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Time to roll the dice
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE LAS VEGAS -- Unsuspecting souls were being suckered in these parts long before gambling came to town. In the mid-1800s, word spread that springs had been discovered in what previously was thought to be nothing but wasteland. Eventually, it developed into Las Vegas. Part of the migration that followed included gold prospectors, most of whom arrived with hope and left empty-handed. Some 150 years later, the Arkansas Razorbacks could perform a reenactment, leaving busted if they're not careful when they play UNLV tonight in the Las Vegas Bowl. So much about the first meeting of these teams sets up as an ambush of the Razorbacks (6-5). Arkansas has been exposed to different distractions than it has before other games. Many players indulged in Las Vegas' entertainment, roaming without a curfew Saturday, Sunday and Monday and feeling the effects in a couple of the morning practices. While Arkansas is making its third consecutive postseason appearance and has that experience on its side, UNLV (7-5) has the hunger of playing in its first bowl in six years. Then there is UNLV's David-and-Goliath motivation, a role it relishes. Little ol' Mountain West Conference third-place finisher doesn't stand a chance against one of the big, bad monsters from the SEC, does it? The Rebels aren't intimidated. "Your conference doesn't speak for your team," UNLV quarterback Jason Thomas said. "You have to go out there and perform every Saturday regardless of what conference you're in. We're playing an SEC team. Great. That just looks better for us if we win." Naturally, Arkansas receiver Sparky Hamilton disagrees. "There's been lots of distractions, but there's a big difference between the SEC and the Mountain West," Hamilton said. "I think SEC ball is more powerful than their ball. I think we'll go in there with no distractions. I think we'll have no problem." That's probably what Ole Miss thought, too. Then UNLV pushed the SEC West team into overtime -- in Oxford -- before falling 43-40. Now the Rebels are on their turf. Sam Boyd Stadium is where they play their regular-season home games, and it's where they won all their games this season for the first time since 1977. The crowd is expected to be small by SEC standards, perhaps 15,000, but UNLV fans will outnumber Arkansas fans three to one. "I'm sure they feel like they have the advantage because they're home and they're very comfortable in their environment," Arkansas Coach Houston Nutt said. "But like I told our guys, it's going to be a good environment. A lot of people are going to be wearing red. "We're thankful to be in a bowl game. We've taken advantage of it, and now let's get ready to play. Our guys are looking forward to playing." UNLV Coach John Robinson did what he could to play down the home-field advantage. "We're not a home stadium with anything like what you're used to," Robinson said of the Razorbacks. "The program is in its infancy. It's not like walking into LSU or South Bend or some place like that. Don't get confused here." There is no confusing how much this game means to the UNLV players, many of whom were around in 1998 when the team went 0-11. Strong safety Randy Black has been toting a video recorder with him to chronicle the week, including bringing it into the news conference Wednesday. "I'm going to tape you guys while you tape us," Black joked. "I'm not sure if any of you guys out there understand how big this is to us." Said right tackle John Greer: "We are so happy to play in this bowl ... I'm speechless." In theory, Arkansas has reason to feel the same way. Until late November, when the Razorbacks pulled two upsets to get six victories, it looked like they were headed for a 4-7 record. By qualifying with an unexpected late flurry, it would be easy to fall into the trap of feeling like the team is just glad to be here and winning is a bonus. But the Razorbacks have incentives beyond the obvious for winning, too. They can make history by making Nutt the only Arkansas coach to win back-to-back bowl games after winning the Cotton Bowl last season. A victory would give Arkansas its third consecutive seven-victory season and carry momentum into the off-season. And even though it's not a major bowl, a victory would be regarded as significant because it would have come during a rebuilding year when Nutt saw one-third of his scholarship players miss at last one game because of injuries. Preparing to win has not taken a back seat to enjoying the Las Vegas nightlife, several players said. A few also acknowledged as late as Tuesday that they felt a little more tired than usual but they insisted they would have full energy by today. "It's been a lot of walking going on," nose guard Curt Davis said. Players actually looked forward to Nutt imposing a curfew the past two nights, Davis said. Count Davis among the players who regard the Rebels highly. Specifically, he said he was concerned about defending the option, which UNLV uses to supplement its offense. Arkansas hasn't seen much of the option since LSU temporarily moved tailback Kevin Faulk to quarterback and ran it in the 1998 game in Little Rock that the Hogs won in a blowout. "If you don't come prepared, they have the athletes that can really break you," Davis said. "If you get prepared for [the option], it's easy to shut down. But we're really concerned about it." The Rebels don't fit the stereotypical concept of the finesse-minded offenses of the West, using a running game that ranked 13th nationally at 227.8 yards a game to subdue opponents. They feature five players who originally signed with Pac-10 schools, the most prominent being the 6-4, 235-pound Thomas, who came from Southern Cal. "Our biggest concern is their quarterback," linebacker J.J. Jones said. "He's an exceptional athlete. He reminds me of somebody like [former Tennessee quarterback] Tee Martin who can run and hurt you scrambling." Arkansas will be scrambling to keep up with the Rebels if it can't overcome many of the odds stacked against it. "You think about a lot of things," defensive coordinator John Thompson said. "They're a good team. This is a road game for us, and we're not used to a lot of things [in Las Vegas] and [the UNLV players] are. "But it comes back to how we handle ourselves. You can say all the advantages that UNLV possibly has, but we've got to take care of our business. It's not an ambush, if you know there's a chance that it's coming."
This article was published on Thursday, December 21, 2000RETURN to main page
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