UT focusing on Kevin Steele?

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The situation

It was only John Robinson’s second game as UNLV’s coach and the second one for coach Kevin Steele at Baylor. Nine days earlier in a 26-3 victory at North Texas, UNLV ended a 16-game losing streak and 26-game road skid.

Steele was facing similar issues. Coming off consecutive 2-9 seasons, the Bears had lost the week before at Boston College 30-29 on a missed extra point in overtime.

Wanting to establish a more aggressive and confident mindset, Steele saw an opportunity in the closing seconds against UNLV.

Leading 24-21, Baylor had gained a first down to the Rebels’ 8-yard line with 28 seconds to play. UNLV had no timeouts remaining, so Baylor quarterback Jermaine Alfred only had to drop to a knee and the congratulatory handshakes would have begun.

“When you have the chance to ice the game, you ice it,” Robinson said. “You can’t let some agenda get in the way.” But Steele did, instructing his players to try to score a touchdown. UNLV players were furious when they saw the Bears go into a huddle, and they knew they couldn’t allow Baylor to score.

“I was kind of pissed that they’re trying to ram it down our throat,” Bradeson said.

The play

The Bears didn’t try anything fancy. As the clock dwindled to 8 seconds, tailback Darrell Bush took the handoff and charged between the tackles.

“If he got to the end zone, we wanted everybody to hit the guy,” Thomas said. “It was not right.”

UNLV cornerback Andre Hilliard and safety Quincy Sanders met Bush at the 3 and held him up, desperate to keep the churning tailback from reaching the end zone.

“I thought we had lost,” linebacker Brickell said. “A couple of plays earlier, I almost stripped the guy of the ball, so I thought if I can, I’ll do it again when I get the opportunity.”

As Bush reached for the end zone, Brickell charged from his left side and knocked the ball loose and it bounced a yard deep into the end zone.

Thomas sprinted from the other side and grabbed the ball about a foot above the ground. He only had to get past Baylor’s 251-pound fullback Melvin Barnett.

“As soon as I picked up the ball, I knew I was going all the way,” Thomas said. “I got it in my hands and looked up and outran (Barnett). I just didn’t know if there was a penalty. I had a clear path.”

Up in the coaches’ box, Bradeson had just removed his headset and stood up to get ready to go downstairs. But when he saw Thomas running down the left sideline, he grabbed a microphone and yelled, “We’re going to win! We’re going to win!”

The aftermath

The sudden and total silence of Baylor fans stays with Thomas. Robinson walked over to shake hands with Steele, who looked as if the life had left his body.

The play made national news, but because the game wasn’t televised, it failed to take a greater hold on the public imagination. ESPN.com ranked it No. 85 among college football’s defining plays. Scout.com ranked it the 48th greatest finish.

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