Friday Flashback: UNLV shocks #15 Arizona State

9/13/2008
I remember watching the finish to this one. UNLV, fresh off a loss to ranked Utah the week before, stumbled in to Sun Devil Stadium to take on a ranked Arizona State program. The day of the game, a few Arizona State players weren't too shy about publicly overlooking the Rebels in the media. Who could blame them? Georgia was coming to town the next week. It cost the Devils. In a miraculous turn of events, the Rebels scored with seconds left on a great Phillip Payne one-handed snag. The Rebs later blocked a Thomas Weber kick in overtime to secure the win.

Highlights:



Not to mention a high dosage of hyperbole from the winning coach Mike Sanford: "UNLV football has not got the respect it deserves."

In a great moment right after the win, with emotions spilling over, you could tell what this one meant for Sanford. (At the beginning of the second clip)



As for Arizona State? Devils finished 5-7. I know, shocking stuff.

I thought UNLV was ready to turn things around. The Rebs had a good core (Clayton, Summers, Wolfe, Payne, Flair) and it seemed like Sanford had things improving. The Rebels followed this road win with a victory over Iowa State in Vegas. At 3-1, it looked like a bowl game would be on the horizon. A blowout loss to Nevada, a one-point defeat to Air Force, and a 7-point loss to ranked BYU were tough to overcome. Amazingly, UNLV was primed for a bowl berth if it could but win its last game, against lowly San Diego State. The Aztecs won going away. It was a type-and-shadow for the entire Sanford era.