UNLV's Pearce has taken a liking to 'American football'

Growing up in the German town of Gerbrunn, about an hour south of Frankfurt, Dusty Pearce had little contact with what is known there as "American football."

Soccer is the sport of kings in Europe. And it wasn't until his teenage years that Pearce began to learn and play its American counterpart.

"My friends began playing it when I was like 15," Pearce, whose parents worked at a U.S. Army base in Gerbrunn, said. "So I got into it and really liked it. We had tapes of NFL games that we'd trade around. My favorite player was Lawrence Taylor."

It didn't take long for Pearce to take a liking to his new sport.

"In soccer, if you get a little too rough, people start getting mad," Pearce said. "But football was a sport you could be rough and nobody would get mad. And I liked that a lot."

Spoken like a true linebacker.

UNLV coach Jeff Horton is hoping that Pearce, a 23-year-old transfer from Ricks College in Rexberg, Idaho, can put that aggressiveness to good use for the Rebels this season.

With last year's starting middle linebacker, Greg Gayles, moving outside this season, the hard-hitting Pearce and redshirt freshman James Sunia of St. Louis High in Honolulu are expected to share time at middle linebacker this year.

"We need them both to play," Horton said. "We don't want to rely on one guy to play the whole game there. We'd like them both to play 30 or 40 snaps a game so that they both can stay fresh."

For Pearce, it's a big step up from club football, which is what he was playing in Germany three years ago before deciding to give junior college football in the U.S. a try.

"It was my idea," he said. "Nobody in Germany believed that I could come to the states and play football. They thought I was crazy and would never make it."

But a former member of his North Rams club team, Christian Walter, had played at Ricks JC in 1995 and eventually landed a scholarship at Montana State.

"I gave him some film to take back to Ricks with him that summer," Pearce said. "I told him I wanted to go to a junior college in the United States, too. The coaches (at Ricks) watched the film and called and asked if I wanted to come."

Pearce started for two years at middle linebacker for the Vikings, who went 11-1 and were ranked No. 3 in the nation in 1997. He was named a first team J.C. Gridwire All-American his sophomore year and was recruited by schools like Kansas State, Oregon and Iowa State.

"The only trips I took were to Iowa State and UNLV," he said. "It was pretty close. But I chose UNLV because I really liked (defensive coordinator Ruffin) McNeill. He was straightforward and honest. The way he teaches and coaches is great for a linebacker like myself."

"Every day and every practice Dusty gets a little bit better," Horton said. "Obviously, only playing two years of organized football here has limited his football growth in some ways. But they do a great job of coaching at Ricks. He just needs some more experience. These next 28 practices for him will be crucial."

Still, Horton likes what he sees so far.

"He's got good strength (400-pound bench press) and he's a physical guy," Horton said. "And he brings a lot of pop when he hits you."

REBEL NOTES:The freshmen won't practice today. Instead, they'll go through academic orientation. The veteran players report tonight and the entire team moves up to Mesquite on Friday to begin two-a-day workouts. ... Horton said the NCAA Clearinghouse postponed a decision on the eligibility of freshman offensive lineman Tony Terrell of Hawthorne, Calif., High School until today. ... The first day of practice in full pads will be Wednesday. ... Over 1,200 local Pop Warner football players attended a football clinic before Wednesday night's practice.

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