UNLV Rebels quarterback Doug Brumfield (2) warms up during the UNLV Football Spring Showcase at Allegiant Stadium Saturday, April 23, 2022.
Sunday, April 24, 2022 | 2 a.m.
For a while, it appeared as though UNLV’s quarterback competition was settled. At Saturday’s spring showcase, however, the race was back on, with juniors Harrison Bailey and Doug Brumfield mostly splitting snaps during live scrimmage periods.
The event, which was held at Allegiant Stadium, took on the form of an open practice more than a straight scrimmage, but there were four 15-minute periods of live 11-on-11 action. If playing time was any indication of which way coach Marcus Arroyo is leaning, then it’s still a dead heat at QB; Bailey took 34 snaps, while Brumfield was under center for 40 plays.
To call UNLV’s resumed quarterback competition a surprise would be an understatement. Bailey, a heralded transfer from Tennessee, seemed to have the job sewn up two weeks ago when Brumfield entered the transfer portal. But Brumfield reversed course after a week on the open market and returned to UNLV.
In 11-on-11 play on Saturday, Bailey completed 18-of-26 passes for 171 yards with one touchdown and an interception. Brumfield hit on 14-of-20 for 127 yards with a TD and a pick.
Arroyo was non-committal about the play of his quarterbacks in the scrimmage, citing the need for further review.
“We’ll look at the tape,” Arroyo said. “There’s some good, there’s some bad, there’s some explosive plays and some missed ones. At that position there are always some plays you want back. Those guys are ultra-competitive. For the most part, those guys are doing a good job of competing.”
Brumfield was happy to be on the field with his UNLV teammates after a week of uncertainty.
“It’s been a real emotional roller coaster, but I’m glad those days are over,” Brumfield said. “I’m glad I’m stable and I’m ready to get with this team and get to work.”
In addition to his passing numbers, Brumfield made some plays with his legs. The 6-foot-5 lefthander also took more sacks than Bailey, and he was off-target with two throws that were nearly intercepted.
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Bailey threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to senior running back Courtney Reese, but his day ended on a down note. Each quarterback was given the opportunity to direct a 2-minute drill on their final drive, and Bailey’s possession ended when he was intercepted by senior linebacker Austin Ajiake.
As for his teammate’s change of heart, Bailey said he hasn’t really discussed Brumfield departure or return with him.
Bailey expressed some confusion about Brumfield’s situation, but as a player who has been through the transfer portal experience himself, he also showed some empathy.
“I’ve been through the process. I know it can be a struggle and things can be slow and things pick up and the whole nine yards,” Bailey said. “I don’t know. It was different. I’ve never really had a teammate kind of quit halfway through, if that makes sense. It was different. But he told us the reason why and it made sense. Glad to have him back in the room.”
As far as the offense goes, Bailey said he was most impressed with the pass protection of the offensive line. He’d like to see the running game become more effective and cited himself for not having a complete and total command of the playbook just yet.
But in April, with the first game of the 2022 season still more than four months away, that is small-picture stuff. Bailey was all smiles afterward, clearly enjoying the opportunity to pilot the offense.
“Lacing up the pads and competing in kind of a live setting, putting together drives and slinging it around with my boys, it was awesome,” he said.
Secondary makes primary impression
While multiple interceptions may have served as a demerits for the quarterbacks, from the perspective of the team’s beleaguered secondary they were a cause for celebration.
UNLV struggled mightily in pass coverage last year, but the defensive backfield got their hands on a number on balls on Saturday. Senior safety Bryce Jackson made the highlight play of the day by closing on a deep over route and intercepting Brumfield’s throw; Jackson then raced down the sideline for a return touchdown.
Ajiake then got into the action on Bailey’s final drive, dropping into zone coverage and stepping in front of a slant to secure the pick.
All the activity in the passing lanes had Arroyo fired up.
“That’s what you want, a bunch of takeaways,” the third-year coach said. “They’ve had more takeaways this spring than we’ve had collectively since we’ve been here, which is really good. They know where [the offense] is going with the ball and they’re sinking into some coverages, they’re staying where they need to be, discipline-wise.”
On the special teams side, senior Jerrae Williams was all over the field. On the first full live kickoff coverage drill, Williams cut through the initial traffic and broke down the sideline for a long touchdown. A few minutes later in a kicking drill, he broke through the line to block a short field-goal attempt.
Arroyo, who has spoken highly of Williams’ energy all spring, once again praised him for making things happen.
“He is a firebolt,” Arroyo said. “He is the ignition to a lot of things we do. The guys resonate with him a lot.”
Finals week
Unlike most years, this open showcase did not represent the end of spring practice. UNLV still has three closed sessions remaining, with the final practice wrapping on April 30.
Arroyo said the final week of practice will be used to complete a “checklist” and make sure the coaches have everything on tape for the coming months.
“This will be great film for us to watch,” Arroyo said. “What happens in spring is you want to have a library of stuff for your guys going into summer that you may not have. Using the defense for example, you may not have everything you want on film to teach our guys, so we can go in to some end of game stuff and really script out some things that we can teach from in the summer.”
Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.
