UNR will be trying to bring on 'Noisy'

UNLV head football coach Jeff Horton is hoping for a very loud and raucous crowd for Saturday's Fremont Cannon showdown with Nevada-Reno at Sam Boyd Stadium. He just hopes it won't be too Noisy.

How's that?

The Wolf Pack has one of the nation's top wide receiving corps, led by All-American candidate Geoff Noisy.

The 6-0, 195-pounder enters Saturday night's contest with 228 career receptions, 11th best in NCAA history. He needs just seven more catches to break Bryan Reeves' school reception mark (234) and, barring injury, should shatter the NCAA record for career receptions of 266 set by Pacific's Aaron Turner from 1989-92.

Here's the bad news for UNLV's secondary. Noisy's teammate, junior Trevor Insley, already has 111 career receptions and could conceiveably make a run at Noisy's mark before he's done in Reno.

Both Noisy (8 catches, 113 yards) and Insley (4 receptions, 103 yards, 2 TDs) topped the 100-yard mark in receiving in the Wolf Pack's 27-24 victory at Fresno State last weekend. And both had more than 1,100 yards in receptions last year en route to all-Big West Conference honors.

"Those receivers are the best group of receivers we played against this year," Bulldog coach Pat Hill said, a mighty big statement when you consider Fresno State also had played Colorado and Texas Tech. "I think their receiving corps is just outstanding."

He'll get no argument from Horton.

"I think they're two of the best in the country," Horton said. "They've proven that over the last couple of years. They've made some spectacular plays over the course of the season. Even against Fresno they made some big plays. They're definitely going to be tough to stop."

Horton, who ironically helped coach Reeves during his Nevada-Reno coaching days, believes Noisy has the ability to play in the NFL.

"He's something else," Horton said. "I think he has a good chance (of playing in the NFL) because he can certainly run and catch and do those kinds of things."

Meanwhile, the 6-0, 185-pound Insley was a former prep teammate of UNLV quarterback Chris Hayward at San Clemente (Calif.) High School who turned down offers from Oregon State, Hawaii and Fresno State to play for the Wolf Pack.

"His biggest attribute is he catches everything that's near him," Nevada-Reno head coach Jeff Tisdel said. "And he's also a tremendous competitor."

"I think we compliment each other very well," Insley said. "A defense can't just worry about taking just one receiver out. And the style of this offense is really a wide receiver's dream."

Considering UNLV's defense already has yielded nine touchdown passes this year, the Noisy-Insley duo could make for a nightmarish evening for the Rebels' secondary.

"It will definitely be a big challenge for our defense," Horton said. "Hopefully they'll be able to step up and meet that challenge."

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