Minnesota at UNLV--The University of Nevada Las Vegas is coming off of a rough 2011 season that saw the program fall to 2-10 with the low of a blowout loss to FCS’ Southern Utah by the score of 41-16. The Rebels were outscored by 23.2 points per game on the season with 8 losses coming by 20 or more points. Things must change for the Rebels for any chance of a successful season. Minnesota is a FBS program out of the Big Ten that is coming off of a 3-9 record in 2011 that saw the Golden Gophers hit rock bottom with a 37-24 loss to FCS for North Dakota State.
Offense: The Rebels were one of the worst offenses in the nation in 2011 with only 17.1 points scored per game on the season. UNLV has a serviceable rushing attack with 164 yards on the ground with a 3.9 yards per carry average and 15 rushing touchdowns. The passing game was just plain horrible with an anemic 109 yards in the air per game. The Rebels had 10 passing touchdowns but were offset by 10 interceptions last fall. The offense must score much more in 2012 for the Rebels to be even close to 4-5 wins. Minnesota had a solid running game last fall with just over 160 yards on the ground per game with a 4.1 yards per carry average and 14 rushing touchdowns. The passing game could only must 150 yards per game which was good for the 18th worst passing offense in the country. The Golden Gophers could only muster 10 passing touchdowns that were offset by 10 interceptions. Overall Minnesota scored only 18.4 points per game which was one of the 10 worst offenses in the nation last fall. EDGE: Push
Defense: UNLV gave up a staggering 40.4 points per game in 2011 with 7 games of giving up 40 or more points. The Rebels gave up a season low of 20 points in an upset win over Hawaii on September 17th. Opponents were able to run all over the Rebels with 194 yards per game allowed and a 4.9 yards per carry average. The Rebels also gave up 30 rushing touchdowns on the season. When not running all over the UNLV defense, opponents passed all over the Rebels for 249 yards per game with another 27 touchdowns. 57 touchdowns allowed was just unacceptable for the Rebels. To say Minnesota was bad on defense in 2011 is putting it very lightly as the Golden Gophers gave up 37.1 points per game. Opponents ran for 186 yards per game with a lofty 4.9 yards per carry and 23 touchdowns to go along with a pass defense that allowed 216 in the air with another 23 touchdowns. 46 overall touchdowns allowed was good for nearly 4 touchdowns allowed per game. EDGE: Push
Coaching: Bobby Hauck is the head coach of the UNLV Rebels and is entering his 3rd season as head coach. Hauck has been coaching since 1988 when he started coaching for Montana. After Montana, Hauck coached at UCLA, Northern Arizona, Colorado and Washington, before getting his first head coaching job at Montana. In his 7 years at Montana, Hauck went 80-17 with playoff appearances in all 7 season with Montana. In 2010, UNLV hired Hauck away from Montana as the newest UNLV head coach. In his two seasons at UNLV, Hauck is 4-21 with 2-11 and 2-10 seasons. Hauck will be on the hot seat in 2012 needing to prove that he is capable of coaching on the FBS level. Jerry Kill is the head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers and is in his second year with the program. Kill started coaching in 1985 with Pittsburgh State before going to Webb City HS, Pittsburgh State again, Saginaw Valley State, Emporia State, Southern Illinois, Northern Illinois, and finally Minnesota. Kill has been a head coach at 5 schools: Saginaw Valley State (38-14), Emporia State (11-11), Southern Illinois (55-32), Northern Illinois (23-16) and 3-9 at Minnesota. Overall Kill is 130-82 as a head coach. EDGE: Minnesota
This is the first meeting between the two schools.
This game is what many would call the pillow fight of the year as the teams combined to go 4-19 last fall with some of the worst offenses and defenses in the country. If Minnesota plays like they did in a close season opening loss to USC in 2011, then the Golden Gophers should roll in this game. The problem is that Minnesota did not play like that again all season. Expect Minnesota to win this game but it will not be fun to watch.
In the first 5 games, Minnesota had only 2 sacks, while they gave up 14 sacks. In the final seven games, Minnesota had 17 sacks, and only gave up 8. Minnesota had 41 penalties in the first six games, and 27 penalties in the final 6 games. Minnesota's not going to set the world on fire in 2012, but don't expect to see the team that lost to New Mexico State.
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