History UNLV Rebels football

1 history

1.1 years
1.2 move division i
1.3 present

history
the years

in 1967, nevada southern university announced field collegiate football program beginning on september 14, 1968 , announced team division ii independent , bill ireland program s first head coach. rebels played first game of inaugural season against st. mary s gaels @ cashman field in las vegas. rebels won game, defeating gaels 27–20 in front of 8,000 fans. rebels remained undefeated until last game of season, losing cal lutheran kingsmen, 17–13, rebels finished inaugural campaign 8-1. following year, rebels played first game against in-state rival nevada, losing wolf pack 30–28. unlv gained revenge, defeating nevada following year, 42–30, in first year fremont cannon awarded. on september 25, 1971, rebels played first game against division school, when played utah state of pacific coast athletic association (pcaa), losing 27–7. on october 23, 1971, rebels opened new home, las vegas stadium, against weber state, losing 30–17. @ end of 1972 season disappointing 1-10 record, ireland announced stepping down, leaving rebels 26-23-1 record.

a football signed 1973 unlv runnin’ rebels football team gifted president gerald ford.

ireland replaced ron meyer before start of 1973 season , meyer led rebels powerhouse status 8-3 record, including first victory on major college opponent, thrashing marshall 31–9. rebels continued strong campaign, breaking national division ii top-10 , announcing first all-american, running mike thomas, ran division ii national rushing title 1,741 , setting 9 school records in process. rebels success continued in 1974 undefeated season in school history, finishing 11-0 , ranking second in national division ii polls, highest rebels football team has ever placed. rebels embarked on first post-season journey in national quarterfinal against alcorn state, defeating braves 35–22 in las vegas. rebels memorable season ended in national semifinals in grantland rice bowl, losing delaware 49–11. meyer left program in 1976 take head coaching position @ collegiate powerhouse, southern methodist university.

the move division i

former boise state coach tony knap took on rebels in 1976, after ron meyer s departure. knap able continue rebels prior success under meyer, 9-3 record, ranking of 7th in nation , berth in division ii playoffs, losing akron 27–6 in national quarterfinals. after ten years division ii independent, program made jump division level in 1978, independent of conference affiliation. on september 9, rebels played first game division school, losing washington state 34–7. rebels defeated first major college opponent away las vegas, 33–6 victory on colorado state in fort collins. @ end of season, rebels made trip yokohama, japan compete against college football powerhouse brigham young, losing 28–24. hard end season, rebels still produced memorable year, going 7-4 in first campaign @ division level. 1981 season proved last in knap s tenure @ unlv, retired coaching after year of accomplishments, including rebels first appearance in abc s regional game of week (a 45–21 loss @ wyoming), 45–41 upset of 8th-ranked byu in provo, utah , securing programs 100th win (27–20 @ utep) in el paso, texas.

the 1982 season big year in unlv football history program hired fourth head coach, harvey hyde , rebels became affiliated college athletic conference when joined pacific coast athletic association (pcaa). rebels first pcaa game 29–27 loss pacific on october 2. took entire season before rebels won first conference game, 42–23 victory against cal state fullerton on november 27. rebels won first conference championship in 1984 randall cunningham led rebels finished 11-2, including program s first trip bowl game, 30–13 victory on toledo in california bowl in fresno, california. hyde stepped down after 1985 season , 5-5-1 record , ncaa discovery several players on 1984 rebels ineligible. rebels forced forfeit entire 1984 season, including california bowl.

wayne nunnely became program s fifth head coach on september 20, 1986 , coached rebels 17–7 victory on wisconsin in front of first sellout crowd in silver bowl stadium history, record 32,207 fans. 1 of nunnely s key players elbert ickey woods, first rebel , pcaa running win national division rushing title, rushed 1,658 yards , drafted cincinnati bengals in 1988 nfl draft.

1994 memorable season rebels, wide receiver randy gatewood set 2 single-game receiving records in 48–38 loss idaho on september 17. rebels stunned heavily favored nevada, 32–27 win share of big west conference championship, program s second title (but first 1 allowed keep). rebels defeated central michigan 52–24 in las vegas bowl on home field.

in 1996, rebels along san jose state left big west conference , became member of heavily expanded western athletic conference. league announced hold championship game top team in each of 2 divisions @ end of each season , game held @ sam boyd stadium in las vegas. rebels lost first wac game, 65–17 air force on september 7. rebels won first wac game in 44–42 shootout against san diego state on november 16, in game in freshman quarterback john denton set ncaa freshman record passing yards 503. although rebels finished abysmal 1-11, denton still set ten ncaa freshman records. on october 17, 1998, unlv played first overtime game, losing san diego state 20–17. in 1999, rebels finished program s first winless season, had first consensus first team all-american in punter joe kristosik, averaged nationally-best 46.2 yard per punt average.

present

in 1999, rebels made headlines, first leaving wac 7 other schools form mountain west conference, announcing program had hired legendary collegiate , professional coach john robinson eighth head coach. school repeat conference hardships in mountain west lost conference opener on september 25, 52–14 utah. rebels won first mountain west game on october 9, 35–32 against wyoming. although 1999 rough year, unlv win in week 2 featured 1 of improbable endings in college football history. rebels trailed on road against baylor 24-21 ten seconds left. baylor had ball @ unlv 5 yard line , unlv out of time outs. kneel down have given baylor victory, baylor chose run ball, fumbled , unlv s kevin thomas recovered , returned 99 yards touchdown , 27-24 rebel win. 2000 seemed year in rebels football turn around, rebels made numerous gains become competitor mountain west crown. rebels started upsetting undefeated air force 34–13 on september 30 in first time abc came las vegas rebels football game. rebels ended five-game skid rival nevada, defeating wolf pack 34–13 in front of largest crowd see game in battle nevada. season went down wire rebels had pull out 34–32 victory on road against hawaii clinch third berth in bowl game. rebels chosen mountain west representative las vegas bowl on december 20. rebels continue undefeated streak in bowl games defeated arkansas 31–14 in front of las vegas bowl record 29,113 fans. finished season 8-5.

before start of 2001 season, rebels garnered national accolades team ranked #25 in sports illustrated s preseason top 25 , #24 in football digest s rankings. quarterback jason thomas named candidate heisman trophy, ranking high #7. although rebels seemed on paper, team did not gel , ended season disappointing 4-7. on october 5, 2002, rebels defeated rival nevada 21–17 robinson s 200th career coaching victory. robinson retired after 2004 season, having led rebels bowl game , 5 consecutive victories on rival nevada.

on december 6, 2004, rebels hired utah assistant coach mike sanford ninth head football coach. in first 3 years @ helm of rebels football program, sanford failed win more 2 games , had back 2-10 seasons, finishing last in mountain west 3 years. sanford failed beat nevada 5 years coached @ unlv. sanford has sent former rebels eric wright , beau bell nfl draft.

the rebels finished 2008 season 5-7 record after starting season 3-1. best win-loss record unlv had since going 6-6 in 2003. marked first time unlv did not finish last in division since 2004. 23-20 victory on #15 arizona state first time rebels had beaten ranked opponent since 2003.

the 2009 season disappointment , led sanford s dismissal coach. unlv picked finish fifth in conference, team began fall apart after surprising loss @ wyoming. followed losses @ nevada, against brigham young , utah, , @ texas christian , air force academy — games in unlv outscored 243-81. rebounded toward end of season , finished 5-7.

after air force loss on november 14, school announced sanford s last game coach season finale against san diego state. former montana head coach bobby hauck named program s next head coach on december 21, 2009. former tcu, alabama , texas a&m head coach dennis franchione interviewed position.

before 2014 reno game, bobby hauck announced stepping down following conclusion of 2014 season. on december 10, 2014, school announced tony sanchez of bishop gorman high school succeed hauck head coach of unlv.

sanchez announced completed staff @ unlv on december 22, 2014, feature staff members nebraska, colorado, oregon state, usc, houston, georgia state , bishop gorman.

in 2016, new domed stadium proposed , approved las vegas home las vegas raiders of national football league (nfl) after team relocates las vegas oakland , rebels replacing sam boyd stadium. stadium expected completed in 2020.

on september 2, 2017, unlv rebels lost howard university bison 43-40 in sam boyd stadium. howard, meac fcs opponent, coached mike london, , led @ quarterback freshman caylin newton, younger brother of nfl star cam newton. of september 2017, due high off-shore point spread numbers, howard s victory against unlv biggest point spread upset in college football history.