Shedding pounds, studying harder boon for lineman

UNLV junior defensive tackle Perry Eppenger did some soul searching this spring and realized he hadn't done all he could to become a better football player.

So he went to work, dropping 12 pounds on his 6-foot-3-inch frame to get to 300.

"Time is running out," said Eppenger, who went to Cheyenne High School. "I've only got two seasons left. I just took the time over the month of May, and I reflected and realized I wasn't as good as I thought I was. It took a lot of maturity to realize I've got to work to be as good as I want to be. It doesn't come easy."

He also put an emphasis on studying the playbook.

"That was my issue in the spring," Eppenger said after practice Thursday morning at Rebel Park. "I was playing real slow in the spring. When you know what you're doing, you play faster."

Defensive line coach Andre Patterson has noticed the difference this preseason.

"He's quicker, he's stronger, and his endurance is 1,000 percent better than what it was in the spring," Patterson said. "He's into it. He's studying, at least trying to do things the right way. So right now, (it's up to) me to continue to get him to have confidence. ... He's talented enough and athletic enough to be a really good player."

Eppenger played in 11 games last season, with one start, ending the season with four tackles.

Now he is the backup to senior Jacob Hales, but the Rebels picked up two walk-on tackles this week, so changes could occur before the Rebels open Aug. 30 against Utah State at Sam Boyd Stadium.

For now, though, Patterson is happy to hear about Eppenger acknowledging he hadn't worked to his potential.

"Some guys don't realize that until their career is over," Patterson said. "So it's a good thing that he figured that out while he still has time on the clock."

• GETTING SERIOUS -- UNLV goes into full pads at 8:45 a.m. today for the first time, and coach Mike Sanford said he is especially interested see how the newcomers respond, such as incoming freshman tailbacks C.J. Cox and Imari Thompson. They are battling sophomore Channing Trotter for the backup job to senior starter Frank Summers.

Sanford also wants to see how the team handles its most game-like setting yet.

This will be the Rebels' final practice in Las Vegas before leaving Saturday for camp in Ely, where they will have their first practice at 4 p.m. Sunday.

• BRINGING BACK THE 'STACHE -- Some offensive linemen saw old pictures of a mustache-sporting Sanford, and they made a deal with him if they worked hard during the offseason, he had to grow it back.

"I'm just doing it for a little while," Sanford said. "It'll be gone pretty fast."

The key is the wife's opinion. "She thought it was funny," Sanford said. "The only thing is it's a lot more gray than it used to be."

• HITTING THE BOOKS -- Backup junior linebacker Jimmy Miller is completing summer school, and he won't return to the team until a week into the Ely camp.

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