Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV football still has questions

When you're trying to rebuild a football program, there's never enough time. But UNLV coach Jeff Horton has tried to make the most of the past three weeks in his attempt to get the Rebels ready for the major transition from the Big West to the Western Athletic Conference.

But when spring drills conclude at Rebel Park Saturday with the annual Spring Game, Horton still will have more questions than answers.

"We've nailed down a few positions," he said. "But you're right. We've still got a lot of unanswered questions going into the fall.

"But we've got time to get those answers, and we will."

Horton still isn't ready to name a quarterback. Kevin Crook and Jon Denton are battling for the honor of directing UNLV's near geared-down offense.

The Rebels will go to a two-back set, use short passes out of the backfield to balance the run and try to stretch the defense with Damon Williams and Carlos Baker.

"I've had to change the way I think," Horton said. "We can't play the fast-break football I want to. Not with all these young kids. We tried that last year and we had a minus 22 on turnovers."

But the main concern though is not letting the opposition put points on the board. UNLV still us trying to come up with a front seven that can put pressure on the quarterback, stop the run and take some of the heat off the young secondary.

archive