UNLV football a family affair for Gonzalez family

MESQUITE -- Jeff Horton is starting his fifth year as UNLV's head football coach. And all five seasons have one thing in common.

There's always been a Gonzalez brother in the center of things.

Bubba Gonzalez, a 6-2, 280-pound senior from perennial prep powerhouse Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., will start at center for the Rebels for the third straight year. Before that, brother Jose started at center for UNLV in 1994 and 1995.

"I knew if Bubba was anything like his brother, we'd be in good shape," Horton said. "They're not the biggest or the strongest or those kinds of things, but they're both as tough and nasty as they come."

Ironically, Bubba, whose real name is Joel, didn't receive any college scholarship offers despite helping lead Mater Dei to a 14-0 record and the mythical prep national championship in 1994.

The Monarchs defeated a La Puente Bishop Amat squad that included Notre Dame linebacker Kory Minor, USC cornerback Daylon McCutcheon and Nebraska cornerback Ralph Brown III --- all potential NFL first-round picks --- in the CIF Southern Section Division I title game at Anaheim Stadium that year.

Gonzalez decided to attend Saddleback College in Mission Viejo. He started as a freshman and snapped to quarterback Justin Vedder, who went on to start at Cal last year. Former Rebel linebacker Scott Patton was also on that squad which finished 8-3 and won the Simple Green Bowl.

Gonzalez's stay at Saddleback was for just one year. Horton, needing a center to replace Jose Gonzalez, decided to bring in his younger brother.

"Having Jose here obviously helped us," Horton said. "Bubba is a lot like his brother. Whatever it takes to get the job done, he'll do it. He literally plays with everything he has. He's going to grab you, pull you, tackle you, whatever he needs to do to run block or protect the quarterback."

Bubba, who says he got his nickname from a Pop Warner coach, said he is looking forward to new offensive coordinator Buzz Preston's increased emphasis on the running game this season.

"I'm kind of a physical guy," the criminal justice major said. "When coach says he wants to run the football, that's right up my alley. I like to bang people."

He also likes to win, something he has done just four times in his two years at UNLV. And that hasn't been easy to accept, especially coming from a program like Mater Dei's.

"It has been a change for me," Gonzalez admits. "I am used to winning. Some people ask me, 'Why don't you just give up? How does it feel?' But even though we haven't won a lot of games the last two years, we're all looking forward to this season. Everybody has worked very hard this summer to turn this thing around. We're a much closer team than in the past. And I think that's going to help us win this year."

"He's a winner," Horton said. "He brings that attitude and temperament to each practice and each game. I wish all the people up front had his attitude. Hopefully that winning attitude will rub off on everybody."

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