Columnist Steve Carp: For Rebels, big trouble looms ahead

AS THE LATE Jackie Gleason told Burt Reynolds in "Smokey and the Bandit" -- "You've got big trouble comin', boy. Biiiig trouble."

UNLV football coach Jeff Horton would be wise to pay heed to those words. For the winless Rebels find themselves face-to-face with Aaron Gibson, "The Human Roadblock," Saturday in Madison against Wisconsin.

How big? Try 6-foot-7, 364 pounds. This guy's so big, his mere presence can turn day into night. He's a one-man solar eclipse.

And what's amazing is that the Badgers line up their tight ends to Gibson's side at right tackle. Now that's a strong formation.

And get this. At one time, Gibson was a tight end before staying strictly at tackle. Can you imagine being a 190-pound safety trying to bring down this load once he catches one in the seam and has momentum? Ouch!

Horton was spared a phone call Monday to ask about how the Rebels plan to deal with this giant. He has more pressing problems than trying to win a battle with a 6-7 guy who can dunk a basketball, do a cheerleader's split and send water flying out of a swimming pool while doing the 100-meter freestyle.

Too bad the game wasn't being televised back to Las Vegas Saturday. A big screen TV wouldn't do this guy justice.

But as big is Gibson is, the Indianapolis native is as nice, soft-spoken and well-mannered as can be. He was a swimmer before he gained 100 pounds between his freshman and sophomore year of high school and decided to leave the pool for the gridiron.

"I never saw this coming," Gibson said of his transformation. "I grew up with swimming. But I outgrew it."

Yeah, he outgrew the pool, slightly. At one point, he tipped the Toledos at 435 pounds before he scaled back to a "svelte" 364. Obviously, the NFL scouts are drooling at the prospects of having this behemoth protecting one of their multi-million dollar quarterbacks on Sundays. But they'll have to wait a while. There's still a lot of Saturdays left to conquer for the senior.

"I'm having a lot of fun right now," Gibson said. "So it's a little early for me to think about the pros. I still have a lot to learn."

Technically, he may be a pupil, but Gibson has schooled a lot of opposing defensive ends. San Diego State's Scottie Nicholson got a football lesson a couple of weeks ago in the Badgers' 26-14 win.

"He was tough," the 6-3, 265-pound Nicholson said of Gibson. "I just tried to go at him and never let up."

His advice to Rod Jones, UNLV's left defensive end who will get first crack at Gibson Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium, is "Try and win the battle every play. Just keep going."

Easy for him to say. The Aztecs tried sending three or four people Gibson's way and they were rarely successful. And whenever Wisconsin needs the tough yards, you can count on the Badgers running to the right side.

Horton and the Rebels won't meet a bigger individual challenge than the one that lines up at right tackle Saturday in Madison. The suggestion would be to try to go around Gibson, but there are time constraints to consider. The Rebels have classes to attend Monday.

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