Cannon remains in enemy hands

September 29, 2008 by Hepi Mita 

The wheels that fell off on Saturday night were meant to be the wheels of the Fremont Cannon, damaged after another rowdy celebration by UNLV fans. Instead, it was the wheels of the Rebel bandwagon, which fell apart after a crushing 49-27 defeat to Reno.

It was no secret that scrambling quarterbacks have caused the Rebels problems. Utah State’s Diondre Borel, Utah’s Brian Johnson and ISU’s Austen Arnaud all led their teams in rushing, despite being their team’s primary passers.

However, none of them had as big of a day as UNR’s quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Running for a monstrous 240 yards and three touchdowns, as well as passing for 176 yards and two touchdowns.

The way it played out was like a Greek tragedy, with the protagonist, head coach Mike Sanford, exhibiting hubris before falling in the biggest game of the season.

When Sanford was asked how he planned on containing the quarterback following the win over Iowa State two weeks ago, he gave a tongue-in-cheek response, saying he would have a man watch the quarterback the entire game.

Fast-forward to last Saturday. Kaepernick walked off the field at Sam Boyd Stadium, setting a Wolf Pack record for quarterback rushing yards on his way to retaining the Fremont Cannon for his team.

Looking past the agony of losing to arch-nemesis Reno, you have to take into account the fact the Rebels had just come off two exhausting overtime wins against BCS teams.

Possession of the cannon has also been historically streaky, with no team holding the cannon for less than five years since 1994. This is now Reno’s fourth year in possession of the cannon.

The good news is the only scrambling quarterbacks the Rebels still have to face are TCU’s Andy Dalton and Air Force’s Shea Smith.

Neither Shea nor Dalton are as gifted in their running as Kaepernick, but both play for better all-around teams. Smith has run for 224 yards and 5 touchdowns over the season, while Dalton has 216-yards rushing and 5 touchdowns as well.

The bad news is TCU is a 4-1 team, while Air Force is currently 3-1. The games are also a part of a deadly three game stretch for the Rebels where they face Air Force, BYU and TCU in consecutive conference games. The three teams combine for an 11-2 record.

Thankfully before that gauntlet the Rebels face 2-2 Colorado State on the road and then have a week off to prepare for the tough stretch.

If the Rebels can maintain composure and come out of their next four games without taking too much damage, they could still achieve their goal of making it to a bowl game.

After the Nov. 1 clash against TCU, UNLV faces teams who all currently have losing records, and it would not be too big of a stretch to say that the Rebels are capable of causing an upset or two before then.

How the Rebels respond to the loss, and the tough road ahead will define the season. Although the immediate future looks daunting, in the long run the Rebels are still halfway to making their first bowl appearance since the year 2000.