Special to the Sun/Richard Brian
UNLV quarterback Armani Rogers (1) crosses into the end zone for a touchdown on April 1, 2017, during UNLVs spring showcase scrimmage game. Photo by Richard Brian.
Saturday, April 1, 2017 | 3:47 p.m.
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As the final whistle blew for the UNLV football team’s spring scrimmage this afternoon, hundreds of fans flocked the field.
All of the players talked football, took photos and signed autographs for fans but only player had a line of children eagerly holding sharpies and footballs.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Armani Rogers has garnered the most interest of any Rebel during the offseason and after an impressive two-touchdown performance in the scrimmage that isn’t likely to temper.
Rodgers ended the scrimmage with a perfectly executed no-huddle drive capped off by a 31-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Brandon Presley.
“His ability to run the football and make some big plays helps him get jazzed up to make some plays throwing it,” said head coach Tony Sanchez. “We couldn’t really see it today because anytime he ran it we blew the whistle quick but he’s a guy that can turn a bad play into a first down or something special.”
Even with the quick whistle Rogers’ athleticism was on full display as he danced around defenders in the backfield. Senior defensive lineman Mike Hughes Jr. talked about chasing Rogers down.
“Oh my gosh. It’s not easy I’ll tell you that,” Hughes said. “He is good with his feet and he can mess up your ankles and make it difficult sometimes.”
With a freshman at quarterback there will undoubtedly be growing pains and Rogers experienced them early in the scrimmage.
“You’d love for it to be great for the whole time but we expected it,” Sanchez said. “It’s his first time going with the (starters) in front of a crowd. It’s not a game crowd but there’s still nervous energy. He had his family here and there are a lot of people out there with high expectations for him.”
Sanchez said Rogers called a couple formations wrong and lined the offense up incorrectly on the first drive. That led to sacks and incomplete passes.
While it’s tough to gauge during an inter-squad scrimmage, UNLV’s front-seven on defense looked much improved from a year ago. The defensive line was able to generate pressure in the backfield and the linebackers flew to the ball.
Sophomore linebacker Gabe McCoy is one of the vocal leaders on defense and, “his energy and effort was second to none,” according to Hughes.
Rogers finished the scrimmage 8-of-14 for 174 yards and two touchdowns.
“I just went out there and played football in the second half,” Rogers said. “I was a little uptight in the first half. I couldn’t let it get to me being young and getting my first snaps.”
Rogers is expected to be announced as the starter on Monday or Tuesday of next week. He took nearly every snap with the first-string offense while Kurt Palandech and Johnny Stanton split the second-team reps.
UNLV finished 15th in the country last year with 241 rushing yards per game. Running back Lexington Thomas, who had 642 yards and eight touchdowns, believes that could improve this year with Rogers under center.
“He opens up everything from the run game to the pass game,” Thomas said. “The defense can never just focus on us as running backs. They have to pick their poison – Armani or us.”
Sanchez said he doesn’t want Rogers to feel like he needs to carry the team. He said the offensive line in front of him and the weapons around him would take a lot of the burden off of the freshman’s shoulders.
But there’s no denying the quarterback gets all of the blame when a team struggles — and the glory when they succeed.
Whether the team likes it or not, Rogers is the face of the Rebels for now — represented by the crowd of autograph-seeking fans surrounding him after the scrimmage.
Rogers stayed after, making sure he signed every football, hat and t-shirt.
“It’s awesome,” Rogers said. “I dreamed about this when I was a kid.”
