Trying to win on road both daunting, haunting for UNLV

MADISON, Wis. -- This is a town you always see listed as one of the best places to live in America, where no building can be taller than the state capitol and near where Frank Lloyd Wright discovered his fondness for architecture.

It is the most liberal town in a conservative state, with bookstores lining streets and bike paths stretching countless miles and a university helping it to remain economically stable.

It is not, at first glance, an intimidating place in the least. UNLV's football team could think much differently tonight.

The road is not only a lonely place, but can chew you up and spit you out and challenge your dedication and focus and effort. It did often last season to the Rebels, who responded to games away from Las Vegas as a toddler might when first imagining that ghost in his room at night.

We will see immediately if anything has changed this season, if the Rebels will stand and fight or tremble under the blankets.

UNLV opens against No. 11 Wisconsin on ESPN and inside Camp Randall Stadium, where the Badgers have won 15 straight home openers, are 35-point favorites to make it 16 tonight and will welcome a red-clad gathering of more than 80,000.

It's not the scene second-year coach Bobby Hauck would choose to first gauge whether UNLV owns any sort of mental toughness when compared with last year, but it's the challenge that awaits.

"We obviously analyzed and overanalyzed this, spent a lot of time talking about what (happened) on the road last year," Hauck said. "We had a lot of issues waiting for things to happen instead of seizing moments. The big thing (tonight) is to perform and look like a football team that loves to play and wants to get after someone."

You first need talent and depth to win on the road in college football, and the Rebels haven't had much of either for some time, proven by the program's current nine-game road losing streak in which UNLV has been outscored by an average of 45-11.

But what bothered Hauck the most at times last season was his team's effort when getting down in someone else's house. There wasn't a better example than when UNLV visited Brigham Young in early November.

The Cougars were dead-flat average last year, needing to win five of their last six to finish 7-6. Hauck was convinced UNLV could go into Provo, compete and, yes, perhaps win.

Final score: BYU 55, UNLV 7.

The Rebels played hard for no more than 30 minutes of a 60-minute game.

"That was the point where I really got fed up with it personally, and our staff did, too," Hauck said. "I don't know what it was. I mean, what's the difference on the road? You get on an airplane, and the other team has people clapping for them. That's it. We were pretty dang competitive at times last season, but every time we were, it was at home. We needed to address what happened on the road, and we have."

Simulation isn't a bad start, and Hauck over the last eight months did everything he could to reproduce six road losses in which the Rebels allowed an average of 44 points.

Be it during winter conditioning or spring ball or fall camp, he devised ways for the Rebels to fight the notion of giving in early and, soon after, giving up.

He practiced the team under lights this week to prepare for Wisconsin. He piped in the customary crowd noise.

None of it could make much difference here.

The Badgers under coach Bret Bielema are 20-0 in regular-season nonconference games and return 11 starters from a Big Ten championship team. Some believe they will contend for a national championship this season; many believe the Rebels will be pressed to win three games.

Life on the road is difficult.

In a town like this, it can be near impossible.

Despite how amicable it appears.

"I believe the more you invest, the harder it is to give in," Hauck said. "Our football team has invested a lot, so I think we will show a lot of fight. Wisconsin being a Top (15) team playing at home has a lot to do with that. They're good.

"But whatever the score, whether we win or lose, however the game plays out, I think we can count on our team fighting until the end. That's what I want. I want to win, but in order for us to have a chance at winning, we have to fight our tails off every down."

They have to be road warriors.

Or, at the least, not cower at the first sign of a ghost.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.