Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Rebels Football:

Take 5: The biggest factors that must go UNLV’s way in Mountain West play

Bobby Hauck-UNLV

ASSOCIATED PRESS

UNLV head coach Bobby Hauck during the first half of an NCAA football game against Arizona on Friday, Aug. 29, 2014, in Tucson, Ariz.

The dearth of good or even average teams in the Mountain West this season is the most optimistic thing going for UNLV (1-3) as it begins league play Saturday at San Diego State. The game kicks off at 5:04 p.m. and will stream on ESPN3.

Beyond that, the Rebels are trying to overcome two blowouts, three really bad defensive performances and one of the lengthiest injury reports in program history. UNLV has listed 14 players out, six as doubtful and 11 as questionable. That includes several starters, and that concern leads the list of the five biggest factors that will dictate UNLV’s success, or lack thereof, the rest of the season:

Injuries at large

This might be the single most important factor for UNLV going forward, and it’s the one the Rebels have the least control over.

Injuries happen to every team, but the rash of them among UNLV’s two-deep are going to be a major problem if they linger. It seems clear that the Rebels aren’t deep enough to keep going to the next man up, especially since the starters often aren’t getting the job done.

Ideally the Rebels could help that issue in practice with day-to-day position battles, but in every position group there are guys banged up, many of them with injuries that are clearly affecting them. If this were just happening to a few guys down on the roster it wouldn’t be an issue, but it’s taken out several starters, including UNLV’s best player, who deserves a section of his own:

Devante Davis’ health

The only time UNLV’s offense has looked proficient for more than a drive at a time was in the second half against Northern Illinois. It’s no surprise that was also Davis’ best game, as the senior receiver hauled in six passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns.

That entire game, the offensive plan could be boiled down to “Get the ball to Davis.” He was targeted nearly a dozen times, and getting him the ball early helped set up the rest of the offense.

Then Davis went back home to Houston with an injured hand and dropped a couple of passes, then got lit up on his lone catch for zero yards. Without him (and to a lesser degree senior receiver Marcus Sullivan), the offense gets stagnant.

Davis is listed as questionable this week (Sullivan is out), and even if he plays it’s unclear how effective he can be right now. If the offense is ever going to pick up some steam this year, the Rebels need to be able to make some easy plays, and nobody on the roster makes even difficult plays look easy than a healthy Davis.

Penalties

This is one of those things, along with turnovers, that will routinely kill a team. Although turnovers have also been an issue for the Rebels, the penalties need to be more of a focus because they’re coming from all over the roster, not just the offensive skill players.

Holding, kicking out of bounds, personal fouls; they have all impacted the Rebels and in many circumstances helped the other team put points on the board or stymie their own drives.

UNLV coach Bobby Hauck said he expected that to get cleaned up when the Rebels started working with Mountain West officials, because he felt the American and MAC refs were going overboard with their flags. Maybe, but the Rebels had plenty to do with it too.

Quarterback play

Many have pointed to this as UNLV’s biggest issue. Although it’s probably not fair to go that far, it’s also clear that Blake Decker hasn’t been good enough for any kind of sustained success.

Decker has had bright spots, and an inconsistent offensive line and running game hasn’t helped, but several of Decker’s mistakes seem to have been terrible decisions on his part. Junior quarterback Nick Sherry probably isn’t the answer right now, either, so Decker’s ability to learn and progress in his first Division I season is going to be vital as the Rebels get into league play.

Front seven

The Rebels’ best hope of making even marginal improvements to their awful defensive numbers relies on the front of the defense, and specifically the front four, making plays. Stuffing the run, getting into the backfield and taking down the quarterback; UNLV really needs the front seven to get things done because there’s a lot less hope that an injury-riddled secondary will be able to get better.

The secondary is arguably the weakest spot even when healthy, so more than ever UNLV needs its guys up front to disrupt plays.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.

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