Rebels are in the Top 25 according to the Newest USA Today Rankings, # 23.

Let’s get that trash talk going!!

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I found this article interesting. Gives some insight into what Gloria Nevarez is thinking and other stuff regarding realignment. I like the part about giving the boot to schools that won't commit in terms of budget.

I wouldn’t say there’s a lot of Kool Aid drinking otherwise the stands would be more full.

But among the people that follow them closely year in and year out, I do think there’s a lot of Kool Aid drinking early on.

We beat/dominated a decent team on the road and smacked around a horrible school. A lot to see still, they really haven’t proven much though. Eye test is pretty good in the early going.

But talks of expanded playoff, undefeated/1 loss … I think that’s over the top. It’s like the “we’re back” posts in hoops when we win at the Pit or win the 76 classic with a mediocre field.

If I start thinking that, it probably wouldn’t be until the first week of October.

That said, we aren’t often 2-0, and we rarely “look” this good to start the season. So there is reason for optimism.

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I’m good with low 60’s for now considering that we are usually in the triple digits.

Commits?
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today is the day that Computers were made aware!!

Not bad. IF we can keep it competitive. i still think we are a player or 2 on the offense and defensive side of the ball from being a true TOP 25.

IMO, my seat is reasonably priced for a premium stadium and a team that is doing well.

Concessions, otoh, are beyond my ability to reasonably pay. Is this because I'm so old I can remember $ 3.00 beer at a Buffalo Bills game? Or has the cost of concessions gotten out of control?

Depending on what happens against Oregon this next game, Oregon State very likely will play UNLV while ranked in the top 25 if they can beat Oregon in a game they are an underdog of 6 points (I think Oregon is way overrated). Oregon State is solidly favored over Purdue, Colorado State, and Nevada which are the games prior to playing UNLV which would make them 6-0 against UNLV.

I was going to post a "G5 Games to Watch" thread yesterday and ran out of time before games started. But it turned into a heck of a day. These are stream of consciousness thoughts that were not necessarily in game order or fully watched games.

• UNLV did what was expected. Potential loss of Marsel McDuffie is a problem. (Knee?)
• Boise State was back and forth with Oregon all game, losing on a walk off field goal. Two special teams TD for Oregon were the clear difference here. BSU lane discipline, angles, tackling on SPTMS were... not good. Also, they have a top 3 RB in the nation and Koetter went in the air with 2 timeouts and 3.5+ minutes to play. 3 n out and Oregon never gave them the ball back. BSU had every opportunity to win this game.
• Liberty absolutely stole one from Sanchez and NMSU. NMSU lead wire to wire except the last 65 seconds, the most important 65 seconds. NMSU lead 17-9 in the 4th quarter. A QB hit with no ball protection lead to a defensive TD for Liberty (17-15 NMSU). NMSU TD to put the lead to 9. Liberty rattles off 2 TD in the final 5:12. In their last two drives, NMSU had 9 plays for 14 yards in under 3 minutes. A complete implosion at the end.
• We all saw Northern Illinois's game-winning FG at Notre Dame. Of course, nationally this will probably get viewed as ND playing an awful game and NIU getting lucky. Notre Dame is a chosen few, they can't actually be overrated. I didn't watch any of that game except the field goal heard 'round the Bend. NIU outgained ND by over 100 and had a better 3rd down conversion rate. ND 2 interceptions thrown was the difference here.
• Early 4th quarter, South Florida trailed at Alabama by 21-16. Bama finished with 3 straight TDs to win 42-16.
• Tulane lead K-State most of the game. K-State offensive TD early 4th quarter to tie it up at 27, then a defensive TD to go up 34-27. Tulane had a TD taken off for OPI, and finished the game throwing a pick in the end zone; they got as far as the 2 yard line going in.
• I-35 Rivalry - Texas State steamrolled UTSA in San Marcos(?). Texas State had some G5 hype this season. They play ASU next week. I know it's just ASU, but that very well could be the only L on their schedule. Pay attention to Texas State as a possible "if they don't stumble, they get the spot" team.
• There are a few remaining undefeateds not named in the American. I don't expect 'em to remain undefeated long.
• Other than NMSU frustrations, C-USA went as expected. Except UTEP losing to Southern Utah. SUU earned the United Athletic Conference (UAC; it's the conference resulting the merged football programs from the WAC and ASUN, since neither had enough remaining teams to be eligible for a playoff spot without merging) it's first ever FBS win. Obviously not the first for SUU, we know about 12-13 years ago they beat UNLV.
• Bowling Green made a game of it with Penn State. BGSU lead 24-20 at half, but was outscored 14-3 in the second half.
• FCS St. Francis beat Kent State in the MAC.
• USU looks bad. Sure, they played USC. But they look bad. Also, Maiava played in the end of 3rd quarter and into 4th quarter for USC. Had a couple nice throws, good numbers for limited action. His TD run was pretty solid. Escaped some pressure, evaded a tackle or two, visible intentional ball protection, and found a huge mid-field lane.
• Idaho put Wyoming. The difference between Big Sky Idaho, MWC Wyoming, MWC BSU, and Big 10 Oregon is weird, and small. Jason Eck is a heckuva coach for Idaho. He's a Wisconsin alum, so getting to his alma mater might be a while. Idaho has made the FCS playoffs in both of his seasons as Vandals head man. Expect him to be a G5 head coach in the next couple seasons. Basically whenever he wants to.
• SJSU wins at Air Force 17-7. The first 21 points of this game scored in the first quarter. 17 punts, 3 TOD, 3 INT, and a partridge in a pear tree.
• Reno defense looked much better vs GASO than did Boise State's. But Reno has no Jeanty and lost 20-17. Lewis looks like a functional quarterback. Which is more than I could say of late.
• SDSU still sucks. 21-0 home loss to Oregon State
• Washington State convincing win over Texas Tech

Extra notes:

• Houston looked much better against Oklahoma than it did against UNLV, losing 16-12 in Norman. Houston QB was 24-28 for 280 and 1TD/1INT
• Kansas L on the road to Illinois. IMO a bummer. They won't be ranked, and they will have a bitter taste. Friday night can't come soon enough.
• Kyle McCord and Syracuse are much better than I thought they'd be. I have concerns about McCord picking apart our defense in a few weeks, especially with possibility that McDuffie is out.

Gonna post here on famous people who died.

Today’s first victim.

Shock G from Digital Underground. He sang Humpty Dance and introduced the world to 2pac Shakur.

I have one song that I own from Digitial Underground.

9 minutes of Doowhatyoulike.

Anyone else concerned about the availability of McDuffie for the KU game? Our favorite reporter, Joe Arrigo, doesn't believe he will be ready to suit up on Friday and I think that would be a huge loss for us. Getting pressure on Daniels will be key. Thoughts?

20,000

Over/under for Utah Tech attendance at allegiant.

I am stupidity that that Raiders best option is Minshew.
The Patriots starts of the Mayo tenure with a win over the Joe Burrows Cincinnati Bengals.
The jaguars nearly beat Miami.
The NY Giants sucks ass while Saquan Barkley rocks it for another team

Oregon beat Idaho 24-14. Boise won at Georgia Southern 56-45.

Unless Oregon didn't bring their varsity team to the game, then they are more beatable than ever. Not that Boise showed that they are world beaters. Both are hyped based on their names versus their products on the field. Oregon is currently favored -19.5. I don't see them winning by that margin, if they win.

I think that Boise, should they win, will become the top G5 and ranked about 18.

I imagine these could change if need arose. Like we saw Army drop from the schedule last minute as they joined the American. But, 2025 UNLV football opponents (https://fbschedules.com/2025-unlv-football-schedule/)

• at Sam Houston State
  • 2024 is Bearkats 3rd year in FBS jumping from WAC (they were previously Southland). KC Keeler is their head coach. He has 2 FCS national title, one with Delaware in 2003, then another with Sam Houston in the COVID FCS spring 2021 season (2020 fall delayed until spring 2021). SHSU was 3-9 in 2023 with home wins vs Middle Tennessee and Kennesaw State, and a lone road win at LA Tech. Only one real blowout, which was 38-7 at Houston. Surprised Rice in week 1 of 2024 season 34-14 on the road, then lost 45-14 at UCF.
• vs UCLA
  • I have no faith in DeShaun Foster as a head coach. But it's UCLA. It's PacBig-12Ten. They will have the talent. Eric Bieniemy is their OC, which I learned while writing this post up. They struggled at Hawaii and honestly should have lost. 2025 will be year 2 of the DF/EB era, and year 2 of UCLA getting wrecked by Big Ten teams. If 2024 goes well, and if we don't lose absolutely everything (HC, OC, DC could all reasonably be gone; we will lose all 3 upper classmen QBs, at least 4 OL, basically the entire defensive secondary, Woodard, RW3, JDJ, several DL contributors and starters. Job will require a lot of transfers in and growth from younger players), it could be a great environment for a UNLV FB home game.
• vs Idaho State
  • Cody Hawkins (Dan's son) is the head coach, 2024 is his 2nd year as head coach. They were 3-8 in 2023 with home wins against bad Northern Colorado and ranked Eastern Washington, road win at Portland State. They were walloped by Utah State, Sac State, and Idaho. But have heard good things around their program, particularly with strength and conditioning and administrative support. 2024 so far: 38-15 loss at Oregon State, 50-10 win against Western Oregon.
• at Miami (OH)
  • 2025 will be Chuck Martin's 12th year at Miami assuming he's still there. He's 56-63 overall as their head coach and were 11-3 in 2023. Losses were at Miami 38-3, vs Toledo 21-17, and the bowl game vs App State 13-9 in Orlando. Oxford, Ohio is out in the boonies it appears, west of Dayton and Cincinnati. Travel could suck for that game; 4 hour flight and then a bus trip (I assume they won't fly into Oxford, but I have no idea). This season, Miami has only played at Northwestern, who beat the Redhawks 13-6.

We know that the self-imposed deadline for MWC and Pac-2 scheduling agreement has passed. But in no way at all was that binding. Games could get scheduled individually with teams rather than conference, so that could change anyway. Other than those types of changes, we know that UNLV will play Hawaii and Reno. I can't find an official graphic or article, but FBSchedules has UNLV conference slate showing road games at CSU, SDSU, UNR, and USU, home games vs AFA, BSU, UNM, and Hawaii. Don't think that's right - we have BSU at home this year.

A ton can and will change about our team going into 2025, so hard to know what it will look like. Looking forward to this young 2024 season and seeing what 2025 really looks like as it approaches.

Houston looked way better than the rest of the country thought they would after being destroyed by UNLV. The game verse Oklahoma went to the last minute before the winner was decided in comparison to the last minute verse UNLV when Houston finally scored!

I think we need to win the turnover margin by at least +2 to win. if we win and dont do that then i will be impressed.

Defense was tremendous. Tackling and especially quickness, very strong. Jackson and McDuffie were great at LB. Secondary came up with some big plays but were largely untested, in part because the line (and linebackers) got pressure, some great penetration on the D line, Doyle showed why he was a big pickup. Obviously Cam and Catalon were really good.

Jacob is an offensive key because of his versatility and quickness. I liked what the RBs provided overall, watch out for Burrell in the future. Sluka was so so, some bad decisions, some amazing passes, great legs. The Oline was solid too.

De Jesus is a pivotal piece because of his speed, elusiveness and flexibility within the offense. I thought the RBs were pretty good overall, watch out for Burrell in the future. Receivers were ok, a ton of depth and talent but not a whole lot of utilization. The score dictate no air game in the second half.

Kicking, glad he made a mid distance one, but am concerned if it’s needed.

I think he got some time at LB, maybe after Elad was bounced for targeting, but I’ve heard Correa from Gorman will be an LB stud. Also heard that, even though we won’t see him, the freshman QB from El Paso (Ochoa?) will be the real deal.

Houston actually sucked. Offensively, they were clueless. Slow to read and react. In part probably because UNLV was focused in quick but my guess is they suck offensively as well.

Happy overall though. Kinda freewheeling heading into Kansas. Next week, shore up those stupid mistakes, work on fundamentals, keep the playbook closed, win by 30 plus and head to Kansas, hopefully healthy. Get Hajj time in game two.