Rebels stay alive with win 
November 9, 2009 by James Kaikis
35-16 victory over Colorado State makes UNLV eligible
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The Rebels got a much-needed victory Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium to remain in control of their own destiny and become bowl eligible. The Rebels were able to defeat Colorado State 35-16 for the first time at home, despite being outgained in nearly every statistical category.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Rebels were able to score at the beginning of the quarter and at the end in order to go into halftime with a 14-7 lead.
But the Rebels came out hard in the second half, scoring three touchdowns and holding the Rams to a field goal and a late fourth quarter touchdown.
“This is the first time that UNLV, in the history of UNLV, has beaten Colorado State in Las Vegas,” said head coach Mike Sanford. “I am very proud of our team for what they accomplished.”
Although ineffective in the passing game, the Rebels were led by quarterbacks Omar Clayton and Mike Clausen in the victory.
Clayton was able to manage 44 yards on the ground including a touchdown run. Clausen also ran for two scores.
Clayton finished the game 10 of 17 for 170 yards with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jerriman Robinson, his second receiving touchdown of the season.
As for UNLV’s wide receivers, Ryan Wolfe was held to four catches for 42 yards while Phillip Payne dropped four passes and was held catchless for the first time in his college career.
The Rebels were able to get the victory despite being outgained 424 to 321. UNLV was outgained 223 to 147 through the air and 201 to 174. Colorado State also controlled the clock for nearly 38 total minutes.
“The defense did a really great job,” Clayton said. “They had some stops on third down and they had that turnover. Any time you can get momentum going in a football game is really crucial.” The Rebels allowed 26 first downs but were able to keep the Rams out of the endzone for most of the night.
Colorado State and UNLV had nine penalties each, for 77 and 78 yards respectively.
The Rebels will look to ride out the rest of the season undefeated and hope to become bowl eligible.
“It shows heart, it shows how much guys really want this,” said senior linebacker Jason Beauchamp. “A tribute [to the seniors], a tribute to the coaches, a tribute to all the hard work that has been put into this whole season.”
The headline of this article is EXTREMELY misleading. Makes UNLV eligible for what? The dog eating bowl…..BTW, I was at the game Saturday and what is up with Phillip Payne and his butterfingers. A perfect pass from Ryan Wolfe in what I gather to be UNLV’s version of the wildcat could have gone for a score had Payne not dropped the pass.
Ohh wow the rebels finally won a game, its time for Nevada to support the only team in Nevada that actually wins games and that is the University of Nevada! Go silver and blue!