UNLV RACES BY ARKANSAS ROBINSON'S REBELS DOMINATE UNLV 31, ARKANSAS 14.

Byline: Steve Irvine Staff Writer

The quarterback who just two years ago was deemed not good enough by Paul Hackett to play quarterback at USC threw for 217 yards and three touchdowns. The coach who was deemed not good enough by Mike Garrett to remain at USC finished off an eight-win season at his new school.

And the team which didn't win a game just two years ago was good enough to win a bowl game.

Was there ever a doubt that the goal posts would come down and the win- hungry students would celebrate like it was Miami in January after UNLV dominated Arkansas, 31-14, on the Rebels' home turf in the Las Vegas Bowl on Thursday night?

``I've always said that football is about the event, not about the arena,'' said UNLV coach John Robinson, who got his walking papers from Garrett via a phone message following the 1997 season. ``That was a great event in not the biggest arena.''

There is little doubt that the spotlight from the event shined brightly on MVP quarterback Thomas, who has openly said he didn't feel that Hackett gave him a chance to beat out USC classmate Carson Palmer.

But this win before a vocal Las Vegas Bowl record crowd of 25,868 was more than just the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Thomas, who apologized after the game for his biggest mistake - spitting in the face of Arkansas lineman Kenny Sandlin after a sideline altercation.

Part of the light shone on receiver Nate Turner, who caught eight passes for 126 yards with touchdowns of 19 and five yards in the first half and then helped others get open after halftime by drawing double and triple coverage.

Another part was shared by an experienced offensive line, which includes junior guard Greg Hulett (El Camino Real, L.A. Valley College) and opened enough holes for the Rebels to rush for 259 yards on 47 carries and eat up clock in the second half.

And the final bit of the spotlight goes to a defense that not only held Arkansas to 298 yards but also kept the Hogs off the scoreboard in the second half.

``Bowl games are not easy,'' said Robinson, whose bowl record in two terms at USC was 7-1 with four of those victories coming in the Rose Bowl. ``We played our best game and were really dominating.''

The Rebels (8-5) certainly were the dominant team in the second half when they scored 17 unanswered points. And the first six of those points - which came on a perfectly thrown 54-yard pass from Thomas to speedster Troy Mason over three Arkansas defenders - were the most spectacular.

``I can't think of a better ball I've thrown in a big game like this,'' said Thomas, who threw the ball 60 yards in the air on the play.

Thomas, who was 12 of 17, didn't complete another pass but the Rebels ground game didn't need the air support. Fullback James Wofford's 41-yard run on a misdirection play set up a 26-yard field goal by Dillon Pieffer with 13:53 left in the game.

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Photo: Amar Brisco, right, of UNLV gets tangled up with Boo Williams of Arkansas in the first quarter of the Las Vegas Bowl.

Laura Rauch/Associated Press