When the Utes reversed their return on the opening kickoff Saturday and ran it back 100 yards for a touchdown, UNLV's Dominique Dorsey admitted it was a bit of a dagger.
But at the same time it was a challenge to him.
"I thought, 'Wow, maybe we could come back and return one,' but then they kicked it short, so I was like, 'Wow.' "
Utah kicked bouncers up the middle for several of its kickoffs, and Dorsey figured that was to keep him from breaking a big runback.
"That was a real tough break for us," said the Mountain West Conference's leading rusher, who padded his total with 179 yards running and two touchdown scampers — not nearly enough to hang on against 7-0, 3-0 Utah, ranked seventh last Monday in the first 2004 BCS standings and ninth and 10th in the Associated Press and ESPN/coaches polls, respectively.
Utah clubbed the Rebels, who have never won in Salt Lake City, 63-28 in Rice-Eccles Stadium and has now won nine straight against UNLV. Utah is the only team the Rebels have never beaten in MWC play.
UNLV coach John Robinson, the former University of Southern California and Los Angeles Rams icon who announced his retirement on Sept. 26 after an 0-4 Rebel start, was so impressed this time he called Utah "a potential national championship team."
"They're a very good football team. Each week they've improved, their special teams got us right away, and I was very impressed with their speed."
Robinson talked up Utah quarterback Alex Smith, calling him as good as any in the country, and noted Utah's speed and efficiency on offense as being among the best in the nation.
"They just have that element now," he said, that makes the Utes as good as most any team around, and he doesn't care about those who scoff at such talk.
As for the Rebels (2-6, 1-3 MWC), it was more of the same: Dorsey running wild, trying to pull his team along with him, while turnovers killed almost every move they tried to make.
"We made a lot of errors. It was like Halloween for us," said Robinson, with Dorsey repeating his coach's words later.
UNLV had four turnovers — two interceptions, one returned by a touchdown, and two fumbles lost — and Utah blocked two punts for touchdowns, one directly returned to the end zone by Shaun Harper and one that gave Utah the ball on the UNLV 27-yard line for Smith to connect with Steven Savoy for a 27-yard TD pass on the first play from scrimmage.
"It just looked like they hit us with a shocker," said Dorsey about the 100-yard kickoff return by Utah. "Especially a reverse like that. They executed the play like it was supposed to be.
"For me, I wanted to go out there as soon as possible and see if we could move the ball."
That the Rebels could do.
They gained 322 yards rushing and 422 overall, just 11 shy of what Utah had for total offense, and they ran two more plays than the Utes. They just couldn't hang on to the ball in a steady downpour and punted for only 22.5 yards average.
Dorsey now has 945 yards rushing this season and 2,518 for his career, needing just 19 more to take over third place in Rebel history.
UNLV lost top receiver Earvin Johnson early to a dislocated finger after one catch for 10 yards — he's three yards shy of third on the UNLV career list with 2,394 — and lost starting guard Joe Critchfield and running back Erick Jackson later to injuries, the severity of which Robinson was unsure.
The Rebels have a week off before resuming Nov. 6 with Wyoming in Las Vegas.
REBEL NOTES: Two Rebels are from Utah, defensive lineman Isaiah Tafua of Taylorsville and Dixie College and tight end Jesse Knight of St. George and Dixie.
E-mail: lham@desnews.com