UNLV Rebels vs Wisconsin Badgers Football Preview

Many forms of pressure exist in sports, but at the end of the day, two types of the old demon reveal themselves to a particularly large extent. In the sporting universe, there is – on one hand – the pressure which comes from lacking any sort of success at all, and then – on the other hand – lies the pressure which accompanies success. When the UNLV Rebels and the Wisconsin Badgers open the new college football season in prime time on the first night of September, a national television audience will get to see how pressure will manipulate two teams from different sides of the tracks.

UNLV enters 2011 on a 10-year bowl drought, amassing a miserable 35-83 record over that span. Second-year coach Bobby Hauck is no longer ensconced in his comfortable role as the coach of an FCS powerhouse at Montana. Thrown into the FBS pit of fire, Hauck has tons of work to do after his 2-11 debut season. He is working to create for the Rebels their first true taste of a winning tradition, a culture in which victory is expected on an annual basis.

After saying goodbye to Omar Clayton, UNLV now has many candidates to fill the quarterback spot. The offseason battle between sophomore Caleb Herring and junior college transfer Sean Reilly has gone Herring’s way. It’s Herring who will get the nod to start the opener, but the big question is if he’ll be able to keep the job by performing credibly against Wisconsin’s stout defense. Herring appeared in eight games as a freshman in a backup-only role, throwing for 365 yards and completing 50 percent of his passes. The Rebels also welcome back leading receiver Phillip Payne, who racked up 689 yards last year. Payne has battled offseason injuries but is expected to play. Leading rusher Tim Cornett also returns as a sophomore looking to make a bigger difference after last year’s 546-yard performance.

Last year, the Rebels were a train wreck defensively, giving up 40-plus points in eight different games and finishing almost dead-last in every defensive category. This does not bode well in a game against Wisconsin. After having been four yards away from being the second team in college football history to have three 1,000-yard rushers, the Badgers welcome back two of them in James White (1,052 yards) and Montee Ball (996 yards). Replacing the veteran Scott Tolzien at quarterback is the much-ballyhooed N.C. State transfer Russell Wilson, who has already been named as a team captain by his teammates. Wilson threw for 3,563 yards and 28 touchdowns as a junior in the ACC. UNLV’s defense will need to have the game of its season on Thursday, because Wisconsin coach Bret Bielema – attempting to bring his program to consecutive Rose Bowls for the first time since the 1998 and 1999 seasons (when Barry Alvarez did the same thing in Madison) – won’t show any mercy.

UNLV has something to prove, pushed by the pressure of pigskin misery over the past decade. However, Wisconsin and Russell Wilson are facing another kind of pressure – the pressure to perform and live up to very high expectations. We’ll find out if pressure makes these teams play better, or if the heat of battle causes UNLV and Wisconsin to stumble out of the gate in 2011.

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By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer