Hauck, Ault not saying much during rivalry week

Bobby Hauck is a smart man, and he knows the week that his team takes on its archrival is not the time to make news.

So Hauck, whose UNLV football team plays No. 25 UNR at 7 p.m. Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium, kept his answers brief in Tuesday's Mountain West Conference teleconference.

His best quote about the Wolf Pack came in response to a question about whether UNR players are overlooked nationally.

"From our perspective, nobody there is under the radar," Hauck said. "They're good players."

Zzzzzzzz.

Hauck, of course, wants to put the media to sleep, to ensure that nothing he says winds up on a Reno bulletin board.

He has also closed practices this week, but that had been discussed since before the season. It's not like last season when coach Mike Sanford, whose in-season practices were closed anyway, apparently decided at the last minute to make only two players available for interviews.

UNR coach Chris Ault takes being guarded to another level. He doesn't allow players to be interviewed by outside media and was even more careful than Hauck with his words during Monday's Western Athletic Conference teleconference.

How much, if any, of an effect words have on a game is difficult to say, but coaches would just as soon not have their team deal with distractions.

Coaches are also hungry for any edge, slight as it might be, and if it means not providing motivation for the opposing side, all the better.

But it's hard to believe that both teams wouldn't be fired up for this game no matter what was or wasn't said during the week.

n ANOTHER BIG RIVALRY -- Air Force, which used to dominate the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy series before Navy's current seven-year run, appears to be back in its old position.

The Falcons are 3-1 and 10-point favorites over Navy, and Air Force's only loss was by three points at Oklahoma.

Whether the Falcons finally end Navy's streak or the Midshipmen keep it rolling, both teams are playing in a rivalry that is different from most others.

"It's a different type of game from the standpoint you know what the student bodies are going to do after they graduate," Falcons coach Troy Calhoun said. "They're going to serve their country."

n LATEST EXPANSION RUMOR -- The New York Post reports that the Big East Conference is looking to add Texas Christian.

It's understandable why the Big East would be interested in the fifth-ranked Horned Frogs. The conference remains concerned about getting raided despite surviving this summer with its membership in place.

Would TCU make the move if asked? Maybe. Going to the Big East would put them in an automatic Bowl Championship Series conference and guarantee a major influx of cash.

But there is also no guarantee the Big East will survive the next round of expansion, which could occur in two or three years if all the whispers are to be believed. So TCU would have to think seriously before leaving the Mountain West, which ESPN.com this week ranks the nation's fifth-best conference.

The Big East? No. 8.

n ON THE RISE -- San Diego State, which is 3-1, hopes to post its first winning season since 1998.

Aztecs coach Brady Hoke said the early success is due to the work in the weight room and the camaraderie that exists on his team.

"The respect they have for each other, they don't want to let each other down," Hoke said. "There's a respectability and an accountability to each other."

n REPEATING HISTORY? -- Colorado State had lost 12 in a row before defeating Idaho 36-34 on Saturday.

Coach Steve Fairchild said this Rams team reminds him of the one two years ago that went 7-6 and won the New Mexico Bowl.

"Good things are going to happen for this team," he said.

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