Rebels give QB Clayton room to grow

It's not a subject anyone with UNLV's football team wants to think about, much less discuss.

But sophomore Omar Clayton -- who possesses seemingly enormous potential that he coupled with a strong training camp -- is a young and inexperienced quarterback.

Young and inexperienced quarterbacks often make mistakes, sometimes lots of them.

So if Clayton throws a key interception or mishandles a snap inside the 5-yard line, how much latitude will he have to play through those errors to try to live up to his promise?

Ah, that's the question no one wants to address.

"I don't worry about him making a lot of mistakes, to be honest with you," said offensive coordinator Todd Berry, also the quarterbacks coach. "He's very, very mature for his age. He's bright, and so consequently he sees an awful lot of things. He's way ahead of a lot of other quarterbacks I've had at this stage.

"He's mentally strong. If he makes a mistake, he hits the clear button pretty good in his mind, and he goes on to the next play."

Clayton might not struggle much at all. He could line up in the shotgun in Saturday's 7 p.m. opener against Utah State at Sam Boyd Stadium and leave no doubt about his ability to be at the controls.

Maybe most of his struggles already occurred in that first start last season against Colorado State. Clayton looked like a quarterback only months out of high school when he committed four first-half turnovers while the Rams built a 24-3 lead.

He came back strong in the second half, committing just one turnover while becoming the first quarterback in UNLV history to surpass 300 yards passing and 100 rushing in the same game.

That night, for Clayton, wasn't about the final two quarters, however. It was about all four.

"We lost the game," Clayton said of the 48-23 defeat. "I had numerous turnovers, so I don't think I had a good performance that game. Honestly."

He faced a tough pass rush the following week at Wyoming, getting sacked six times and throwing two interceptions as well as playing without top wide receiver Ryan Wolfe, who was out with an ankle injury. But Clayton also passed for 223 yards and a touchdown and rushed for a TD in UNLV's 29-24 loss.

A broken right hand ended his night early against San Diego State in the third start.

Clayton was supposed to compete against Travis Dixon for the starting job this preseason, but a strong spring and summer prompted coaches to award Clayton the position at the beginning of camp and move Dixon to safety.

Getting the first-team repetitions in practice helped Clayton build on his work before camp, and as he progressed he made fewer mistakes and made more big plays.

"He's gotten better and better and better," coach Mike Sanford said.

Sanford and Berry are behind Clayton, making clear their confidence in the 19-year-old to run the offense.

To have a successful season, UNLV needs Clayton to come through. But whether he first must play through mistakes and then grow as a quarterback is unknown.

"Those are the kind of things you don't really know until you get into the season," Sanford said. "But as far as I'm concerned, he's our starting quarterback, Mike Clausen's our No. 2 quarterback, and we'll see how it all develops."

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