Clayton maintains focus

UNLV coach Bobby Hauck walked into a meeting room as his quarterbacks were chatting recently and tried to interject a little levity: "Does anyone know what time Masoli's plane gets in today?"

Former Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli transferred to Mississippi earlier this month after it had been rumored that he was interested in coming to UNLV.

It's uncertain whether Masoli seriously considered UNLV -- or if UNLV seriously considered accepting him.

But Rebels senior quarterback Omar Clayton said his focus would be the same, with or without Masoli as a teammate, as UNLV prepares for its season opener against Wisconsin on Sept. 4 at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"Either way, I still have to do the same thing," said Clayton, who has the edge to retain the starting job as he competes against junior Mike Clausen and redshirt freshman Caleb Herring. "Coach has not named a starter yet, so me and Mike and Caleb are still competing. It still would've been a competition if (Masoli) had come or not."

Herring ran the second-team offense in Monday's practice, but Hauck said that doesn't necessarily mean he is ahead of Clausen.

"They're all three getting pretty much equal (repetitions) right now," Hauck said. "We're trying to make it as even as we can, so it will be a different rotation pretty much every day until we start narrowing it down."

Herring said he doesn't know how the quarterbacks are designated.

"That's my job to make the reps count," Herring said, "not count the reps."

■ HEADING BACK NORTH -- It's common knowledge that UNLV will move its training camp four hours north to Ely starting Wednesday, but NCAA rules prohibit the school from saying where it is headed.

Hauck says simply that the Rebels are "going to the mountains."

He likes the idea of escaping Las Vegas' 100-degree heat and the other advantages that come with moving camp to a remote place.

"It's one of the most beneficial things I think you can do," Hauck said.

He did it only once at Montana, where he coached for seven seasons before taking the UNLV job. A forest fire in 2003 forced a move to Butte, about 1½ hours from the Grizzlies' campus in Missoula.

When Hauck was an assistant coach at Washington, the Huskies trained every year at Evergreen State College in nearby Olympia.

■ CAREER OVER -- Offensive lineman Thomas Kilgore, forced to redshirt last year as a freshman because of back surgery, was medically disqualified after it was determined that the injury will prevent him from ever being able to play.

The move means Kilgore will remain on scholarship but won't count against the program's maximum of 85 scholarships allowed by the NCAA.

Also, junior defensive end B.J. Bell left the practice field twice Monday, appearing to favor his right leg. Hauck said he didn't know Bell's condition.

Bell medically redshirted last season and was limited in spring practices because of shoulder surgery.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at
manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914.