NCAA Football Preview - U-N-L-V Rebels
Sports Network | August 11, 2008
2008 ANALYSIS:
OFFENSE: Heading into training camp coach Sanford said he was giving both Omar Clayton and Travis Dixon an opportunity to compete for the starting quarterback job, but planned to have a starter name sooner rather than later. True to his word, Sanford picked Clayton to be in the starting lineup just a few days into August mainly because he wanted to have a signal-caller in place so he can get his timing down with the rest of the first team. A former walk- on, Clayton was a backup early last season before jumping into the starting spot in the eighth game. However, after just three starts he suffered a broken hand against San Diego State which brought an end to his season. Sanford says Clayton still has things to work on, but he has confidence in his ability to throw the ball accurately and also run effectively, the latter being something that will come in handy when the team needs it most.
"Things that we need to do to improve," coach Sanford pointed out at media day, "we've got to do a better job scoring in the red zone on offense. We were a decent team moving the ball down the field to the red zone, we've got to score touchdowns in the red zone. We got to run the football on offense."
With Clayton's ability to tuck the ball in and move it down the field, that should give defenses plenty to think about. Strangely enough, not only has Dixon lost out on the starting QB spot, he's not even second on the depth chart now, instead being moved over to the defense to compete for time at the safety position. The team's leading rusher from a year ago with his 928 yards, senior running back Frank Summers settles in behind Clayton in the backfield. Not only can Summers carry the load of being the primary ball carrier, he's already shown that he can be an asset as a receiver after collecting 23 passes for 252 yards and four touchdowns. However, as long as senior wideout Casey Flair continues to flourish, Summers won't have to shoulder as much of the load. Flair, who needs just 34 receptions this season to become the school's all-time leader in that department, has the second-longest reception streak in the nation at 35 games. Taking some of the pressure off Flair on the edge is junior Ryan Wolfe, the 2006 MWC Freshman of the Year who led the team in receiving as a sophomore with 66 catches for 784 yards and a pair of scores.
DEFENSE: "We have two new coaches on defense," which is what coach Sanford believes has a lot to do with the improvement on the defensive line heading into this season. "I feel like this is our best coaching staff since I've been here," Sanford added, but considering the team has won just two games each of the last three seasons that's not exactly going to change anyone's opinion of the unit at initial glance. Last year the UNLV defense ranked third in the Mountain West in terms of pass defense, permitting just 203.3 ypg (22nd nationally), but that had more to do with the secondary than it did with the pressure the line was applying. In fact, not only was UNLV ranked last in the MWC in tackles for loss with just 4.4 per game, the team was third from the bottom among all 119 FBS members in that department.
Defensive line coach Andre Patterson has just two returning starters in his group from a year ago, tackles Malo Taumua and Jacob Hales, which means he'll have to plug in other hulks to gain an advantage in the trenches and cut down on running lanes for the competition. The key for Patterson will be finding suitable replacements at the end positions, especially after Jeremy Geathers left a year early to seek fame and fortune in the NFL. One of the replacements will be former transfer Thor Pili, who in name alone should send shivers up the spines of the opposition. Although just a sophomore, it appears that Isaako Aaitui will see plenty of action on the other end.
Clearly, the biggest issue for the Rebel defense is finding someone to step in for Beau Bell at linebacker. Easier said than done, it appears that even redshirt freshman Bryce Saldi could see significant time in the middle of the field.
Both Quinton Pointer and Daryl Forte both have experience in the secondary after starting last year, but make no mistake, this group is going to take loads of chances in order to keep opponents from testing them too often.
SPECIAL TEAMS: For the first time since 1995, the Rebels have to replace both their punter and placekicker with the departures of Brian Pacheco and Sergio Aguayo, respectively. Kyle Watson and Ben Jaekle have both lettered for the team the past couple of seasons, now it is just a question of which one of them wants the job of placekicker that much more. As far as a punter is concerned, that question was still being addressed as of fall camp, which isn't exactly the way that coach Sanford had wanted it to happen. However, his concern really has to be with the offense and defense and then let the chips fall where they may in terms of the special teams. Flair will pull double-duty as the punt return man for the Rebels and Pointer will also get his hands on the ball as the kick returner.
OUTLOOK: For the first time since 1979 the Rebels have seven home games, so at least the squad has that working in its favor. UNLV plays three in a row at Sam Boyd Stadium against the likes of TCU, New Mexico and Wyoming in the month of November and then closes out the regular season with a date against San Diego State at Qualcomm Stadium which is an added bonus. However, the schedule makers didn't do the team any favors by sending the Rebels on the road to challenge Utah and Arizona State in back-to-back weeks and then to BYU in late October. As it did a season ago, UNLV opens with Utah State, this time at home, but given that the Rebels won last year's affair by just a single touchdown even that meeting is not something that can be taken for granted. Already having suffered through the tough times with this program, Summers has said in reference to being picked to finish last in the MWC standings, "I try and take a positive out of every negative, the positive in that is that we can't go any further down, we're already last. Also, I think it is a great motivation for myself and my team to work our way up."
