

Ed Graney, a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing, can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on X.