UNLV’s football season ends with thud in loss to Hawaii

HONOLULU - UNLV football coach Bobby Hauck has maintained all season his team is on the right track, and it's true the Rebels have been more competitive.

But games such as Saturday's bite into his argument.

UNLV flew six hours to face perhaps the country's worst major college football team, and the Rebels never were in the game, getting dismantled 48-10 in a shockingly - even by their standards - embarrassing display at Aloha Stadium.

"I wouldn't say stunned," Hauck said, regarding his reaction to how the game played out. "I would say disappointed. Nothing surprises you after you do this long enough, but disappointed, obviously. Any time we seem to make progress, we can't sustain it, and it's a hard thing to swallow."

The defeat ended the Rebels' season at 2-11 (2-6 in the Mountain West Conference) and extended their road losing streak to 22 games, 20 under Hauck. It is the second-longest skid in school history, with only the 26-game drought from 1994 to 1998 longer.

This also is the third year in a row, each under Hauck (6-32), that the Rebels have finished with two victories. UNLV has ended seven of the past nine seasons by winning two games.

Rebels athletic director Jim Livengood said recently Hauck will return, and a source close to the program told the Review-Journal on Friday that nothing had changed. A text message during Saturday's game to Livengood was not immediately returned.

"That's always a concern in coaching," Hauck said of his future. "I love UNLV, and I want what's best for UNLV. Certainly, I hope that means going forward that includes us."

Hawaii (2-9, 1-7) owned this game from the start, moving 71 yards in nine plays on the opening drive, with Joey Iosefa ending it with a 25-yard touchdown run.

The Warriors poured it on the second quarter, scoring 24 points to go up 31-0. They had scored that many points in a complete game just once, a 54-2 victory over Lamar on Sept. 15.

But Hawaii didn't just score offensively. The Warriors also reached the end zone on an interception and a punt return, greatly assisting an offense that gained 340 yards.

But they held UNLV to 203 yards, including 37 on the ground. The Rebels figured to take advantage of a Hawaii defense that entered the game allowing 222.6 yards rushing.

"The game speed was a little different than what we'd seen on film, but other than that, they did everything we thought they'd do," said UNLV running back Tim Cornett, who rushed for 32 yards on 12 carries.

Nick Sherry received the start at quarterback for the Rebels after not playing the previous week with what was believed to be a back injury.

He looked out of sorts in completing 17 of 43 passes for 166 yards and a touchdown, with three interceptions.

"We didn't execute. I didn't execute," Sherry said.

Now UNLV heads into an uncertain offseason after a trying season that included no byes.

"We played 13 straight weeks, and this one is the only of the season where it wasn't a hard-fought battle basically down to the last play," Hauck said. "Thirteen straight weeks of that, and it didn't look like we had anything left in the tank tonight."

Cornett agreed.

"Thirteen straight weeks of playing dragged us," Cornett said. "I feel drained."

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.