Sanford battles long odds in building UNLV program

Even though his previous job was as offensive coordinator for a Utah squad that crashed the Bowl Championship Series, Mike Sanford did not come to Nevada-Las Vegas promising to take the program to the big time.

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The Rebels had a sordid history to overcome, a quarter century-long legacy that Sanford has not been able to reverse in three seasons. Winning has not stayed in Vegas, because winning has not happened there.

"I knew that this was going to be a big challenge when I took this job. It was a challenge that I wanted," said Sanford, whose team visits 15th-ranked Arizona State on Saturday. "We are a better team, with better leadership and a better attitude. It has not shown up on the field.

"But it's not about talk and saying that we are better. We have to go out and show it."

Since 1984 - when Randall Cunningham quarterbacked UNLV to a conference title - the program has just four winning seasons and two bowl trips. The Rebels play in an off-campus stadium and in a market that, save for Jerry Tarkanian's basketball teams, has never embraced college sports.

And the Nevada university system chancellor has suggested that what ails the program cannot be cured by any coach. John Robinson, a national-title winner at Southern California, was 28-42 at UNLV from 1999-2004.

In August, chancellor Jim Rogers told the Las Vegas Review-Journal: "Something is fundamentally wrong with the football program here.... I'm not sure any top-flight coach could come in and improve the program, assuming any top-flight coach would come in here, which I don't think they would. So, I don't know how to remedy the program."

The Rebels, who are 1-1 with a win over Utah State and a loss at Mountain West Conference rival Utah, have not had a winning season since going 8-5 in 2000. Their average attendance of 29,281 last year ranked 80th in the bowl subdivision.

Sanford believes a lack of depth is one of the biggest things holding UNLV back. In recent years, the program has been under the NCAA maximum of 85 scholarship players.

The first-teamers, particularly on offense, are solid. But last week, Utah wore down the Rebels after a pair of standout linebackers, Starr Fuimaono and Ronnie Paulo, departed with injuries. Fuimaono, perhaps the team's top defender, is out for the season with an ligament tear in his left knee.

"Our guys that are on the second team need to realize that they are a play away from starting," said Sanford, who is 7-30 at UNLV and under contract through 2009. "I didn't think we were as prepared - and I'm not saying they weren't coached, I'm saying they need to prepare themselves the way you need to prepare mentally to be successful.

"As far as the quality of our depth and the number of players overall, we're better at certain positions, but we are not where we need to be."

The Rebels managed a late touchdown to make the final score 42-21 in Utah's favor, resulting in platitudes about how the team never stopped giving it the old college try.

"I don't think that at any point in the second half did we quit," quarterback Omar Clayton told reporters afterward. "Utah is a (top-25) team, and we played with them for the first half. The key words are 'the first half.' We have to learn to come out in the second half and play."

Added running back Frank Summers: "It's just not giving up. This is a game of men, and you can never give up."

It will take more than pats on the back for character for Sanford's squad to compete with ASU and finish the year with that elusive winning record.

Considering UNLV's recent football history, however, it has to start somewhere.

"(Last week), we just didn't do what we were supposed to do," Sanford said. "Everything was correctable, so we must correct it."