Defense Horton’s No. 1 priority

Steve Carp

Tuesday, Nov. 26, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

After enduring the worst season in school history at 1-11, could things have been grimmer for UNLV's football team?

"Absolutely," said coach Jeff Horton, lending new meaning to the phrase "Chiller Theater."

The Rebels could have gone winless. The offense could have sputtered and went stride for stride with the embattled defense, which for the second straight season was the nation's worst.

There could have been off-the-field incidents which would have really mucked up the bleak picture. Yet, other than a couple of players being bounced for violation of team rules, there was nothing major that took place to bring shame and disgrace to the university.

Being unable to tackle does not qualify as grounds for disgracing a university. Embarrassing? Perhaps. But not disgraceful.

But the lack of defensive fundamentals concerns Horton, so much that he has shaken up his coaching staff and will try to find a scheme that best suits the returning talent.

"We played a lot of guys who didn't have a lot of experience," Horton said of the defense, which surrendered an NCAA Division 1A-record 551 points and 6,516 yards. "I'm not using that as an excuse, but we had a lot of young guys who were taking a big step up in competition.

"It comes down to fundamentals. If you can't tackle and slow down the running game, you're in for a long afternoon. But I think we had some guys step up -- Scott Patton, Talance Sawyer, Greg Gales, Brett Gilbert and Rod Jones -- they all got better as the season went along. I think these guys will develop. They've got a great attitude."

Horton had a stack of messages from coaches who are interested in filling the vacancies on his staff. He's not sure which way he's going to go as far as what scheme the Rebels will play, but he felt there's a need to get a strong pass rush and have cornerbacks who can cover and make plays.

"Offenses are getting too sophisticated," he said. "You've got to get constant pressure on the quarterback, especially in the WAC."

His quarterback, Jon Denton, was under constant duress this year. And despite his record numbers, Denton took a beating. Horton is hoping the addition of a big fullback, an improved running game and more beef on the offensive line will allow Denton to continue his progress.

"We can't have Jonny taking the kind of shots he took this year," Horton said. "We've got the makings of a pretty good offense. But we still need to fill in a couple of areas.

"But I feel good about the progress we made. We moved the ball well against BYU. Only Washington has scored more points against BYU than we did. We got big years out of all of our receivers. Carlos Baker and Damon Williams continued to get better and Len Ware and Todd Floyd gave us a big lift.

"We need to get a consistent running game going and I think with Dahrin Footman and Coury Hankins back, plus the people we hope to bring in, we'll be able to run the ball better and be more balanced."

Horton said the way his team competed against BYU after looking so flat in getting thrashed by Nevada-Reno the week before was the turning point of the season.

"We learned how to compete over the second half of the season," he said. "We kept working and learning and the kids were very resilient. They never gave up on themselves or the season.

"That's why I think we're not that far away. We made a lot of strides, even though the record doesn't reflect it. We won one more game last year, but we were five times better as a team this year."

Horton understands that 1997 is a critical year for himself and the program. Improvement is expected and one or two wins will not be acceptable.

"It's not going to be acceptable to me," he said of the possibility of an encore of 1996. "We need to be in the middle of the road in the WAC and where we're competing in every game.

"I thing that anywhere from four to seven wins, depending on the breaks, is realistic. We've been through a lot of growing pains the last two years and this was a big step up, both from a physical and a competitive level.

"But we've got to make this off-season a championship one. We've got to get bigger and stronger and faster and work harder than we ever have to be ready to compete that first game at Reno (Sept. 6)."