Rebels looking for ‘road warrior mentality’ at Allegiant Stadium

Home-field advantage hasn’t existed for the UNLV football team this season.

It has been the opposite, with the Rebels’ only two losses at Allegiant Stadium.

But there’s no denying they’ve had an edge on the road. The Rebels (7-2, 3-1 Mountain West) have won their first five road games in a season for the first time in program history. They also notched a school-record seventh consecutive road win Nov. 9 at Hawaii, a record that dates to last season.

The last time the Rebels won at least five road games in a season was 1984.

Second-year coach Barry Odom doesn’t know exactly what has been the difference, but he is looking to see the mentality for road games translate when they host San Diego State (3-6, 2-2) on Saturday.

“I wish I could say there’s a magic dust,”Odom said when asked about the key to success outside of Las Vegas. “(It’s) a little bit taking the road warrior mentality of us against everybody — a chip on your shoulder. I don’t know, maybe I should just say this week’s away, too, and trick them into an away game.”

Preparation

Players have emphasized that they take the ‘“final 48 hours of preparation” before game days seriously. Odom thinks it’s made a difference.

When preparing for road games, the Friday routine is so intense that it can be taxing on the “older, I mean, more experienced” members of the staff, Odom said.

Hesitant to offer details, he simply described the Friday pregame schedule as a “long day” that requires coaches to be in meetings among themselves or with players without a break until the evening. Odom said he adapted it from his time as Missouri’s coach and added more.

Linebacker Jackson Woodard has been a big proponent of the way UNLV prepares for games, often detailing the impact of watching film for his success.

He ranks fifth in the nation in passes defended, is tied for fifth with four interceptions, and his 9.5 tackles per game are 15th.

Although he thinks the team’s strong record on the road vs. home “might just be a coincidence,” he expressed his excitement to play on the road. The team has one more away game, Nov. 22 at San Jose State.

“I love being on the road,” Woodard said. “I love playing in front of our fans, obviously, but there’s something about it being us versus everybody else in the arena. There’s something about that. It just brings something out inside of me.”

That said, Woodard doesn’t think anything needs to change against San Diego State.

“We’re going to attack this game like we do every game,” he said. “We got a good, mature team that plays good wherever at. So we’ll be ready.”

Military appreciation

The team’s annual military appreciation game is Saturday, with 1,500 veterans receiving complimentary tickets.

Veterans Day was Monday, the day of Odom’s weekly news conference. He opened his remarks by offering gratitude to America’s veterans and saying football matters “on a much smaller scale.”

Before the game, a salute to all veterans moment will acknowledge those in attendance. The UNLV marching band will salute all branches of the military during its halftime performance.

UNLV didn’t make quarterback Hajj-Malik Williams available to the media this week, but he spent a year at U.S. Military Academy Preparatory after graduating from Hapeville Charter School in Georgia.

Williams’ teammates have said that his postgraduate military experience shows in the way he leads the team. He has 13 touchdowns, three interceptions and a 72.2 QB rating after taking over when Matt Sluka left the team after three games.

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.