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Show Game Guide 3 Friday, October 27,2006 THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE On the Other Sideline The Rebel redemption Tony Pizza The Daily Utah Chronicle Quarterback The Rebels employed a two-quarterback system until Shane Steichen suffered a season-ending ankle injury, leaving the UNLV offense solely in the hands of Rocky Hinds. The 6-foot-5» 220-pound sophomore has thrown, just two touchdowns to his seven interceptions, and the Rebel offense as a whole is scoring fewer than 19 points per game, second-worst in the conference. Say what you will about Brett Ratliff—at least the Utah senior has been able to engineer a couple dozen touchdown drives this season. Edge: Utah Running Backs . • . J-Questions have arisen regarding the Ute offensive coaches' confidence .in the rushing attack. Darryl Poston has gotten the majority of the carries this year (in part, because of injuries to Mike Liti and Darrell Mack, which have disrupted the team's plan to have a platoon system). But Poston ran well against the Lobos before suffering a mild injury that kept him out of the second half. The Rebels have utilized two backs—David Peeples (no, not the one who wrote 12 Monkeys) and Erick Jackson—but. as a team are averaging just 84.1 yards per game on the ground. ^;&y^':'v:yv^:'? ' ' ">>',i^, The first time Red laid eyes on Andy Dufresne in Shawshank Prison, he admitted that he didn't think much of the man. Similarly, Warden Norton vastly underestimated Dufresne and his expertise with an eightinch rock hammer, which eventually led to Dufresne's triumph and the downfall of Norton's empire. The UNLV Rebels football team can relate to the underestimation of Andy Dufresne in Shawshank. Nobody in the Mountain West seems to think much of UNLV, mostly because the Rebels have a combined 4-21 record in the Under Sanford, UNLV has MWC since 2003. UNLV has been used as the MWC door- had a few scoring flurries mat for a number of years, this year. UNLV put up 54 but like Dufresne, UNLV has points against Idaho State to the potential to escape with open up the season and adda win when opponents over- ed 36 against New Mexico look the talent it possesses, before falling to the Lobos in overtime. especially on offense. Unfortunately for UNLV, UNLV's impotence in the Mountain West presents the the team lost quarterback ultimate trap match for any Shane Steichen for the reteam that comes into a game mainder of the season in a overlooking what the Rebels game against BYU last week. Steichen, who was fresh off are capable of on offense. Since head coach Mike a 295-yard, five-touchdown Sanford took over for the performance against New Rebels after helping the Utes Mexico, seemed like he was compile a 21-2 record dur- going help UNLV become a ing his two-year offensive competitive MWC team for coordinator stint, Sanford the remainder of the year. and two previous Ute assisTurnovers and the lack tants have tried to resurrect UNLV's football program. See R E B E L S Game Guide 4 ^i$$mffi^^$:i ;•%>;£$£ &• -VAW-'.-.-?'^... vw-.Edge: U t a h Receivers • UNLV's Casey Flair and Ryan Wolfe have combined for 70 catches, five touchdowns and more than 1,000 receiving yards, but there is little to offer in the receiving game for the Rebels beyond those two—and that has proven to be a detriment for Mike Sanford and his spread variation. The Ute receiving corps has been erratic and disappointing, but there are still at least five guys who have proven they can make plays—if s just consistency that has been the issue. The Utes would be well-served to try to use more of the field, perhaps utilizing big wideout Bradon Godfrey over the middle to open up the sidelines to which the team keeps trying to force the ball. Offensive Line It was one bad week. The Utes' front five gave up an astonishing six sacks against Wyoming two games ago, but rebounded with another sack shutout in a losing cause vs. New Mexico. Utah has still given up a conference-low six total sacks on the year, while UNLV has given up 18 and the Rebel run game is averaging just 2.9 yards per carry. l'.:*^ -: :^v<l.,<;^Edge: Utah '•'•• Defensive L i n e ^ ; ;^;;^^^£^^^g5^:|^ : ^ ' ^ ^ ^ x > ^ : ^ Losing stud run-stuffer Kelly Talavou is a huge blow ^ / m ' : ' J i ^'- '"'• for the Ute defense, which was beginning to show signs of wear and vulnerability even before he went down with a knee injury. Without him, more pressure will be put on the injury-riddled linebacking corps to make plays and stop the run. But regardless, the UNLV run defense has given up a league-worst 15 rushing touchdowns and opposing runners are running at a THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Depth and versatility—those are the two adjectives that have described the Ute linebackers this season. In addition to the team's four top 'backers, Casey Evans (who began the season at linebacker) can move into position if need be. But without injured starters Stevenson Sylvester and Kyle Brady, things' have gotten significantly tougher for the Utes' defense. UNLV junior linebacker Beau Bell is one of the league's top defensive players, leading the conference with 10.9 tackles per game (76 total) to go along with four sacks and nine tackles for loss. ?y'?:£&&: ' Edge: UNLV . /v-7, / > Secondary Ute cornerback Eric Weddle continues to draw praise from all corners of the college-football landscape, having now been honored as a semifinalist forthe Chuck Bednarik Award and a quarterfinalist for the ^ Ronnie Lott Trophy. He has been the MWC's premier :£defensive playmaker for the last two years. But the U p. •secondary was exploited last week against the Lobos in arguably the unit's weakest showing of the year. The group couldn't cover Marcus Smith and didn't,' make the necessary adjustments when'the Lobos be- •>: gan attacking over the middle. That said, UNLV's pass;$: defense is the lowest-rated in the Mountain West, giv-*{£ ing up 240.3 yards per game through the air. Sr Edge: Utah •;• Special Teams Utah and UNLV are 1-2 in the conference in both punting and kick returns, but the Rebels—who have struggled to score points for much of the season—are just 4-of-7 on field goal attempts this season and have the worst kick coverage unit in the league. Ute punter/kicker Louie Sakoda is a likely all-MWC selection. Edge: Utah U Coaching It is now year two for both Kyle Wbittingham and Mike Sanford, the two coordinators for the Utes' 2004 undefeated team who rode that success to head coaching jobs. Over the last two years, the Utes have clearly been the better of the two programs—but then again, he also had more to work with. Both have struggled to win over fans,-as neither team has fulfilled expectations thus far. . -•< Edgc:-Evcn' • ' 'r. • , Chris Bellamy New Mexico's DeAndre Wright (2) breaks up a pass intended for UNLV's Aaron Straiten during the second guarter of the Lobos' win over UNLV two weeks ago. Good times, bad times The Utes' struggles start at the top I almost have to chuckle when I see those Utah football banners around campus that say "Keep it NATALIE rollin'." Keep it rollin' where? DICOU Off a cliff? Into a pond of bloodthirsty alligators? In two short years, the Utah football team has managed to fall from its pedestal, going from a team that consistently got airtime on ESPN to a group of seemingly lost souls who were orphaned when Urban Meyer left for better climate and, oh yeah, a realistic chance at winning the national championship. But the glory and national attention are gone now. The bright lights are shining elsewhere and in their place is mediocrity of the harshest kind. And the source of the demise seems to be getting clearer and clearer with each game. Head coaching is more about team morale, intensity level and heart than it is about Xs and Os. It's about finding ways to wring every last drop of effort out of every player who takes the field, and to do that, he's got to have a sixth sense of what makes each guy tick. Every college football program has a zillion position coaches, not to mention an offensive and defensive coordinator, to take care of the technicalities. The head coach is on another level. He's the leader and the motivator. He sets the work ethic and he lays out the team's expectations. That's not to say he's just some motivational speaker with a headset. He's the lead strategist, but he needs to be more than that. Good football coaching occurs when a coach can compel every guy—whether he's the nose guard or the quarterback—to step between the hash marks on every down and sacrifice life and limb for a few more inches of yardage. Great coaches turn football into something bigger. It's not just a nervous, "we've got to win so I don't lose my job" situation. Great coaches make it about pride and community. Remember when Urban Meyer reinvigorated the MUSS? That wasn't simply about getting more student support. It was all part of Meyer's master plan. It put faces on the Utes and was a visual reminder of how much it all meant. It created excitement and unity within the school and surrounding community. A head coach needs to be hi touch with his players and convince them that he cares about them as people so they'll give him their all. The way in which Urban Meyer and his successor Kyle Whittingham interact with players is substantially different. Meyer could tell you what a player's wife or girlfriend did for a living and he seemed genuinely interested in the goings-on of players' off-the-field lives. Meyer even knew what kind of pet his players owned, one player said. Knowing that a player has a beloved guinea pig? Now that's good coaching. Meyer did all of this while maintaining a strict relationship that demanded respect. See D I C O U Game Guide 4 |