Happy Friday Cougs, and welcome to another Spring Fish Wrap, 2011 style. Today we take a quick look at opponent #2 on the WSU 2011 schedule, the Runnin’ Rebels of UNLV. And of course, when you think UNLV, what’s the first few things that pop into your head? Tark the Shark, Larry “Grandmama” Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, Anderson Hunt, etc, etc, etc. Am I right? Not to be totally down on UNLV football, but I think the casual fan who views their athletics will naturally think hoops before football, know what I mean? And man, they had a hell of a run back in the day, so the hoops thought is definitely fitting.
But alas, this is football, and it’s time to see what UNLV looks like coming out of spring ball. Will they roll into Martin Stadium in week two, ready to bag a win that they likely believe they can get on the road? Read on for more…..
UNLV Rebels
LAST YEAR: 2-11, 2-6 in the Mountain West. I guess 2010 was a cold, rude welcome to Bobby Hauck, the former Montana head coach who basically beat up on the Big Sky for several years before bolting to Vegas. Hauck had an amazing 80-17 record at Montana, and is the most successful coach in Big Sky history (47-6 conference record, at least a share of the Big Sky title in every season). Hauck was definitely thought of as a hot coaching prospect in the rumor mill/coaching carousel/whatever when he took the Vegas job last year, and the expectations were high.
But reality soon struck Hauck early on as to how tough this job was going to be. Early in his first spring session as coach in 2010, there were warning signs. Hauck was quoted in the 2010 Blue Ribbon preview as saying “I think we need to learn to be more fundamentally sound. It sounds simple, but just the blocking and tackling part of it needs to improve. In terms of playing hard and playing hard for long periods of time, we haven’t accomplished that yet, and that’s something that we need to work toward on a daily basis.”
Translation: We have a LONG way to go before we can start winning!
And all of those concerns played out on the field of play in 2010. There were some really ugly losses too, like 30-7 to Idaho, 43-10 to Colorado State, 48-6 to TCU and the worst of all, 55-7 to BYU. Now maybe it’s just me, but reading those quotes from Hauck prior to last year, and then seeing those blowout losses? Well, it sounded a heck of a lot like the things we heard out of Paul Wulff when he first took over at WSU in 2008. Fundamentals, mental and physical toughness, playing hard, all of that sounded awfully familiar. So to Hauck and UNLV after year one? From Wazzu Nation, WE FEEL YOUR PAIN!
When you throw a whole lot of change at young people from the get-go, the adjustment period can be really tough. That’s reality. Sometimes the kids will take the change and run with it, and before you know it you have completely flipped the program and created a winning machine. But other times, well, resistance is there and it just takes time to implement everything you want to accomplish. It’s like that in every walk of life, football included. Hauck wanted to implement a tough, physical, grind ’em out style of football, but the roster he inherited just wasn’t prepared to play that way. Combine the culture change with a rash of injuries that actually started in spring ball of 2010, and the result was a disastrous season.
FANS ARE: OK, but disappointed in year one of the Hauck regime. Many expected UNLV to at least flirt with a bowl game last year, as the Rebs had gone 5-7 in both 2008 and 2009. With 15 starters coming back last year, and just 18 lost lettermen from the entire roster, there was a belief that they would take that extra step forward and compete for a bowl game. But it went the other direction, and it wasn’t pretty. Is there pressure on Hauck to win in year two? Not necessarily. While the reaction has been mixed, the general belief is people understand this kind of change can take some time. Hauck has been incredibly successful at his prior stop implementing HIS program, and so this is just part of the process. But if they roll out another 2-win 2011 season? You better believe the heat will be at least turned up to medium, from the low simmer as it sits right now??
2010 OFFENSIVE STATS: You might want to look away, as this won’t be pretty…..the passing offense was 98th in the country at 171 yards per game, but that is the high mark for the 2010 offense. UNLV finished in the “100’s” nationally in points per game (18.4, 110th in the country), rushing yards (103 per game, 109th), and finally, total offense (274 ypg, 118th).
RETURNING OFFENSIVE STARTERS: 7
OFFENSIVE SYSTEM: This was the biggest change last year, as UNLV used to run a full-blown spread offense. Under Hauck, they reeled things in a bit and there was a major adjustment. Hauck now employs a fullback/H-back to the offense, something that was foreign to UNLV prior to Hauck’s arrival.
TOP RETURNING OFFENSIVE PLAYER: To be totally honest, there isn’t a player that flat-out jumps off the screen at you. Senior WR Phillip Payne is back, and is one of the best wideouts in school history with 19 TD catches in his career. But of all the starters projected back for 2011, you probably have to go with starting running back Tim Cornett as the top offensive player returning this season.
Well built at 6-0, 195, the running back from Texas made a nice splash at UNLV last year. While not a huge highlight reel guy, Cornett is more of the hardhat-n-lunchpail type, not afraid to run hard and doesn’t shy away from contact. In his frosh season, he totaled 546 yards and six rushing TD’s in basically half a year of football, the first frosh running back in school history to actually lead the team in rushing. Cornett saw limited action through the majority of the first half of the season, with just 16 carries over the first five games. But things really changed in week six, as Cornett would get double-digit carries in each of the last seven games. The highlight for Cornett had to be the Wyoming victory, where he ran for 70 yards and three TD’s while also catching a TD pass. UNLV does have a lot of young talent in the backfield right now, so it’s unlikely Cornett will ever be that every down, 25-carry per game guy. But of all the offensive players back for 2011, Cornett is the one to watch on offense.
2010 DEFENSIVE STATS: While they did OK in passing defense, placing 77th in the nation allowing 228 yards per game? The rest of the defense was a major struggle. UNLV was in the “100’s” nationally in rushing D (222.7 ypg, 116th), scoring D (39.7, also 116th) and finally, total D (450 ypg, 109th).
2011 RETURNING STARTERS (DEFENSE): 4
DEFENSIVE SCHEME: 4-3
TOP RETURNING DEFENSIVE PLAYER: UNLV is young, young, young on D for 2011, with just four returning starters and youth all over the depth chart among the front seven. However the secondary looks strong, with the hopeful return of Quinton Pointer, the leading tackler in 2009 but who missed 2010 with an injury. But overall, the best of the returners has to be senior cornerback Will Chandler.
Chandler led the Mountain West in interceptions last year with five, and had seven total takeaways in 2010. He has decent size at 5-11, 185, and while not the most physical corner around with just 37 tackles in 10 starts last year, he is athletic and knows how to make plays in the secondary. And his five picks last year were the same amount as the ENTIRE UNLV secondary had in 2009! Look for a big senior year from Chandler in 2011.
TOP SPRING QUESTIONS:
1) AND THE QB WILL BE…..? A lot of speculation heading into spring ball was that sophomore Caleb Herring would be taking over for the departed Omar Clayton. They are some big shoes to fill, as Clayton started 40 games for UNLV, but Herring came off the bench and got some experience in games last year as Clayton’s understudy, throwing for 365 yards and four TD’s in very limited time.
There is a LOT to like about Herring. Good size at 6-3, 180, and a strong arm to boot, the job looked to be Herring’s coming into and out of spring. But not so fast my friend! Herring has some competition from JC transfer Sean Reilly, a 6-4 junior who threw for over 2400 yards and 26 TD’s last year, to go with just six picks. And there is also promising redshirt frosh Taylor Barnhill, a strong armed 6-4 QB. But as of today, if you had to fill out a lineup Herring would be under center, yet Hauck was clear coming out of spring ball that he did NOT yet name the starting QB. It should be an interesting battle to watch for fall practice, but the odds are good that Herring will be the guy in week one.
2) IS THERE HOPE FOR THE DEFENSE? It sure looks like things will still be a struggle, at least if you value experience on your defense. With just four starters total back from last year, they are especially young on the defensive interior, where the two-deep on the defensive tackle positions are all underclassmen. Due to injuries and turnover they had to play a lot of youngsters on the D-line last year, and you know how that can go as a trickle-down to the rest of the defensive struggles! If you can’t handle things up front, you will get run over in the running game and torn apart in the passing game, and that’s just what happened to UNLV last year on D.
All three projected starting linebackers are brand new as well, as the starters from 2010 are gone. And only one returner at LB is even a senior, as the rest are juniors, sophomores and frosh. Hauck has called the linebackers the biggest question mark on the team coming out of spring ball. But there is SOME hope, however, as Hauck has brought in some JC’s for immediate impact in linebacker Princeton Jackson and defensive lineman Trent Allmang-Wilder, a 6-6, 280 pound transfer from College of the Desert.
3) AND THE OBLIGITORY SCHEDULE QUESTION? It was tough last year, as UNLV played one of the toughest schedules in the country in 2010, and 2011 doesn’t look like a walk in the park either. They open up on a Thursday night in Wisconsin to take on the Badgers, and then of course, they roll into Pullman the Saturday the following week. They do get two bye weeks this season, but from the looks of it they are going to need the rest. Overall, UNLV has seven road games in 2011, including four against teams that were ranked in the top 11 in 2010(gulp!).
POST SPRING RAMBLINGS, DOT-DOT-DOT STYLE…..While last year’s 2-win season was frustrating, UNLV had some decent seasons the two years prior, winning five games in both 2008 and 2009. It appeared they might be turning some sort of corner. However, since 2004, last year was the FIFTH SEASON out of the last seven seasons overall where UNLV won just two games (2 wins in ’04, ’05, ’06, ’07 and ’10). Since 2000, UNLV has had one winning season (8-5 in 2000) and one season at .500 (6-6 in 2003). Overall the Rebels are just 43-88 in their last 11 seasons…..With so many struggles, youth and injuries in just one year under Hauck, the head man has not hesitated to dip into the JC ranks. After signing just one JC player in his first class, Hauck signed 8 JC transfers compared to 15 high schoolers in February, and several of the JC’s will be expected to help right away, especially on defense. Hauck’s second recruiting class featured players from seven different states this year, as UNLV has a wide recruiting net, with the majority of the players signed coming from California, with 12. They did sign three Texas recruits, following up after the success with running back Tim Cornett…..While overall there have been some struggles, UNLV has had some recent success against BCS programs. In 2008, they beat both Arizona State and Iowa State in overtime games, in back-to-back weeks no less. But those are the only two BCS wins UNLV has had since 2004…..While bowl games are a rarity in Vegas, with just three bowls ever at UNLV, there is some good news – UNLV is undefeated all time in bowl games, with wins in the California Bowl in ’84, and the Las Vegas Bowl in ’94 and ’00!…..While they may have seven starters coming back on offense in ’11, the bad news is that only two of those starters are on the offensive line. And of the projected five offensive line starters, not a single one is a senior. Hauck played 14 true frosh last year, third-most in the country, but he has already been quoted as saying that UNLV will probably be one of the youngest teams in the country again this year!…..Some of the top UNLV sites include the Las Vegas Review Journal’s UNLV Football blog; the Las Vegas Sun’s UNLV section; and finally SB Nation’s Mountain West Connection website, with plenty of UNLV coverage.
All for now. Enjoy your Friday, and of course, GO COUGS!
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