Rebels’ Pointer brings power play to corner

Cornerbacks make names for themselves by batting down passes, making interceptions and taking opposing receivers out of their games.

UNLV sophomore Quinton Pointer possesses those skills, but he often plays like a safety lined up at the wrong position.

So now Pointer gets the best of both secondary worlds. He is still a cornerback -- one who shows signs of joining the Mountain West Conference elite -- but is playing more inside, where getting physical is a fundamental part of the job.

It's a spot that will put Pointer on more slot receivers and in position to help provide run support to a defense that desperately needs to improve in that area.

He also will play nickel and dime positions when the Rebels go to five and six defensive backs, making him more like a linebacker.

And coaches will use Pointer -- all 5 feet 9 inches and 185 pounds of him -- on blitzes.

"Quinton Pointer is a great combination of cover corner and tackler, a tough guy," coach Mike Sanford said. "He loves football and he plays hard and he plays physical."

Beginning with last season's opener at Utah State, Pointer showed the moxie to be more than just a player who follows receivers down the sideline.

He leveled 286-pound tight end Jimmy Bohm on one third-quarter play, and made a terrific first-down-saving tackle on quarterback Leon Jackson in the fourth quarter.

That game was his first of eight starts after coming back from surgery on a potentially career-ending tear to the left anterior cruciate ligament. Even after suffering the injury in the spring of 2005, Pointer played that season at Mariner High School in Cape Coral, Fla., before undergoing the operation that put him out of football until last spring.

"Many people thought I wouldn't be able to play with my knee and stuff like that," Pointer said. "So I had stuff to prove."

Pointer played all 12 games last season for UNLV, making 50 tackles and breaking up two passes while throwing his body -- and knee -- around without any apparent regard for his safety.

He never suffered major consequences for that hard-hitting style, but a price was paid nevertheless. Pointer wore down as the combination of countless bruises and demands of playing a complete season for the first time in two years began to add up.

Geoffery Howard, now the starter at the other corner position, took Pointer's spot in the lineup for four of the final five games.

"I guess my body started shutting down my first year coming back," Pointer said.

Now he is determined to play at a high level throughout the season and is using this spring to make that point.

He shows up for each practice like it's game day.

"He had a tendency as a freshman to be a guy that looked like you were pulling teeth to get him to do certain things and go certain places," Sanford said. "He's just a different guy now. He's figured it out. He's learning, and he's shown tremendous hustle."

The results are obvious.

Pointer has been one of the spring's top performers, a nominee every day but two for the black jersey, which goes to the top player from the previous practice. He once won the right to the jersey.

"He's working real hard," cornerbacks coach Mike Bradeson said. "He's an intelligent football player. And he plays the game the way it's supposed to be played in that he's a tough guy."

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