Defense taking ‘baby steps’

Then the football season arrives, and what worked in August doesn’t go so well in September.

That’s where first-year UNLV coach Bobby Hauck is when assessing his long-struggling defense, which underwent substantial changes in the spring.

Hauck sees progress but acknowledges being “a little in the dark because” he hasn’t coached in the Mountain West Conference. “I don’t really have a gauge on how far we need to go to be competitive in our league,” he said.

Hauck, at least, doesn’t need the defense to be a reincarnation of the 1985 Chicago Bears, but it no longer can be as big of a liability if the program is to move forward.

The Rebels allowed an average of more than 30 points per game five of the past six seasons, including 32.4 last year. They were particularly vulnerable against the run, yielding 220.6 yards last season and 213.1 the year before.

Perhaps just as distressing for the Rebels, the defense often failed to make plays at the most crucial times.

Oregon State benefited from a shaky pass interference call last season, but instead of digging in, UNLV allowed the Beavers to go down the field for the winning field goal with seven seconds left. Wyoming scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to rally for a three-point victory.

And there was that stretch in 2008 when UNLV gave up fourth-quarter leads in three consecutive October games that derailed a potentially promising season that instead ended 5-7.

Now UNLV’s defense practices with the urgency to erase those memories and to try to create positive new ones.

“When we come out with these pads on, we try to turn it up a little bit because we know that everybody is looking at us,” senior Calvin Randleman said. “We play with a chip (on the shoulder) because we kind of feel like it’s on us.”

Randleman was a significant part of the spring changes, shifting from safety to strongside linebacker, where he has been operating with the first team.

Senior Starr Fuimaono moved from strongside to weakside linebacker, senior Mike Grant switched from cornerback to safety, and junior Chris Jones went from safety to linebacker.

UNLV’s defense also appears ready to make the shift to a more aggressive unit. The previous coaching staff talked about being aggressive, but though the defense employed some zone blitzes, it mostly used a passive approach.

And the problem for the Rebels, the defense not only did bend, but it too often broke as well.

Signs suggest actions will back this staff’s insistence on being more aggressive. Defenders already spend more time in the offensive backfield than in the recent past, even though the coaching staff has yet to implement blitz packages.

“Our coaches want us to be very physical,” senior safety Alex De Giacomo said. “To be a good defense, you’ve got to be aggressive and set the tone early.”

Kraig Paulson is the defensive coordinator and will make the defensive calls on game day, and J.D. Williams is the pass-defense coordinator.

Though they make the major decisions, it’s a staff effort that includes Hauck, who has a defensive background. But Hauck spends more time with the offense “just because I don’t know it as well,” he said.

Hauck said at conference media days last month improving the defense was his top job, and Williams called the progress he has seen in practice “baby steps.”

No one will know whether the defense truly is improved — and by how much — until at least the Sept. 4 season opener against Wisconsin at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Randleman said it’s up to the defensive players to prove this season will be different. Otherwise, the players “have ourselves to look at in the mirror,” he said.

“And,” Randleman added, “we don’t want that.”

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