UNLV Rebels vs Hawaii Warriors Football Preview

A struggling UNLV will finally make its 2011 debut at Sam Boyd Stadium after traveling to BCS venues and suffering two very-lopsided losses. The Rebels had the first opportunity to “enjoy” the Russell Wilson experience at Wisconsin, falling to the Badgers by the score of 51-17. The next week in Pullman, they would lose even bigger to Washington State, getting routed 59-7. Not much is going right so far for the Rebels, who are averaging a paltry 225 yards of total offense per game. Not surprisingly given the scores of their first two affairs, the Rebels also have one of the worst defenses in the nation statistically, giving up an average of 555 yards per game.

Despite enjoying a home game, things won’t let up too much for UNLV. Hawaii (1-1) comes to Las Vegas after a tough 40-32 loss at Washington. UNLV ended last season on the islands, suffering a 59-21 loss to the Warriors to end a 2-11 season. Hawaii is led by the flowing locks of Bryant Moniz, who has added a run threat to his game this season after posting over 5,000 passing yards last year. Moniz led Hawaii to a week one win over Colorado by passing for 178 yards and running for 121. Last week Moniz passed for 333 yards, but the run game could only muster 55 yards. UNLV will have to keep eyes on senior receiver Royce Pollard, who brought down eight receptions for 128 yards in last week’s loss. Even as a tertiary receiver for Hawaii last year, Pollard still posted six games of 90 receiving yards or more. With UNLV’s defense giving up an average of 190 rushing yards per game, Hawaii should look to develop its rushing attack in the run-and-shoot offense in this game. After Moniz scrambled to a win in week one, the run game was stifled last week.

UNLV will continue its attempts to develop its own run game as well as it averages only 122 yards per game. The Rebels’ best offense seems to come when Caleb Herring leads a pistol-running attack. Tim Cornett and Bradley Randle both average at least four yards per carry. Despite the limited success of the pistol run game, the Rebels must improve the passing game if they hope to pick up some wins this season. While Herring does complete a very respectable 62 percent of his passes, he averages only 103 passing yards per game. The passing production has almost entirely gone in the direction of Michael Johnson, who has caught 12 passes for 86 yards. Phillip Payne has the next-most receptions at five, and Payne has missed some time with injury. Herring will need receivers to step up and get the passing game going.

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By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer