Ben Margot / AP

The Rebel Room The One Where Brewer Gets Fired Up After taking over beat writer duties for a week, Las Vegas Sun sports editor Ray Brewer has some ideas what's wrong with UNLV football. But first sports writer Case Keefer and Taylor Bern extol the greatness of Kenpom.

The Rebels are in a different position this week, depending on how the betting market plays out, and yet after limping home from another double-digit loss it’s hard to imagine UNLV getting extra confidence as the favorite against a Division I opponent for the first time this season.

As of Monday evening the Rebels (2-6, 1-3) were a minus-1 favorite at most local sports books against New Mexico (2-5, 0-3). The game kicks off at 2:38 p.m. on Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium and will air on ROOT Sports.

The Lobos, who use both quarterbacks Cole Gautsche and Lamar Jordan to trigger their triple-option offense, have their own issues to worry about. New Mexico fell just short in its other best chance at a conference victory, two weeks ago at Air Force, and after Saturday it’s staring at Boise State, road trips to Colorado State and Utah State and then a home game against Wyoming.

If the Lobos don’t win this one they could be looking at a goose egg in the victory column in a very down year for the Mountain West. And yet they’re viewed at basically the same level as the Rebels, who are allowing the most yards, giving up the most points and scoring the least of any team in the league.

Asked if there are any themes emerging from UNLV’s defeats, coach Bobby Hauck took the view that the Rebels’ shortcomings are varying game to game. The only commonality, he said, is the final result, like Saturday’s 34-20 loss at Utah State.

“We had plays to make and we didn’t make them and it cost us the game,” Hauck said.

Those opportunities will be there again Saturday and almost all of them will likely be on the ground. New Mexico passes only as an afterthought, ranking first in the league in rushing offense and last in passing offense, while there should be lanes available on the other side for the Rebels’ struggling rushing game to find room against a unit giving up 284.3 yards per game.

If UNLV is going to make some of those plays this time around it’s likely going to have to do it without senior receivers Devante Davis and Marcus Sullivan. Hauck didn’t sound too confident that Davis, who has been out since Sept. 21 with a wrist injury, would be available yet, and Sullivan didn’t travel to Utah State because he's out indefinitely due to what Hauck called a conduct issue.

Throw in that long-range kicker Nicolai Bornand, who also didn’t travel last weekend, might be unavailable again because of an injury and the absentees keep adding up.

That’s just the way it’s been for UNLV this season. There are positives, particularly the continuing emergence of freshman receiver Devonte Boyd, but it’s mostly been a steady march of disappointment. Saturday offers the chance for a reprieve as the Rebels have won five of the last six in this series and it’s the only current league member against whom UNLV has a winning record.

With no clear talent advantage on either side, continuing that trend, as Hauck said, requires executing plays as the favorite better than UNLV has as the underdog.

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Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.