Coach Jackson dips early to promote boxing match
It was an old-fashioned Wild West shootout when the Wyoming Cowboys came to town near the end of the 2002 campaign. Former USC super transfer Jason Thomas had statistically the best game of his college career, hitting 20-25 passes for 329 yards through the air. The Rebels built multiple two-touchdown leads throughout the night to feel in complete control.
In fact, while ahead 42-28 in the fourth quarter, UNLV offensive coordinator, the late, legendary John Jackson, was spotted by media heading out of the stadium so that he could make it to a boxing match across town. That’s because Jackson, who previously ran Forum Boxing and helped develop the Prime Ticket sports cable network, was promoting a professional fight card. “JJ” had cleared the move with head man John Robinson ahead of time – only problem was that no one told Wyoming that the game was over and the Pokes rallied to tie things at 42 and force overtime using a Hail Mary pass from Casey Bramlet to Scottie Vines as time expired. Wyoming got the ball first and rushed for a score to earn its first lead of the night. However, the extra-point attempt sailed right to make it 48-42.
UNLV wasted no time attacking the suddenly deflated Cowboys and Thomas reared back and tossed a perfect strike to fullback Steven Costa on a wheel route for a 25-yard score, which made Costa the first fullback in school history to post a 100-yard receiving game. Dillon Pieffer’s perfect extra point ended what was at the time the highest-scoring game in Mountain West Conference history and gave UNLV its first-ever OT victory. No word, however, on who won the boxing match.
