2009 UNLV Rebels football team

The 2009 UNLV Rebels football team was the 42nd varsity football team to represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The Rebels play in the Mountain West Conference and compete each season against the remaining eight members of the conference and one permanent interstate rival: Nevada. In 2009, UNLV also played non-conference games at home against Sacramento State, Oregon State and Hawaii. Mike Sanford entered his fifth and final season as UNLV's head coach and the Rebels played their home games at Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada.

2009 UNLV Rebels football
ConferenceMountain West Conference
2009 record5–7 (3–5 MW)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorTodd Berry (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorDennis Therrell (2nd season)
Home stadiumSam Boyd Stadium
(Capacity: 36,800)
2009 Mountain West Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 6 TCU $  8 –0     12 –1  
No. 12 BYU  7 –1     11 –2  
No. 18 Utah  6 –2     10 –3  
Air Force  5 –3     8 –5  
Wyoming  4 –4     7 –6  
UNLV  3 –5     5 –7  
San Diego State  2 –6     4 –8  
New Mexico  1 –7     1 –11  
Colorado State  0 –8     3 –9  
  • $ – Conference champion and BCS representative as top non-AQ school to meet automatic qualification criteria
Rankings from AP Poll

In November, head coach Mike Sanford was fired after five losing seasons, a 16-43 record and no bowl appearances. He won his last game as head coach against San Diego State on November 28, 2009, 28-24, with a fourth quarter comeback.[1]

Pre-season

At the 2009 Mountain West Conference Media Day in Las Vegas, the Rebels were picked to finish fifth in the conference, the highest preseason ranking since the Rebels were picked to finish tied for fifth with BYU in 2004.[2] ESPN NFL analyst Mel Kiper, Jr. named the Rebels, along with Miami (FL), California and SMU, as one of his sleepers that could make "national noise" in 2009.[3] Kiper stated: "If Omar Clayton, their quarterback, can stay healthy and get the ball to Ryan Wolfe, UNLV, I think, can go bowling for the first time in a long time and be a factor in the Mountain West Conference."[4] Paul Myerberg of The New York Times ranked UNLV in the 84th position in their preseason Quad Countdown, in front of Ball State and behind UTEP. The ranking was an improvement of 27 spots from their 2008 preseason ranking of 111th. Myerberg predicted that the Rebels would go 6-6 and earn their first bowl berth since their 2000 Las Vegas Bowl victory against Arkansas.[5]

Junior quarterback Omar Clayton received much praise during the preseason including that from The New York Times and Mel Kiper, Jr. and was named as one of the favorites to be named the conference's Offensive Player of the Year by Bleacher Report's Mountain West Conference writer.[6] Senior wide receiver Ryan Wolfe was named as one of the best non-BCS receivers in the country by The New York Times and was named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list during the preseason.[7] Wolfe enters the season only 50 receptions and 900 yards away from breaking the conference's career receptions and receiving yards records.[5] Wolfe and senior linebacker Jason Beauchamp were both named to the All-MWC preseason team.[8]

On July 3, 2009, sophomore linebacker Bryce Saldi suffered severe injuries following a skateboarding accident while in southern California. Saldi was placed in the intensive care unit at Loma Linda University Medical Center. There has been no word on a timetable for Saldi's return.[9]

Key Losses

The following are some of the key players who will be no longer eligible to play in the 2009 season:

Recruiting

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 57:00 p.m.Sacramento State*
W 38–322,195[10]
September 128:00 p.m.No. 24 Oregon State*
  • Sam Boyd Stadium
  • Whitney, NV
CBSCSL 21–2325,967[11]
September 198:00 p.m.Hawaii*
  • Sam Boyd Stadium
  • Whitney, NV
MWSN/CBSCSW 34–3329,717[12]
September 2612:00 p.m.at Wyoming
L 27–3019,196[13]
October 31:00 p.m.at Nevada*
L 28–6324,078[14]
October 107:00 p.m.No. 20 BYU
  • Sam Boyd Stadium
  • Whitney, NV
MWSNL 21–5925,597[15]
October 177:00 p.m.No. 24 Utah
  • Sam Boyd Stadium
  • Whitney, NV
MWSNL 15–3526,315[16]
October 245:00 p.m.at New Mexico
MWSNW 34–1724,021[17]
October 311:00 p.m.at No. 6 TCU
VersusL 0–4133,541[18]
November 77:00 p.m.Colorado State
  • Sam Boyd Stadium
  • Whitney, NV
MWSNW 35–1615,902[19]
November 143:00 p.m.at Air Force
MWSNL 17–4525,370[20]
November 286:00 p.m.San Diego State
  • Sam Boyd Stadium
  • Whitney, NV
MWSNW 28–2413,730[21]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time

Sources:[22]

Game summaries

Sacramento State
1 2 3 4 Total
Hornets 0 3 0 0 3
Rebels 10 0 7 21 38

UNLV opened their season as a 22-point favorite against FCS squad Sacramento State from the Big Sky Conference. Both teams' passing games were hampered by the 32 mph wind gusts that were recorded around the stadium. UNLV took a 10–3 lead into halftime after a one-yard touchdown run by junior runningback Channing Trotter and a 39-yard field goal by senior kicker Kyle Watson gave UNLV the 10–0 lead after the first quarter. Sacramento State would get their only points of the game on a 44-yard field goal by Hornets' kicker Chris Diniz[23]

In the second half, the Rebels would explode on offense, starting with another 1 yard touchdown run by Trotter late in the third quarter. Trotter would score his third one-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to push the Rebels lead to 24–3. The Rebels increased their lead midway through the fourth on a 55-yard strike from senior quarterback Omar Clayton to senior wide receiver Rodelin Anthony. Clayton's backup, sophomore Mike Clausen, played the final minutes of the game and sealed the Rebels victory with a 4-yard touchdown run. The win against Sacramento State was their fourth straight opener.[24]

Oregon State
See also: 2009 Oregon State Beavers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Beavers 0 6 14 3 23
Rebels 0 0 7 14 21

Hawai'i
See also: 2009 Hawaii Warriors football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Warriors 10 10 0 13 33
Rebels 7 7 7 13 34

Wyoming
1 2 3 4 Total
Rebels 7 6 7 7 27
Cowboys 3 10 7 10 30

Nevada
See also: Battle for Nevada
1 2 3 4 Total
Rebels 0 21 7 0 28
Wolf Pack 14 7 14 28 63

BYU
See also: 2009 BYU Cougars football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Cougars 10 14 21 14 59
Rebels 0 7 7 7 21

Utah
See also: 2009 Utah Utes football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Utes 7 21 0 7 35
Rebels 3 3 9 0 15

New Mexico
1 2 3 4 Total
Rebels 14 7 3 10 34
Lobos 0 3 7 7 17

TCU
1 2 3 4 Total
Rebels 0 0 0 0 0
Horned Frogs 10 10 7 14 41

Colorado State
1 2 3 4 Total
Rams 0 7 3 6 16
Rebels 0 14 7 14 35

Air Force
1 2 3 4 Total
Rebels 0 3 7 7 17
Falcons 7 17 7 14 45

San Diego State
1 2 3 4 Total
Aztecs 14 7 3 0 24
Rebels 7 0 0 21 28

See also

References
  1. Associated Press, College football | Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin dismisses 2 players Archived November 20, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, The Seattle Times, November 16, 2009
  2. Greene, Ryan (July 21, 2009). "UNLV picked fifth in MWC preseason football poll". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved August 12, 2009.
  3. Greene, Ryan (August 6, 2009). "UNLV football notebook: ESPN mention begins exciting morning for Rebels". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  4. Staff (August 6, 2009). "ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. taps UNLV football as a sleeper in 2009". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  5. Myerberg, Paul (June 9, 2009). "The Quad Countdown: No. 84 UNLV". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 28, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  6. "2009 Mountain West Conference Media Days". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  7. Greene, Ryan (August 11, 2009). "Wolfe one of 37 on Biletnikoff Watch List". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved August 12, 2009.
  8. Greene, Ryan (July 22, 2009). "Rebels not satisfied despite praise in preseason poll". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  9. Greene, Ryan (July 28, 2009). "UNLV linebacker Bryce Saldi remains hospitalized in California". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved August 8, 2009.
  10. "Sacramento State Hornets vs. UNLV Rebels Box Score". ESPN. Retrieved October 12, 2009.
  11. "Oregon State Beavers vs. UNLV Rebels Box Score". ESPN. Retrieved October 12, 2009.
  12. "Hawaii Warriors vs. UNLV Rebels Box Score". ESPN. Retrieved October 12, 2009.
  13. "UNLV Rebels vs. Wyoming Cowboys Box Score". ESPN. Retrieved September 26, 2009.
  14. "UNLV Rebels vs. Nevada Wolf Pack Box Score". ESPN. Archived from the original on October 7, 2009. Retrieved October 12, 2009.
  15. "Brigham Young Cougrs vs. UNLV Rebels Box Score". Archived from the original on October 16, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
  16. "Utah Utes vs. UNLV Rebels Box Score". ESPN. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
  17. "UNLV Rebels vs. New Mexico Lobos Box Score". ESPN. Retrieved October 24, 2009.
  18. "UNLV Rebels vs. TCU Horned Frogs Box Score". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 3, 2009. Retrieved October 31, 2009.
  19. "Colorado State Rams vs. UNLV Rebels Box Score". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 11, 2009. Retrieved November 8, 2009.
  20. "UNLV Rebels vs. Air Force Falcons Box Score". ESPN. Retrieved November 15, 2009.
  21. "San Diego Aztecs vs. UNLV Rebels Box Score". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 12, 2010.
  22. UNLV Rebels 2009 Football Schedule, National Champs.net, accessed March 24, 2009. Archived August 16, 2009.
  23. Magruder, Jack (September 6, 2009). "Dailey shines in Sac State's loss". Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on September 9, 2009. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
  24. Greene, Ryan (September 6, 2009). "Rebels slam door on Hornets with huge second half, 38-3". Las Vegas Sun. Archived from the original on September 9, 2009. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
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