Sidelines Kalani Simpson

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UNLV didn't go down easy at Iowa State

LAST week, UNLV saw its quarterback hurt, lost on the last play of the game, staged a mass display of civil disobedience, refused to leave the field, carried on, ranted and raved. Lost it.

The Rebels were booed. They didn't budge.

After 15 or 20 minutes -- the fireworks were a big hint -- UNLV finally left the field, on the wrong end of a 16-10 loss at Iowa State. Still bitter beyond words.

Almost.

"I really don't believe that we lost, because the play wasn't reviewed, and it was too controversial not to review it," UNLV coach Mike Sanford said afterward, the Des Moines Register reported. That's why the team refused to leave, you see, it was demanding an instant-replay review of what it thought was the tying touchdown catch.

(The game's final play -- a Shane Steichen pass in the end zone as time ran out -- was reviewed. Incomplete. Oops. But at the time the Rebels were under the impression that the officials -- Mountain West officials, by the way -- had made a run for it after stealing the game.)

So now the question: Is UNLV coming into Aloha Stadium angry, this Saturday?

Or ready to fall apart?

That's a lot of emotion to come off of, especially when you consider that, in the end, much of that righteous anger was misspent.

(You know, someone really should have told them that the play had been reviewed.)

So now the Rebels come here, play UH. It's anybody's guess their state of mind. They could be determined. Could be deflated.

That was one crazy chain of events.

The Rebels were rolling last week with their USC transfer quarterback, Rocky Hinds. Then he hurt his knee. Last year's starter, Steichen, went in. He wasn't exactly rolling -- until the final minutes. But he almost pulled it out.

"It's not like another rookie is going in there," June Jones said yesterday at the Honolulu Quarterback Club.

No. But Hinds is the guy. His MRI yesterday said just a sprain. UNLV says he's "questionable" for Saturday night.

I think he'll play.

I think he probably won't have the kind of speed that makes tackling angles disappear on the Utah-offense option keep.

"Rocky's knee is sore and stiff and we'll see how it goes this week in practice," Sanford said in a UNLV release.

As for their psyches? There's no MRI for that. We'll see Saturday where UNLV is on the five stages of grief.

This team could be dangerous. Could be crazed.

Could be a good game. Let's just hope everyone agrees that it's over when it ends.