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1999 UNLV Season in Review
Rebels play spoiler with upset of Wyoming to deny Cowboys a share of the title.
Dec. 13, 1999 * UNLV earned as many victories this season (3) as the last two combined and won the most road games (3) since 1990. * Len Ware had six catches in his final game as a Rebel vs. CSU on Nov. 27. He moved up two spots to second on the school’s career receptions list with 161. Ware also finished his career ranked fourth in receiving yards at UNLV with 2,322, and seventh in all-purpose yardage with 3,252. He also finished tied with two others for most career 100-yard games with eight, and tied for sixth in career touchdowns with 16. Ware, who recorded four scores longer than 75 yards in his four years, including a 97-yard kickoff return this season vs. Utah, caught at least one pass in 39 of his 42 career games. * Matt Ray threw at least one TD pass in all three games of his career. The true freshman threw for 216 yards vs. CSU, which marked the first time a Rebel quarterback had passed for 200 yards or more since Jon Denton threw for 401 vs. Wyoming in the season finale on Nov. 22, 1997. In the ’99 season finale vs. CSU, UNLV had passed for 200 yards as a team for the first time since Kevin Crook and Chris Hayward combined for 279 yards vs. Air Force on Sept. 12, 1998. * Matt Ray has yet to throw his first interception as a collegian. UNLV quarterbacks finished with just six interceptions this season, which broke the school-record low of seven in 1990. In fact, the Rebels did not throw a pick in their last 18 quarters played this fall. * Against CSU on Nov. 27, Kevin Thomas added four more pass breakups to his UNLV single-season record. He finished with 24, which bested the record of 18 set by Anthony Blue in 1984. Thomas also recorded his fifth interception of 1999 - the most for a Rebel since Alvin Horn tied the school record with six in 1986. * James Sunia posted a career-high 119 tackles this fall to give the linebacker 234 in just two years. That number puts Sunia at 10th all-time at UNLV, just one back of Rodney Mazion who logged 235 tackles from 1991-’94. Sunia, who averages 10.6 tackles per game in his career, needs only 56 tackles in 2000 to become the school's career leader over Darnell Pickens' total of 289 tackles from 1984-'87. * Two Rebels finished their careers among the top tacklers in school history this season Quincy Sanders, who totaled a career-high 104 tackles in 1999, finished sixth all-time at UNLV with 270 tackles. Right behind Sanders was Jerrad Pierucci, who tacked on 80 more tackles this season to put him at 264 for his career - good for seventh place. * James Wofford’s 41 yards vs. CSU in the season finale gave him 1,672. The junior now stands in 10th place on UNLV’s career list and needs just 27 yards to pass Tony Lewis in ninth place (1,698). * The Rebels finished 1999 with impressive totals in the red zone. UNLV was 18-of-22 in the red zone and 16 of those scores were touchdowns, meaning the team scored a touchdown 73 percent of the time after entering the opponents' 20-yard line * UNLV lost its school-record 12th straight home game to close out the season. * UNLV failed to have even one 100-yard game by a receiver this season, marking the first time that had happened since 1978. The most yards for any Rebel receiver this fall was 94 by Nate Turner vs. Wyoming. * UNLV lost only five fumbles this fall, which shattered the school record of nine set in 1997. In fact, the Rebels tied Wisconsin for the national lead in fewest total turnovers committed with 11. The Rebels’ six interceptions thrown tied for eighth-fewest and five fumbles lost tied for the fourth-best total in Division I-A in 1999. * UNLV began the season 2-0, thanks in part to one of the most dramatic finishes in college football history. Trailing Baylor 24-20 with seconds remaining in the contest, the Bears attempted a running play inside the Rebels’ 10 yard-line on the final play of the game instead of taking a knee and ensuring victory. Baylor running back Darrell Bush was stripped of the ball by UNLV’s James Sunia and cornerback Kevin Thomas picked up the ball in the endzone and ran 100 yards for the game-winning score as time expired. * While winning only one game in conference play, it proved to have a major impact on the race for the inaugural title. UNLV’s 35-32 victory over Wyoming in Laramie, Oct. 9, ended a 16-game conference road losing streak. The loss would prove costly for the Cowboys who finished one game short of claiming a share of the MWC title.
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