Rebels to go with dueling QBs

As if UNLV's football team didn't have enough problems after getting clobbered by Northwestern (41-7) and Air Force (52-10) in its first two games, head coach Jeff Horton now says that both fifth-year senior Kevin Crook and redshirt freshman Chris Hayward will play in Saturday's game at Wisconsin.

Nothing like a quarterback controversy to stir things up.

"Both kids are going to play," Horton said. "I thought Chris Hayward came in and was about the only shining moment of the (Air Force) game. He did some good things as a redshirt freshman. He's worked very hard."

Hayward directed UNLV on a six-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that culminated with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Carlos Baker. He completed 7 of 10 passes for 133 yards, but was sacked four times in a little over a quarter of action.

Crook, meanwhile, completed 11 of 16 passes for 146 yards, but threw two interceptions and no touchdowns.

"We're going to try and provide a spark and shake things up a little bit," Horton said. "Both will definitely play. It will probably go like that the rest of the season. Chris has definitely earned the right to play more."

Although it might appear to some that Horton was making Crook a scapegoat for the team's poor start, the UNLV coach said that was not the case.

"The problems here aren't all Kevin's fault," Horton said. "Sure he's made some (mistakes), but he's had a lot of company. I don't want anybody to think it's just one guy."

Horton was then asked if his program is regressing.

"We definitely haven't played the way I think we're capable of playing," Horton said. "We've had two very disappointing losses. I thought those days were behind us."

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