Ricky White benefits from extra work with flashy debut for UNLV
Hours after UNLV’s 52-21 win over Idaho State on Saturday in its season opener at Allegiant Stadium, some of the players celebrated the win in a particular way.
They were inside the Fertitta Football Complex practicing. Michigan State transfer wide receiver Ricky White and other receivers were catching passes off the machine on the practice fields.
Even though the Rebels had their best offensive showing under coach Marcus Arroyo, the receivers weren’t going to pass up an opportunity to get in extra work.
“We don’t ever want to be complacent,” said White, a sophomore. “We want to be consistent this whole year and make a statement out of every game.”
White made a statement in his debut with the Rebels, picking up 182 receiving yards on eight catches with two touchdowns. He did all his damage in the second quarter, when UNLV outscored Idaho State 35-0.
After seeing White showcase his potential during practices, Arroyo was looking forward to seeing it translate in a game. And he was impressed.
“To see him naturally react to the game situations and how fast he picked things up showed us that he knows the offense, he knew what he had to do,” Arroyo said. “And that he has the game-breaking ability, we saw it. It was pretty evident that guy’s pretty special.”
White’s highlight play was a 72-yard reception early in the second quarter.
Coming to the line of scrimmage, sophomore quarterback Doug Brumfield noticed the man-to-man coverage the Idaho State defense was playing on White’s side of the field.
Brumfield called an audible for White to run a vertical route down the sideline. When White received the play from Brumfield, he knew the extra hours the two spent practicing would result in a big play.
“It was a great throw by Doug,” White said. “I just wanted to make a play, and that’s what I did.”
Brumfield earns weekly honor
Brumfield was named the Mountain West offensive player of the week for his performance.
Brumfield completed 21 of 25 passes for 356 yards and four touchdowns, all of them in the first half. The Rebels scored on all seven drives Brumfield started in the first half, including getting touchdowns on all five drives in the second quarter.
“I’m just proud of him,” Arroyo said. “I was proud of the way he played. He’s matured, he was excited to play, you could see that. He was eager to do really well.”
Brumfield’s performance was the second-most efficient game by a quarterback in program history. His 84 percent completion percentage trails only Caleb Herring’s 2013 performance (24 of 28, 85.7 percent) against Central Michigan.
After playing in just three games in 2021 because of injury, Brumfield entered the transfer portal in the spring for eight days before returning to UNLV. After being listed as a co-starter with sophomore transfer Harrison Bailey, he was told Thursday by Arroyo that he was starting.
“I saw it as an opportunity to have all my hard work this season pay off,” Brumfield said Saturday. “All the extra workouts with the guys, all the extra film we put in was an opportunity to test our skills. I’m happy we got to execute that.”
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on Twitter.
