Not a fun day for Rebel receivers
ELY — It was a rough day to be a UNLV wide receiver.
Senior Ryan Wolfe missed this afternoon's football practice with a stomach illness, sophomore Phillip Payne bumped knees with senior nickel back Terrance Lee and senior Rodelin Anthony took a hard shot from sophomore cornerback Kenny Brown that left a cut on his chin.
Fortunately for the Rebels, Wolfe and Payne should return Monday morning, and Anthony quickly got back on the field after getting knocked down. Brown's shot occurred during a no-tackling drill. Senior wide receiver Jerriman Robinson got all over Brown, and Sanford told Brown to get off the field.
JUST A MINUTE OR TWO
Junior quarterback Omar Clayton shined in two two-minute drills, completing 7 of 9 passes for 96 yards. He also rushed for 37 yards and a touchdown on five carries.
On the first drive, Clayton led the first-team offense to the 7-yard line against the first-team defense. But he threw incomplete passes on third and fourth downs. Not having receivers Wolfe and Payne available didn't help, and junior cornerback Mike Grant's tight coverage kept the offense out of the end zone.
Clayton led the offense all the way the next time the first-teamers faced each other. He completed two 15-yard passes to Anthony and a 15-yarder to Johnson. Clayton also took off on a 24-yard run and finished the drive with a 1-yard delayed sneak for the touchdown.
The second-team defense easily won the two two-minute drills against the offense.
MEN IN BLACK
Junior center John Gianninoto on offense and sophomore linebacker Beau Orth on defense wore the black jerseys as the top performers from Saturday's scrimmage. The other nominees were Payne, Clayton and junior tailback Channing Trotter on offense and junior tackle Ramsey Feagai and junior linebacker Ronnie Paulo on defense.
KICKIN' IT
Senior kicker Kyle Watson made 1 of 2 52-yard field goals and a 47-yarder on his only try. Freshman Allen Hardison went 1 for 2 from 47 yards.
MOVING RIGHT IN
Freshman Jordan Barrett, who joined the team Friday, was inserted third on the depth chart at tight end. Redshirt freshman Gordy Cooper was moved to wide receiver.
HAVING FUN
At the end of practice, four offensive linemen and four defensive linemen were selected to field punts from a ball machine. If at least five players caught the punts, the team didn't have to do conditioning and would be able to practice in shorts Monday afternoon.
The first three linemen — Gianninoto, Malo Taumua and Joe Hawley — were successful. But then Martin Tevaseu, Evan Marchal and Isaako Aaitui dropped their attempts. That meant the final two players had to field the punts, and Matt Murphy and Jason Beauchamp did. As soon as Beauchamp caught the ball, he was swarmed by teammates.
