Rebels taking first small steps toward fixing biggest weakness: inept tackling

Interesting month, March. You don't need as many blankets on the bed but feel purchasing that third box of Thin Mints from your neighbor's daughter a necessity. Open-toe sandals return. Fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates begin the monthlong countdown for their team to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

On college campuses everywhere, football teams hold spring drills with dreams of becoming bigger, faster, stronger, better.

It's no different at UNLV.

The Rebels are even thinking about playing defense.

No, that was not a misprint.

It has to begin with small steps because when you are trying to create something that hasn't consistently existed for years, well, you're not going to become the 1985 Chicago Bears overnight.

"Good defenses get lined up, play hard for four quarters, tackle well, take good angles and play every play," first-year Rebels coach Bobby Hauck said. "If you do those things, regardless of your talent level, you have a chance to play decent defense."

Hauck and his staff insist they are looking only forward and not at those weaknesses that led to UNLV working on an unpleasant streak of eight straight nonwinning seasons.

Which is good news for the defense, because if coaches were to search for film that showed the Rebels executing many of the skills Hauck says are needed to be any good on that side of the ball, I'm not sure they'd discover enough to fill one movie night.

It's not that the Rebels have lacked a physical attitude. You don't reach this level of football, of such a violent sport, without having some semblance of toughness. UNLV hasn't been the most physical team around -- far from it -- but for the most part its players have provided effort in that area.

They tried to get better. It just didn't happen.

They haven't tackled anyone in forever, and when you can't tackle in football, you do things such as allow nearly 33 points and 457 yards per game. You surrender 63 points to UNR but don't feel that bad when you realize it could have been 84.

Tackling is a lot of technique and maybe even more mindset. Tackling is confidence, preparation, attention to detail. It's harder to do well than most realize.

"We're trying to look at what we believe are the important things on defense and stress them," defensive coordinator Kraig Paulson said. "There have been some good signs. I'm encouraged, but there is a long ways to go. We're going to be tested right away."

It's a great point. The Rebels open against a Wisconsin team that returns the most starters of anyone in the Big Ten Conference. UNLV also visits West Virginia, and here's guessing the Mountaineers will be all sorts of big and physical. UNR and Colin Kaepernick visit during nonconference play. Enough said. A game at Idaho also looks a lot tougher now than when first scheduled.

UNLV will probably have to hope it can strike an early balance of improving defensively without getting beaten down physically. The Rebels return eight starters on defense, but when you have struggled as much as that unit has, Hauck's pledge that no job is safe is a good one.

No one should receive a free pass at this point.

"I don't have any preconceived notions," Hauck said. "We have an M.O., and we're going to adhere to the way we do things and our standard of play. If you do that, I think you can play good defense.

"(As a team), we have a long ways to go. There is no other way to slice it, a long ways to go to be ready for a game. But we're making progress every day. That's our point of emphasis -- improve every day. I think we're doing that."

UNLV held its first spring scrimmage under Hauck on Friday, and it ended with five overtimes of the No. 1s against the No. 2s. Hauck wasn't going to leave the field until a winner was decided, not even to rush home for the start of what would be the final game for Northern Iowa and the great Ali Farokhmanesh, which makes us question the coach's sanity.

But I like the part about winning, about instilling a belief that no matter what it takes, UNLV players need to push beyond themselves and discover a positive result.

That kind of thinking could make a big difference on defense. You know, that and tackling someone.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618.