Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2003 | 9:26 a.m.
Editor's note: The key matchup of each UNLV football games will be previewed in the Sun this season and followed up after the game by an examination of how it turned out.
Although he had a solid game with big numbers in UNLV's season-opening 28-18 win against Toledo, it was more like Rebels QB Kurt Nantkes nickel-and-dimed the Rockets with a variety of short -- and safe -- passes.
But don't be surprised if Nantkes limbers up his passing arm at Kansas Saturday and fires a couple of silver dollars in Earvin Johnson's direction.
Johnson, who caught 12 passes from Nantkes for 132 yards and two touchdowns in last year's stunning victory at Colorado State in the season finale, was suspended for the Toledo game as he was one of 11 UNLV football players who made unauthorized phone calls with a stolen university long distance access code.
With his penalty out of the way, Johnson can concentrate on becoming the Rebels' long-distance receiver. His ability to stretch the Jayhawks' defense is expected to be a key factor when UNLV (1-0) and KU (0-1) tee it up at 4 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence.
"I think we missed Earvin Johnson (against Toledo)," UNLV coach John Robinson said. "We were unwilling to put the ball down the field. We were looking for dump-offs more times than we should have, or would have, had we had Earvin."
Nantkes was very efficient against Toledo, completing 27 of 41 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns. But midway through the fourth quarter, when the Rebels went into semi-desperation mode trailing 18-14, his longest completion was an 18-yard toss to Larry Croom coming out of the backfield.
That should change with Johnson's return. Last year, he averaged 15.5 yards on 51 catches, numbers which prompted College Football News to rank him as the 49th-best returning player in college football.
At 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, Johnson is a tall threat as well as a deep one, a fact that concerns Kansas defensive coordinator Bill Young and his Munchkin-sized secondary.
Lightly regarded Northwestern quarterback Bett Basanez completed 23 of 36 passes for 219 yards in a season-opening 28-20 victory over the Jayhawks at Lawrence Saturday. The Wildcats' Roger Jordan -- who at 6-3 and 215 pounds is almost a mirror image of Johnson -- caught 7 passes for 111 yards.
"We've got one corner who is about 5-foot-8," Young said about Shelton Simmons, considered the Jayhawks' top cover man. "We don't want to get into a man situation with (Johnson) where there's a jump ball.
"It seems everybody is recruiting 6-5 or 6-6 receivers, but most cornerbacks are still little short guys."
For that reason, Johnson probably will see a lot more zone than man coverage in his 2003 debut. But before practice Tuesday night, he said he's just eager to get some game action under his belt, regardless of how the opposition defenses him.
"It was real tough," he said about watching the Toledo game from the sideline. "I wish I could have been out there playing with my guys."
As for having Nantkes venturing out of the shallow end of the pool to explore deeper waters, Johnson said he's all for it.
"That's what we were working on during (preseason) camp, just trying to get the ball down the field," said Johnson, who originally committed to Georgia Tech out of Cathedral High School in Los Angeles before signing with the Rebels. "We really didn't do that very well last year.
"This year, that's something we want to improve on. Running deep routes, those are harder passes to complete. But if you catch a deep ball, that feels good."
Not that he minds being a target for the short balls that move the first-down chains. As Nantkes proved against Toledo, if you can hit the nickel-and-dime passes, in the end they still add up to a dollar.
"That's why I like the short routes better," Johnson said. "If you can make somebody miss (a tackle) you can still wind up on 'SportsCenter.' "
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