After failing a two-point conversion attempt with under two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter against New Mexico, UNLV was down two points and needed to recover an onside kick, which they did after the ball deflected off a Lobo player. A UNLV player caught the ball, ran downfield about 5 yards and then was tripped up. Stellar execution on the part of the Rebels. Not so stellar was the analysis of the instant reply by ESPN analyst Chris Spielman.

"He might have gone for six if he hadn't tripped," Spielman said. In fact, the kicking team is not allowed to advance an free kick.

Spielman redeemed himself moments later, most likely when word of the rules came through his earpiece from someone in the trailer: "You can't advance an onside kick," he explained. Okay, that's more like it.

But then he faulted one more time when he attempted to reiterate this point, saying, "I stand corrected: you cannot advance a free kick if you recover a fumble." What fumble? Yes, there was a muff that occurred during the play. But that certainly was not a fumble. In fact, had the Lobo player possessed the ball, then fumbled, the ball could have been advanced by UNLV. In trying to correct himself, Spielman committed another sloppy error. Most likely, very few fans caught this mistake, probably because of the very fact that many fans' knowledge of the game comes to them from announcers such as Spielman. It sure would be nice if these guys would actually read the rules book at least once.