RENO, Nev. (AP) Kurt Nantkes passed for 255 yards and Dyante
Perkins scored on a 29-yard run on fourth down with 12:10 remaining
Saturday night as UNLV rallied to beat rival Nevada 16-12 for the
fourth year in a row.
The raucous contest before a sellout crowd of 31,900 included
the arrest of a Reno man accused of throwing a small object that
hit UNLV Coach John Robinson as he exited the field at the half
with his team trailing 9-3.
Robinson, whose Rebels (4-1) are off to their best start since
1984, was not seriously injured and returned after intermission.
Earvin Johnson caught 10 passes for 114 yards and Dillon Pieffer
made field goals of 26, 33 and 27 yards for the Rebels, who grabbed
two interceptions in the final four minutes to seal the victory.
Jeff Rowe, a sophomore from Reno, came off the bench to pass for
143 yards and moved the Wolf Pack (3-2) as far as UNLV's 43-yard
line in the final minute before Adam Seward snagged an interception
with 37 seconds remaining.
Chance Kretschmer scored Nevada's only touchdown on a 6-yard run
that put the Wolf Pack ahead 6-3 in the first quarter. But UNLV
held him to 56 yards rushing, less than half his average.
Nevada's defense forced two turnovers and held UNLV to only 34
yards rushing through the first three quarters as the Wolf Pack
took a 12-6 lead into the final 15 minutes.
But Nantkes led the Rebels 91 yards in 12 plays, capped by
Perkins' TD run up the middle on fourth-and-one, and threw a
45-yard pass to Michael Johnson to get to Nevada's 19 and set up
Pieffer's 27-yard field goal to make it 16-12 with 4:08 remaining.
UNLV defensive end Chris Eagen intercepted a tipped pass to get
the Rebels the ball back deep in Nevada territory with 3:55 left
and Perkins appeared headed for another touchdown before fumbling
into the end zone for a touchback.
Rowe led Nevada on a 74-yard drive in the final 1:13 of the
first half to set up Damon Fine's 24-yard field goal to put the
Wolf Pack ahead 9-3. He added a 21-yarder to give Nevada a 12-3
midway through the third quarter before Pieffer hit from 33 yards
to cut the advantage to 12-6 with 3:35 left in the third.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)