To be frank, Summers relishes chance

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of features on players from the various units on the UNLV football team. Today, representing the offensive backfield, is tailback Frank Summers.

ELY -- Three offensive linemen lined up opposite three defensive linemen while teammates formed human claustrophobia-inducing sidelines.

This drill was about the essence of football. It was about who's tougher.

In this case, it was 240-pound tailback Frank Summers. He took the handoff and bowled over 320-pound tackle Tim High. On the next snap, Summers popped 270-pound end Preston Brooks.

Beau Bell, one of the Mountain West Conference's fiercest linebackers, ended practice Saturday morning feeling pain from a Summers hit. Bell insisted Summers, a junior college transfer, will prove to be the league's toughest player.

"That's big time right there when you can run over a couple of D-linemen," Bell said. "I know this year he's going to surprise some people."

UNLV could use that toughness, especially when it comes to short-yardage situations. A chief reason the Rebels targeted Summers in recruiting was because they couldn't pick up 2 yards in critical spots.

"That's definitely an element of our run game that's been missing since I've been here," third-year running backs coach Reggie Davis said. "That's going to be an added element that we need. That's going to help us win some more games."

But it wasn't the entire reason UNLV pursued Summers out of Laney College in Oakland, Calif. The Rebels need Summers, who is competing with fellow junior David Peeples for the starting tailback spot, to be more of an every-down player than a specialist.

Summers, who began his college career at California, has shown that promise. He rushed for 1,515 yards as a freshman at Laney and became a junior college All-American. He rushed for 965 yards last season, but an ankle injury slowed him while running behind a novice line.

Those aren't the kinds of numbers many would expect from someone of such a big, bruising stature.

Summers showed his versatility after practice Saturday by kicking off. He also was a kicker at Laney and Oakland's Skyline High School.

Earlier, he caught a swing pass on the right side for a 15-yard gain. And during the three-on-three drill, Summers bolted through a hole untouched on the right side.

"Don't let the size fool you," Davis said.

But getting away from the size and the pounding that comes from it is difficult. When Summers -- who said he focuses on running through defenders rather than at them -- put two defensive linemen on their backs, it reminded those watching of the intensity he brings to practice.

"When he goes out there on the field, he's out there to do business," said Bell, who roomed with Summers this summer.

Two high school clips on YouTube.com underscore that assessment. On one play, Summers flattened a defender and lost his helmet while other players dragged him down. On the second one, he kicked off and ran down the field to knock the returner off his feet.

"Be the hammer, not the nail," Summers said.

For him, though, coming to UNLV isn't all about winning. It's also about simply being given a chance to compete.

Summers left Cal because he redshirted his only year there. He didn't mind being a fullback who would block for Marshawn Lynch, the No. 12 pick of this year's NFL Draft, but standing on the sideline watching was unacceptable.

"When they told me I was redshirting, it kind of killed my spirit," Summers said. "I told the coaches, 'You can put me on special teams and I'll play special teams.' I just wanted to play."

He left after that season for Laney and became a star. His success there convinced him he wanted to do more than simply play. He wanted to be a tailback and accepted UNLV's offer to play that position over the chance to go to Southern California as a fullback.

"A lot of big schools that were recruiting me were going to use me as a fullback," Summers said. "Shoot, once leading the state in rushing at a junior college, it's kind of hard to go back to fullback. I thought it was a great opportunity for me here."