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FACTS & STATS: Site: Martin Stadium (32,248) -- Pullman, Washington. Television: None. Home Record: UNLV 0-0, WSU 1-0. Away Record: UNLV 0-1, WSU 0-0. Neutral Record: UNLV 0-0, WSU 0-0. Conference Record: UNLV 0-0, WSU 0-0. Series Record: Washington State leads, 4-0.

GAME NOTES: Heading to Pullman for the first time since 1986, the UNLV Rebels try to shake off a disappointing start to the 2011 campaign by challenging the Washington State Cougars at Martin Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

UNLV, which has a record of just 6-24 versus current members of the Pac-12 Conference (including Utah (2-14) which just moved from the Mountain West), was eaten up by 11th-ranked Wisconsin in the opener back on September 1 in Madison. With this weekend's matchup the Rebels are clashing with back-to-back foes from BCS leagues for the first time since 2008 when the program defeated Arizona State and Iowa State.

As for the Cougars, their season opener against Idaho State was rather historic as the squad defeated the Bengals by a whopping 64-21 score. The scoring output by WSU marked the first since a resounding 77-7 romp over Southwestern Louisiana in 1997 that the squad was able to eclipse the 60-point plateau. Granted, beating up on an opponent from outside the Football Bowl Subdivision isn't all that impressive, but at least the Cougars got off on the right foot.

Washington State has won all four of its previous encounters with the Rebels, including a 40-13 romp in the most recent matchup in Las Vegas back in 1991.

For the most part, quarterback Caleb Herring had a decent game against Wisconsin in the opener, hitting on 18-of-27 passes leading to a pair of touchdowns, although his yardage total of just 146 left a lot to be desired, especially after you consider that he had one completion of 31 yards alone to Bradley Randle. Along with Tim Cornett, Randle gave the Rebels a decent running attack as the duo combined for 126 yards, but still the unit as a whole averaged less than four yards per carry. The only other positive that came out of the disappointing outcome was Phillip Payne who recorded the 20th touchdown catch of his career which moves him into third place on the school's all-time list for TD grabs. Payne, who had just five TD catches a season ago, is someone who can make big plays from time to time after averaging more than 17 yards per reception in 2010.

Last season the run defense for the Rebels ranked 116th in the country with 222.7 ypg allowed and already the program is off to a sloppy start after giving up 241 yards rushing to the Badgers. However, it must be noted that Wisconsin was one of the top running schools in the country last season (245.7 ypg), so that effort needs to be put in perspective. What needs more attention is the fact that UNLV allowed the Badgers to average better than nine yards per snap and that is the part that is simply unacceptable for head coach Bobby Hauck and his staff. Princeton Jackson finished with five tackles for the Rebels, including the only sack of the game versus Wisconsin. That might sound lackluster, and it certainly is, but one also has to remember that UNLV was last in the MWC and 115th in the country a season ago with just 0.92 sacks per game and 118th nationally with a mere 3.69 tackler for loss per outing so the season opener was nothing out of the ordinary.

Washington State, a team that won a total of just two games last season as it averaged less than 20 ppg, leaned on backup quarterback Marshall Lobbestael who threw for two touchdowns and 230 yards in the romp over Idaho State. Lobbestael made the start for the Cougars because Jeff Tuel was battling a stomach virus and when Tuel did step in for a series, he came out soon after because of an injury to his left clavicle. Tuel's injury turned out to be a broken collarbone and he is now on the sidelines for at least the next month. Freshman Marcus Mason carried the ball six times for 88 yards, included in that was a 65-yard TD run late in the third frame. In terms of total offense, the Cougars produced a whopping 590 yards against Idaho State, but it is important to remember that the Bengals are not members of the FBS and last season the program ranked 103rd in the Football Championship Subdivision with 417.8 ypg allowed.

C.J. Mizell registered two sacks and Sekope Kaufusi recorded his first career sack in the opener against Idaho State, the team coming up with six sacks overall in the lopsided triumph. Another outstanding effort came from Alex Hoffman-Ellis who returned an interception 67 yards for a score late in the first quarter, giving him two INT returns for touchdowns in his career. The Cougars were outstanding against the run, allowing just 23 yards on 25 attempts, but some of that can be attributed to the fact that ISU had to abandon the run in order to try and remain competitive. The same could be said for the Cougars giving up 430 yards through the air as the Bengals were desperate and needed to try and maximize every snap. Then again, WSU did have one of the weakest defenses in the nation last season, permitting a staggering 467.0 ypg, so maybe this was carry-over from a lackluster 2010 campaign as well.

With the Cougars going with Lobbestael at quarterback UNLV might have some trouble game-planning since there isn't too much film on the signal-caller. By no means is the Washington State offense as powerful as it demonstrated against Idaho State, but the team should still be strong enough to defeat the Rebels at home nonetheless.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Washington State 35, UNLV 23