UNLV looking for group effort at wide receiver

The point to him is how the group plays, and if the first two games of the season are any indication, it will be a group effort.

Five receivers and two tight ends have caught passes, and junior Darren Woods Jr. and freshman Tyleek Collins lead the team with three receptions each.

“It’s not a clear No. 1 as far as accoladewise, but I think all of them are No. 1s,” Cormier said. “I’m a firm believer that when they go in the game, there are no ones or twos. Everyone’s a one. We have eight guys that I trust, that we can throw out there at any moment in any situation to go out there and make plays.”

UNLV (1-1), which plays Prairie View A&M (1-2) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium, often has an all-conference-type receiver, and six of the Rebels’ top seven pass catchers in program history played in the 2000s.

A major question entering the season was how the Rebels would replace Devonte Boyd, the third-leading receiver in school history. Junior Brandon Presley, who tied Boyd for the team lead with 34 receptions last season, looked like that player. But Presley has two catches for 18 yards and didn’t start the first two games.

“When it comes to the receivers, you can’t take a lot of stock in who’s starting,” coach Tony Sanchez said. “We have a menu (of plays) we go off of. Some teams have their first 10 plays. We don’t do that. (Offensive coordinator) Barney (Cotton) likes to be a little more organic, so based on how we’re feeling at that moment, which menu we go to, it really dictates who starts at the receiver spots.”

Collins is showing he could be a big part of the Rebels’ plans. They also have used him on end-arounds, and he scored touchdowns in Saturday’s 52-24 victory over Texas-El Paso on receiving and running plays.

“They’re getting me involved a lot (in practice), so that pretty much carries over into the game,” Collins said.

UNLV has relied heavily on the run, averaging 361 yards, which is first in the Mountain West and 12th nationally. The Rebels, with a deep ground attack led by Lexington Thomas, probably won’t go away from that run-first mentality, especially with quarterback Armani Rogers’ accuracy issues.

Rogers completed 52.4 percent of his passes last season and is at 45 percent this year. But Rogers and his receivers have shown a big-play capability, having produced five touchdown passes.

Sanchez said Rogers, who has rushed for 185 yards, has been much more consistent in practice, and he expects that to translate in games.

“He’s just got to relax a little bit, dive into his mechanics,” Sanchez said. “As the season goes on, he’ll get better. If he puts those two things together (running and passing), this offense is really going to click.”

Maybe one of the receivers will step forward, much like Boyd and Devante Davis in recent seasons and Ryan Wolfe and Casey Flair before them.

Or maybe the committee approach works best because it all but takes the double team out of a defense’s arsenal.

Either way, Cormier said he likes what he has seen from this group, saying it’s the deepest since 2014 when three wideouts and a tight end caught at least 17 passes.

“It’s very similar to that,” he said. “But at the end of the year, I think this group’s going to be a lot deeper and more productive.”

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Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.