Rebels need to avoid foul play

RENO

There is this strategy when coaching youth soccer that you encourage forwards to be called for offsides at least three or four times a match. The idea is to create an aggressive mind-set in inexperienced players that eventually will lead to them scoring goals against more cautious defenders.

It's an assertive approach that doesn't always work in the other form of football, which creates a difficult predicament for those competing at any level, particularly college players always intent on making an impression:

In a sport defined by its violent nature, how do you instruct those hitting and tackling to control their aggressiveness in order to avoid seeing yellow?

UNLV hasn't discovered much of an answer this season, having been flagged for nine personal fouls and one unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The Rebels are 2-2 entering today's game at UNR, and neither of the losses are directly connected with personal fouls.

Hawaii's offense always was going to be good enough to beat UNLV by a large margin, and the only personal foul called on the Rebels a week earlier came on the game's first play against Wisconsin.

But the signs are present to suggest the Rebels either should curb their temperament on certain plays or risk losing a close game, as today's is forecast to be, because of an undisciplined nature.

It nearly happened at Utah State to open the season, when one of the Aggies' touchdown drives was aided by a UNLV personal foul and the other by a facemask penalty against the Rebels.

"That's what I worry about," UNLV coach Mike Sanford said. "We're really trying to develop being aggressive and tough and giving great effort and finishing plays in this program.

"But there's a fine line between being all those things and not being stupid. Be smart. Be aggressive. Be tough. Give great effort. Don't be stupid.

"It's a hard deal."

It is sometimes. There are different types of personal fouls, like there are different types of teenage hairstyles. Some are reasonably acceptable, and some are more dreadful than the Mets' idea of how to close a divisional race.

If you are UNLV linebacker Beau Bell sprinting near a sideline to drive a Utah State player out of bounds and can't stop your forward progress before an official reaches for his flag, it's a tolerable penalty based on effort.

If you are wide receiver Casey Flair costing your team 30 yards over three series against Hawaii by refusing to stop blocking beyond a play's conclusion, your next view should be from the sideline, which is where Flair spent nearly a quarter following his mental errors two weeks ago.

What makes it especially difficult not to step over the line at times: In most conferences now, including the Mountain West and Western Athletic, officials no longer blow whistles to signal the end of a play. There is more and more a fear of inadvertent whistles on fumbles or plays in which an official has a bad angle and doesn't know which offensive player owns possession.

"It's not an excuse for our" personal fouls, Sanford said. "But being aggressive is one thing we have preached more about with our football team."

What to do when players become too aggressive?

It can be difficult for a coach to decide an immediate level of discipline for such infractions, unless the player completely loses his mind and commits the blunder in an unobstructed view for an entire stadium to witness.

At UNLV, this happens: If flagged for a personal foul, you immediately are removed from the game and sit for a period of time Sanford believes is sensible based on the type of infraction. You also get to do more running than your teammates at practice the following week.

The dumber the penalty, the more you run. It's a rational approach to a tricky dilemma.

"I don't want to be ambiguous about it," Sanford said. "We've made it pretty clear. It's a black-and-white issue for us. If you get called for it, you screwed up. If you don't get called for it, you didn't screw up.

"I don't believe officials have a preconceived idea about a certain team when it comes to personal fouls, but at the same time they are out to control the game because of all the fights and melees that have happened in recent years. They have really been told to put an emphasis on correcting a problem before it escalates into a bigger one."

Personal fouls haven't been a big enough problem to cost UNLV a win.

But evidence suggests the Rebels have swayed on a line they need to cross far less.

Ed Graney's column is published Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.