Despite setbacks, we’re still fired up to play
We are disappointed with our 31-14 home loss to San Diego State on Saturday night. We had a good chance to win, but we didn’t finish the job. We came out playing well and moving the ball and got a two-touchdown lead on the Aztecs. It was a good effort by our seniors and the underclassmen trying to get them a win in their home finale.
But Aztecs running back Ronnie Hillman is one of the best in the country, and he got the best of us in the second half, as did San Diego State’s defense. There were two critical points in the fourth quarter where we could have regained momentum and won the game — one on offense and one on defense — and we did not. We have to play better as a team, and that includes learning to finish games. The inability to finish opponents in the fourth quarter cost us two wins in the past month.
Now it is on to No. 18 Texas Christian on Saturday. It’s interesting that we started the season playing at one of last year’s Rose Bowl participants (Wisconsin) and now we finish with the other team from the Rose Bowl (the Horned Frogs). TCU is a really fine football team. The Frogs have years of success that have really built upon each other. They have a lot of quality players, particularly along the offensive line, and they are dynamic at the skill positions. Casey Pachall is a good quarterback, and the Frogs haven’t missed a beat from losing last year’s starter, Andy Dalton, who is now starting as a rookie for the Cincinnati Bengals.
We are at the end of a long haul this fall, but what I expect to show up Saturday on the field is that we have a lot of character, and our guys like to play football. I think we’ll be fired up to play. We have 12 players on our team from Texas. Some of them are doing really good things for us — a majority of them are young guys who are still developing. They’ll be excited to make a trip home. We have a rare early start in Fort Worth, with kickoff set for 11:30 a.m. PST in a game that will be seen across the nation on Versus.
We have a lot going on in the program right now as recruiting is heating up. Things are going well for us on that front. Kids are listening to what we have to say and learning that we have a young team and the future is bright here. Playing a game in December puts us behind some staffs that are out on the road recruiting this week, but in terms of number of players that are ready to come to UNLV, we are far ahead of where we’ve been the previous two years. We’re excited about the guys who feel strongly about UNLV, as we have to continue to add players to our roster who can help us win games.
I also want to congratulate basketball coach Dave Rice and the Rebels on their big win over top-ranked North Carolina on Saturday. It was simply an awesome effort. The memorable victory was great not just for the basketball program but for the athletic department, our university and the entire city.
Go Rebels!
UNLV football coach Bobby Hauck writes a weekly column for Rebels Report.