UNLV’s Drew Tejchman a threat at receiver, safety

Sophomore Drew Tejchman continues to wear the white offensive jersey at UNLV’s practices, and in his heart wide receiver remains his position.

But as Saturday’s 35-28 loss at Hawaii showed, he’s not a bad safety, either.

Tejchman, who intercepted a pass and broke up another one, is listed as a backup safety for Saturday’s 6:30 p.m. game against UNR at Sam Boyd Stadium.

He played both positions at North Cobb High School northwest of Atlanta. One reason Tejchman opted to sign with the Rebels was because he was offered the chance to play receiver, but there was a reason many schools wanted him at safety.

“He looked like a natural back there,” coach Tony Sanchez said. “Had a great pass breakup on a post route coming across the middle. Obviously, he had the pick. There were a couple of times in coverage he was able to guard the guy, and the ball was thrown errantly because of it. He was a big reason we had a chance to win that game.”

Tejchman said he wasn’t surprised by his defensive performance at Hawaii.

“I was a little rusty, but I’m familiar with the position, so it wasn’t huge,” Tejchman said. “I wasn’t too uncomfortable.”

Rebels hope to get defensive

UNLV dropped eight defenders into coverage on most plays against the Rainbow Warriors. That approach worked for about three quarters, and even forced a change of quarterbacks.

Hawaii, however, roared back behind freshman quarterback Chevan Cordeiro’s three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter.

Now the Rebels face another effective pass offense behind UNR’s Ty Gangi, who has thrown for 2,836 yards and 21 touchdowns. But Sanchez said the Rebels wouldn’t play the same kind of defense against the Wolf Pack.

“Reno’s run game is a little bit more downhill, a little bit more physical, a little bit more efficient running the ball than Hawaii is,” Sanchez said. “No knock on Hawaii. Hawaii spins it as good as anybody. But I don’t know they’re as committed to (the run).

“I think the way we defend the box is a little different than Hawaii.”

Run-stopping Wolf Pack

UNLV will face one of the Mountain West’s top run defenses in UNR, which allows 128.8 yards per game and 3.4 per rush. The game average is fourth in the conference and the carry figure is tied with Utah State for second.

Rebels running back Lexington Thomas, who has rushed for 1,026 yards and 12 touchdowns, averages 5.2 yards per carry.

“They stop the run with their pass rush, and they’ve got two really good pass rushers on the edge,” Thomas said. “They’ve got a good, complete defense.”

Bad loss, bad beat

UNLV-Hawaii was one of two Mountain West games featured on ESPN’s “Bad Beats” segment Monday.

The Rebels were 6½-point underdogs and led 28-13 in the fourth quarter before giving up three touchdown passes in the final 6:11 to lose by seven points.

Wyoming, a 3-point favorite, trailed Air Force by 13 points with five minutes left, but came back to win 35-27. The Cowboys covered the spread on a touchdown run with 45 seconds left that drew a flag for holding, but was declined by the Falcons so that they could get back the ball.

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