Nevada wants to keep the Cannon silver and blue

Keep the cannon silver and blue.

That's the battle cry of Nevada's football team when it visits arch-rival UNLV tonight (7:05, ESPN Radio 630 AM) at Sam Boyd Stadium in the 32nd renewal of the in-state rivalry.

Nevada broke a five-game losing streak last season when it beat UNLV 22-14 at Mackay Stadium, and no doubt the Pack would like to put together a nice streak of their own and keep the Fremont Cannon in Northern Nevada.

"It's certainly been a great series," said Nevada coach Chris Ault, who is 8-7 in his career against the Rebels. "We've had some nice battles through the year. The Fremont Cannon is the largest rivalry trophy in America. It's housed in our building, and we want to make sure it stays there.

"They are a much-improved team without question. They had a great opportunity to beat Iowa State and probably should have beaten Iowa State."

UNLV coach Mike Sanford, who replaced the legendary John Robinson in 2005, has a different feeling about the rivalry than he did a year ago.

"The thing that makes this one so awesome is the history," UNLV coach Mike Sanford said. "This is a special game for us. Wherever you are, the rivalry game is important. Every game is important, but this game is very important because it is the championship of Nevada. This is a gigantic rivalry game, and we are looking forward to it. We're fired up and excited. Our staff, including me, understands this rivalry a lot better this year than we did last year."

UNLV (1-2) had last week off after losing 16-10 at Iowa State and 42-13 at Hawai'i. The Pack (2-2), meanwhile, has rebounded nicely in the last two weeks with a 28-10 win over Colorado State and a 31-21 win over Northwestern.

Sanford liked the idea of having a week off, and Ault felt it was important for the Pack to play through their early season losses to Fresno State and Arizona State.

"It was good for us to be able to analyze ourselves a little bit, look at how people were defending us, how people were attacking our defense and to see some things that we did wrong" Sanford said. "We have to learn from them and practice those things."

"It depends," Ault said when asked if it was an advantage for UNLV to have extra prep time for the Pack. "We needed games. It certainly helped us I feel."

It helped on both sides of the ball for the Wolf Pack.

Robert Hubbard had career highs in carries (32) and yards (156) last week against Northwestern, and quarterback Jeff Rowe completed better than 80 percent of his passes in the wins over CSU and Northwestern, going 36 of 44 passing for 407 yards. The only thing missing thus far is Rowe and Caleb Spencer's inability to get their deep vertical game going. Spencer has 25 catches for 448 yards, but has yet to score.

"I think the they are a physical team," Sanford said. "I think they have some great players. I'm impressed with Jeff Rowe, I'm impressed with Robert Hubbard and I'm impressed with Caleb Spencer. On defense, Ezra Butler their outside linebacker, J.J. Milan and cornerback Joe Garcia are great players.

"They do a nice job with their pistol offense. It's an offense that you don't see all the time. The biggest thing is being to emulate it in practice; just doing it."

UNLV's defense is led by Beau Bell, who has 31 tackles and two sacks, cornerback Eric Wright, defensive tackle Howie Fuimaono and defensive end Jeremy Geathers, whose father, Jumpy, and uncle, Robert, both played in the NFL.

Nevada's defense has forced seven turnovers the last two weeks, and hasn't allowed an opposing running back to gain 100 or more yards since Fresno State's Dwayne Wright did it in the season-opener.

The Pack's biggest challenge may be containing UNLV quarterback Rocky Hinds, who transferred from USC two years ago and sat out last season. Hinds has completed 42 of 87 passes for 526 yards and a score. Hinds' back-up is Shane Steichen, who scored on a 70-yard run last year, but was ineffective throwing the ball. Steichen has played in all three games.

"It's always an issue," said Barry Sacks, Nevada's co-defensive coordinator. "You have to always make sure you have the option covered on every formation they run. (Shane) Steichen is fast, and after watching film, Rocky Hinds is extremely mobile. He throws very well on the run. He does some of his best work on the run."

Erick Jackson (31 carries, 120 yards) and David Peeples (25-70) are the main threats in the backfield, and Casey Flair (17-213) and Ryan Wolfe (14-271-2) are the big receiving threats.

Notes: Nevada leads the series 16-15 ... The game will not be televised in the state of Nevada because nobody gets mtn., which is part of CSTV... Ault and Mike Bradeson, the Rebels' secondary coach, are the only coaches that have been on both sides of the rivalry. Ault was at UNLV from 1973 to 1975, and Bradeson was a coach under Ault from 1986 to 1991 ... Rowe has started in 28 straight games and Spencer in 27 straight ... Kyle Robertson or Fred White will start at strong-side guard in place of Barrett Reznick, who is expected to miss the next two weeks with a sprained knee.

Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281

NEVADA (2-2, 0-1) at UNLV (1-2, 0-0)

When: Today, 7:05 p.m.

Where: Sam Boyd Stadium

Radio: ESPN Radio 630 AM

The Pick: Nevada 21, UNLV 17