UNLV finds a hero

Steve Carp

Monday, Nov. 18, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

On a day when he didn't figure to get much of anything, Jon Denton got it all.

The stats. The records. The win. Especially the win. It all came together for the redshirt freshman quarterback from Green Valley in a picture-perfect setting of a crisp late-autumn afternoon Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium.

And while his family, friends and teammates celebrated UNLV's first football victory in 13 tries, an improbable, wild-and-wooly 44-42 triumph over San Diego State, Denton just wanted to smile and enjoy the moment.

"Great. Absolutely great," he said when asked to convey his feelings. "It was good to see people smiling again."

His numbers were numbing. Five hundred three yards passing, which broke the school record of 486 he set against Wyoming Sept. 28. Four touchdown passes, including an 82-yarder to Len Ware in the second quarter and a 75-yard strike to Damon Williams in the third. No interceptions. No sacks.

But despite the awesome statistics, Denton and his teammates had to hold off George Jones and his 275 yards rushing, Will Blackwell's seven receptions for 200 yards and the right leg of Peter Holt, who had a chance to spoil the party had he connected from 35 yards out with 13 seconds remaining.

"I did a lot of praying," Denton said.

He wasn't alone.

"I was telling God that these kids deserve to win," said coach Jeff Horton. "They've been so maligned and had so many bad things happen. I was praying that just once, they'd catch a break."

And when Holt's kick sailed wide left, the emotions spilled out like a big hole in a dam.

"We never gave up on ourselves," said Denton, who has remained the one constant beacon of light in the bleakest season in school history. "But what was great was to have our seniors get a victory. It was a great feeling to win just for them.

"If I came out 0 for 30 and we still won, hey, it would've made me feel good."

Then there were the numbers.

Like a broken record

Denton shattered Todd Ellis' 10-year-old NCAA freshman record of 3,020 passing yards. He now has 3,159 yards with one game to play Saturday, at San Jose State. He also broke Ellis' total offense record of 2,975 yards with his 513-yard effort. Denton now has 3,208 yards. And he eclipsed Sandy Schwab's mark of 504 total plays for a freshman set in 1982. Denton has 527 plays under his belt.

He also broke Sam King's school record for most pass attempts in a season (433) as he has thrown 445 times this year. He also set a UNLV mark for most offensive plays in a season.

"I didn't have a clue," he said about breaking the records. "I didn't think I was close to it, especially with the way I started.

"But later, after I had hit a couple of those long ones, I thought maybe I was close."

While he got off to an 0-for-5 start, Denton quickly rebounded and found his groove.

"I was excited," he said. "Maybe too excited. Damon came over to me after the second series and said, 'Hey, you're uptight. Calm down.'"

Horton also told Denton to relax.

"I think Jonny was thinking too much," he said. "I just told him to go out and play and he just did his natural thing."

Which is to say he made something out of nothing and got the Rebels back in the game.

Early omens

Trailing 6-0, Denton finished the first quarter with a couple of completions to Todd Floyd and Carlos Baker, then gave the ball to Tony Burton on first-and-goal from the San Diego State 6. Burton swept the left side and scored to put UNLV up 7-6.

Then came a crazy sequence in the second quarter. Denton started it by finding Omar Love in the right flat and Love went 19 yards to put UNLV back on top 14-12. But Billy Blanton answered with a beautiful deep post pattern to Nate Jacquet that covered 85 yards and had the Aztecs back in front 19-14.

Denton's turn. He found Ware at midfield down the right side. Ware caught the pass, turned Lonny Bergeron around like a top and scampered the rest of the way for an 82-yard touchdown.

Three TDs in 30 seconds. That even impressed Denton.

"That was wild," he said. "But we knew that if they scored, we had to match them. It was that kind of a game."

It was an offensive orgy. The teams combined for nearly 1,300 yards as Blanton passed for 395 yards in a futile attempt to keep up with Denton. Jones' 275 yards on the ground was more than double UNLV's entire rushing output of 124. And Blackwell's dozen catches for 196 yards, virtually all coming on a middle screen pick play, held up well against Ware's seven receptions for 200 yards.

But in the end, Denton's arm was stronger than Jones' legs.

"It's an unbelievable feeling," he said of being the catalyst in breaking the nation's longest losing streak at 12 games and giving UNLV its first Western Athletic Conference victory. "It's been a long time since I could smile after a game."