2010 West Virginia Mountaineers Football Preview: UNLV

From the Sin City to Touchdown City, the Rebels of UNLV will have their first match up in their history with the Mountaineers in this early October out-of-conference game.

This game will also mark the second week in a row and third this season that West Virginia will face a football program for the first time.

The Running Rebels’ defense was running in the wrong direction in the 2009 season. The total defense rankings for the team were dreadful, finishing at 115th out of the current 120 FBS division teams, along with being ninth in the Mountain West Conference.

UNLV gave up more than 32 points a game, ninth in the MWC and 103rd in the nation.

The UNLV pass defense averaged close to 235 yards per game which was seventh in the conference and 86th in the nation.

From the view of the defense line, the Rebels gave up almost 221 yards per game on the ground, good enough to be ninth in conference while being 112th in the nation. 

The Rebels will bring in new defensive coordinator Kraig Paulson, who will install a new 4-3 defense. The team will only bring back four starters from 2009 to work with but will include a junior and two senior linebackers to lead the defense.

The linebacking corps will be led by senior Starr Feuimaono, who collected 67 total tackles with 33 by himself.

The defensive line will be anchored by seniors Ramsey Feagei and pro prospect Issako Aairui to control the opponent’s running game. The secondary will return two of the four previous starters.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Mountain West didn’t have much to fear of the Rebels' plan of attack on game days.

The offense didn’t light up the scoreboards in 2009, racking up 25 points per game for a rank of 77th in the nation, coming in fifth in conference play.

The Rebels ground game came in at the lower half of the league with an anemic output of 127 yards a game, good enough for seventh while finishing at 86th nationally in 2009.

Through the air, UNLV gained 225 yards a game for this past season, being fourth best in conference while being 50th in the FBS division.

The offense will be led by quarterback Omar Clayton who racked up 2,230 yards through the air with 2,230 yards and 13 touchdowns along with 12 interceptions.  

Clayton will be joined by six other starters from 2009, including senior center John Gianninoto and left tackle Matt Murphy to protect from fierce pass rushers. 

After relieving Mike Sanford of his head coaching duties, Montana head coach Bobby Hauck takes over the Rebels after spending seven years amassing 80 wins and three trips to the FCS Championship Game.

Hauck will bring his former Montana offensive coordinator, Rob Phienicie, to help improve the Rebels and gain some of the talent within the California and Arizona recruiting areas.

The Rebels will arrive into Morgantown for the very first time where the Mountaineers will be coming off their first loss of the season.

West Virginia will looking for some strong play from their starters to get the team back on the right track with an important win before Big East play starts.

The Mountaineers will improve to 5-1 with a 41-10 win, sending the Rebels back to Vegas with another mark in the loss column.

NEXT GAME:  South Florida vs. West Virginia, Oct. 14, 2010