UNLV defense suffers through growing pains

UNLV hasn’t been able to dip its toe into the water this season, especially with a new coach and shortened practice time before it kicked off the football season.

The Rebels had to plunge right in, and the schedule did them no favors. They have faced the teams expected to finish first and second in the Western Division of the Mountain West in San Diego State and UNR in their first two games.

Those teams presented vastly different challenges, especially for the Rebels’ young defense, with San Diego State preferring a physical running game and UNR operating under the pass-happy air raid offense.

It has led to growing pains, as UNLV has allowed 35.5 points and 460.5 yards per game, both ninth in the Mountain West, and an 0-2 start. Those numbers are eerily similar to the 36.3 points and 452.9 yards they allowed per game in their eight conference games last season.

The Rebels’ next chance to show improvement comes at 12:30 p.m. Saturday when they host Fresno State at Allegiant Stadium.

“The defense is a young group, and you’ve got some guys who are filling in for others,” UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo said. “Up front we’re doing a good job. You can see some flashes (of good things). The back end, with the true freshmen, they’re getting battle-tested, which is awesome.”

The Rebels are making the switch from a basic 4-3 defense to a more active multiple style in which they line up in a 3-3-5 or 4-2-5 depending on the offensive personnel.

While the Rebels have shown flashes of being a solid defense and individual players have made key contributions, they have struggled to find consistency.

“They’re battling through the game, so that’s good to see,” Arroyo said. “They’re working through some adversity. They’re working through a lot of things, so that’s a positive step in building what we want to build.”

UNLV was gashed for 287 yards rushing and gave up three touchdown drives of 80 or more yards to San Diego State. But the Rebels forced three straight three-and-outs in the third quarter, five punts overall, including one that was muffed and covered by Nohl Williams for the only turnover they have forced, and limited the Aztecs to seven points in the second half.

But that momentum didn’t carry over to last week, when the Rebels allowed scores on seven of UNR’s eight possessions, not including the Wolf Pack taking a knee at the end of the game. UNLV’s young secondary struggled to keep up with a talented and experienced group of receivers and quarterback Carson Strong, who threw for 350 yards and two TDs.

The Rebels have five true freshmen on the depth chart in the secondary, including starting cornerbacks Williams and Sir Everett Oliver. While they are getting an early lesson in what it means to play at the college level, they hope that experience will pay off soon.

Senior Aaron Lewis is one of the leaders in the secondary, and he said he likes that the freshmen have kept their heads up when things haven’t gone their way.

“The biggest thing is just to let them know to keep competing and just keep putting their best foot forward,” Lewis said. “Listen to the coach’s technique he’s telling us to do, and we’ll be successful.”

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2936. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.