Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Rebels Football:

New faces competing for needed improvement on UNLV’s offensive line

first UNLV football spring practice in the Tony Sanchez

Steve Marcus

Head Coach Tony Sanchez watches UNLV football spring practice at Rebel Field Monday, March 16, 2015.

Last season the Rebels returned the vast majority of their starts from the previous year on the offensive line. Keeping that group together seemed like it would make the line a strength, though obviously things didn’t play out that way.

Plenty of the 34 sacks, 18 interceptions and countless hard hits quarterback Blake Decker accounted for were related, if not the direct result of, to poor play up front. So whether you view it as a good or bad thing that UNLV is replacing the bulk of its experience up front, a lot of those new faces will be counted on as the Rebels try to improve one of their key groups.

“That’s where we’ve got to get better,” first-year coach Tony Sanchez said.

Of course, Sanchez could and would say that about nearly every position, but there’s an emphasis on getting things right up front. Improvement in that area can help fix shortcomings elsewhere, and the key is to find not just the five best individuals but also the five who best work together as a unit.

The players who emerge for those starting spots from spring will likely be light on experience. Of the 65 possible starts along the line last season, players responsible for 17 of those are in spring camp.

One player, guard Nick Gstrein, isn’t currently practicing with the team, but it’s possible he returns for the fall. The other returners with starting experience — sophomore Kyle Saxelid, senior Ron Scoggins and junior Eric Noone — are in a mix with guys like J’Ondray Sanders and Patrick Carroll, both backups last season. And junior college transfer Will Kreitler might already have a stranglehold on a spot at center as Sanchez highlighted him as having one of the best camps of any player.

“You’re seeing a lot more competition and seeing people rise through the ranks, who the leaders are and who’s really fighting for spots,” said Saxelid, who started the final five games at left tackle after Brett Boyko was moved to guard.

Saxelid said he’s only been practicing at left tackle but that many of the players are getting shuffled around into different positions and combinations as the coaches search for the group that emerges.

Sanchez said before camp that he had an idea of where he wanted to get with installations on both sides of the ball by the time UNLV takes a week off for spring break. So far they’re on track, as the only offensive installing remaining today is goal-line packages.

The coaches know they’re not going to get every package they want implemented so it’s been a more modest list for spring. Sanchez said they might not even put any more in after they return on April 6, focusing more on refining what they’ve already learned.

“It’s getting them comfortable in being assignment sound,” Sanchez said.

As camp has progressed for the offensive line, that has meant eliminating the blown assignments that give a defender a straight line to the quarterback. Those will, of course, happen, but Sanchez says he’s seeing that plays in the backfield are now more the result of a defender winning a one-on-one battle.

Now it’s a matter of finding the five guys who can win those the most consistently.

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

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