Louie Addazio said it’s about a next-man-up mentality. That the room has to own a mindset to have each other’s backs.
That if one guy goes down, another comes in and has to be lifted up by those around him.
“We have to band together, no matter who’s in the middle,” said Addazio, offensive line coach for UNLV’s football team. “We have some versatility. We just have to grind this thing out and rock-and-roll.”
The Rebels open Mountain West play at Hawaii on Saturday and will be without starting center Austin Boyd, who went down with injury in the fourth quarter of a 27-21 season-opening loss to Memphis.
It wasn’t good afterwards. The Rebels struggled mightily to protect quarterback Jackson Arnold and move the ball down the stretch.
It will be imperative things change this week because there is every chance the Rebels could find themselves in a shootout with the Rainbow Warriors, one of the more dangerous offensive units in the conference.
But rain is also predicted for the area, meaning those up front just might have to show consistency in their run blocking schemes for a back like Jai’Den “Jet” Thomas.
Either way, much will be expected from Addazio’s group.
“No doubt, Austin is a leader and losing him is a big deal,” offensive lineman Jackson Brown said. “But whoever is in there, we trust him.
“We just needed to come out to practice this week and begin stacking days to get ready for Hawaii. Watch film. Stay together. This is a huge game for us to get back on track and get our first win, especially against a good team. We know we can play way better and score a lot more points.”
Watching tape
Hawaii is like Memphis and it isn’t. It will spread out UNLV defensively but how the Rainbow Warriors attack is different.
The schemes aren’t very close.
“Air Force runs two wide receivers and two slots also, but they’re certainly not going to be similar to (Memphis and Hawaii),” UNLV coach Dan Mullen said. “It’s a big rivalry game for us, the first conference game. It’s a huge week for us.”
He watched the Memphis tape and came away with the same evaluation he had had immediately following the game.
That the Rebels had every chance to increase a lead but couldn’t convert when it mattered most.
That his team must score in the red zone. It was the difference between winning and losing. UNLV had the ball three times inside the Memphis 20-yard line and equaled zero points.
Do that against Hawaii, and the Rebels would almost certainly come home 0-2 on the season.
“You know, it sucks that we lost (to Memphis),” said linebacker Kamuela Ka’aihue, one of two Hawaiian natives for UNLV returning home this week. “Guys are going to feel down. Guys are going to feel mad. But we’re also very focused on flushing what happened and putting our focus on how we can prepare ourselves and get ready for a big game. This is conference play.
“Obviously, we didn’t play a perfect game last week. We need to be able to execute and try to better ourselves every single day, regardless of who we’re playing.”
Hawaii opened its season with a 37-27 loss at Stanford, when the Rainbow Warriors were within minutes of staging the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in school history.
They had scored three touchdowns to turn a 23-7 deficit into a 27-23 lead. But such thoughts of victory ended when a fumble by quarterback Micah Alejado (Bishop Gorman) was returned 31 yards for Stanford’s game-sealing touchdown.
“I love the guys’ mentality,” Hawaii coach Timmy Chang told reporters this week. “We were right there. We put ourselves in position to win the game, and I love that about them. With an opponent like UNLV, top of the conference the last three years, this game is important.”
Rage in eyes
It just might depend — as with most games — on how the Rebels perform up front on both sides of the ball. Injuries and eligibility issues have cut into the depth across the lines. How the Rebels fare in the red zone. How they deal with the weather. Lots to consider. A lot on the line.
“One thing our strength coach said (after Memphis) was he didn’t see a lot of people down on themselves or pouty,” wide receiver Taeshaun Lyons said. “He saw a little rage in our eyes. The looks on our faces were motivated. We can rely on each other and be better this week for each other and be stronger.
“I’m excited to see what’s going to happen.”
Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.
Up next
■Who: UNLV at Hawaii
■When: 7 p.m. Saturday
■Where: Clarence T.C. Ching Athletics Complex, Honolulu
■TV: CW
■Radio: KWWN (1100 AM, 100.9 FM)
