SALT LAKE CITY – There was nothing special about the special teams play for UNLV against Utah.
From a snap over the head of Brendon Lamers late in the third quarter to a punt return for a touchdown by Utes receiver Shaky Smithson, there was little for the Rebels to feel good about how things developed on special teams in their 38-10 loss at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
"It was a big factor," UNLV linebacker Starr Fuimaono said. "That was a game changer in this game. We gave up seven points and it was at a critical time. We probably were making a comeback and we let a big play like that break out. We just need to go back and correct some of the things on special teams."
Things started to unravel for the Rebels near the end of the second quarter.
After forcing the Utes to punt with less than a minute left in the half, UNLV gave the ball right back when Eddie Wide stripped the ball from Sidney Hodge on the punt return. Wide pounced on the loose ball himself at the Rebel 20 to set up Utah in prime scoring position.
It took only one play — a 20-yard strike from Terence Cain to Jereme Brooks — for the Utes to cash in and take a 17-3 lead into halftime.
Ironically, the Rebels nearly turned things around on a special teams miscue by Utah. After forcing the Utes to punt early in the third quarter, Nate Carter blocked Sean Sellwood's punt attempt. Tim Hasson quickly scooped up the ball at the Utah 19-yard line and returned it untouched to the end zone to cut the Ute lead to 24-10.
Whatever momentum generated from that play was quickly lost on the Rebels' following drive.
Lamers sent a 51-yard punt into the waiting arms of Smithson. After using some fancy footwork to confuse the UNLV players converging on his position, Smithson broke free down the sideline for an electrifying 77-yard touchdown run.
Just like that it was 31-10 for Utah. And just like that the game was essentially over for the Rebels.
"Utah is better than us," UNLV coach Bobby Hauck said. "We made too many mistakes to come in and win on the road."
Another bad special teams play near the end of the third quarter poured extra salt into UNLV's wounds.
A bad snap sent the ball sailing over Lamers' head. He recovered it again at the Rebel 10 yard line and got off a running punt. But his punt went out of bounds at the UNLV 33 and resulted in a punt of negative 20 yards. That set up Utah's final touchdown — a 13-yard run from Wide — and simply added to Hauck's postgame frustration.
"We got to hang onto the ball. We got to tackle," Hauck said. "We got to not snap it over the punter's head."
For a team hoping to build on positives from a 41-21 loss to Wisconsin the previous week, the result against the Utes has the Rebels believing much more work is needed before they can truly hope to contend in the Mountain West Conference.
"As an offense, we got to answer back each time they score," UNLV receiver Michael Johnson said. "We weren't able to do that tonight and that's why the game turned out the way it was."
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