Washington State Cougars Gameday: UNLV

The Washington State Cougars (1-1) will travel to Las Vegas to take on the UNLV Rebels (0-2) at Sam Boyd Stadium in front of a national audience on ESPN. Both teams faced, and struggled with, FCS competition this past week. The Cougars were able to escape Eastern Washington with a 24-20 win, while the Rebels fell to Northern Arizona 17-14.

Vitals

Date/Time: Friday, 9/14 at 6 p.m. PT.

TV: ESPN

Internet: WatchESPN.com (With qualified internet/cable provider)

Tickets: Here.

Opponent

School: University of Nevada Las Vegas, Mountain West Conference, Official Team Site.

Season-to-Date: In their opener against Minnesota, the Rebels lost a heart breaker in triple OT at home 30-27. Last weekend, the Rebels hosted Northern Arizona and fell 17-14.

Coverage: SB Nation's Mountain West blog Mountain West Connection and UNLV news coverage from the Las Vegas Sun.

Important People

Head Coach: Bobby Hauck, 4-21 record in 2 seasons at UNLV.

Coordinators: J.D. Williams (Defensive) and Brent Myers (Offensive).

Key Offensive Players: QB Nick Sherry. A redshirt freshman who won the starting job out of camp. In his senior year in high school, Sherry threw for over 2,700 yards and 25 touchdowns. In two games this season, the 6-foot-5 240 pound quarterback is 32-for-64 for 355 yards with three interceptions and one touchdown.

RB Tim Cornett. UNLV is returning its top three rushers from last year, led by the 6 foot, 210 pound junior Cornett. Last season he rushed for 691 yards on 119 attempts and this year he's off to a fine start with 271 yards on 50 attempts through the first two games.

Key Defensive Players: DB Peni Vea. A redshirt freshman who leads the defense with 18 tackles

LB John Lotulelei. The senior Junior College transfer in his second year at UNLV went for 60 tackles and TFLs last season. This year the veteran on defense is second on the team with 17 tackles.

For everything leading up to the national ESPN matchup on Friday night, stick with us here on CougCenter.