Rebels’ wide receivers face open competition

A number of graduations and a new coaching staff willing to look at all possibilities make wide receiver the most wide-open position battle for UNLV during spring practice.

New players, such as freshmen Marcus Sullivan, Irshad Stolden and Brandon Babineaux, have an opportunity to earn playing time.

Sullivan and Stolden enrolled full time in January after signing last year.

That wasn't the original plan for Sullivan, a Cheyenne High School product. He had to wait after not passing a state-required math proficiency examination in time.

"It was real tough watching the team play," Sullivan said.

Babineaux at least got a feel for college football by going through practices last season.

"Especially being around receivers like Ryan Wolfe and Rodelin Anthony helped a lot," Babineaux said.

Juniors Phillip Payne (58 catches, 661 yards, seven touchdowns) and Michael Johnson (43-484-1) are the most experienced players returning and the most likely candidates to replace players such as Wolfe, UNLV's career receiving leader.

But with first-year coach Bobby Hauck little is certain. He said former starters dropped in the depth chart in the spring and never got their jobs back.

"This time of year, I'm a real firm believer (that) you're as good as your last practice," Hauck said. "If you don't practice well, then somebody else can step into that spot."

■ ROUGH START -- The Rebels were in pads Thursday for the first time this spring, and it wasn't as sharp as Hauck would have preferred.

"Just a rough day for everybody," tailback Channing Trotter said. "You've just got to get used to the tempo. It's a lot tougher than it was before."

Hauck attributed some of the problems to the players trying to grasp so much new information.

"That's got to be part of it, understanding exactly what we want out of them, understanding the scheme," Hauck said.

■ THINKING ABOUT THE BADGERS -- The opener against Wisconsin is Sept. 4, but UNLV began preparations by lining up a tight end in the backfield with a tailback to give its defense a look at that formation.

"We play some I-formation teams, in particular Wisconsin the first game, where we've got to manufacture that this spring," Hauck said. "The time to do it's now. If we don't, we'll be a soft team and won't be able to handle (the look)."

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