UNLV’s punter Kristosik continues to be bright spot

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Oct. 13, 1998 | 11:02 a.m.

Entering the 1998 season, UNLV had never had a punter earn Special Teams Player of the Week honors.

Now Joe Kristosik has done it twice in three weeks.

The 6-3, 220-pound senior from Bishop Gorman High School, who averaged a remarkable 52.5 yards on a school-record 13 attempts in Saturday's 38-14 loss at BYU, was named the WAC's Pacific Division Special Teams Player of the Week Monday.

The selection was pretty much a no-brainer.

Kristosik had a dream day for a punter, booming eight kicks 50 or more yards and four 60 or more yards. His shortest punt was still a very respectable 41 yards. Twice he booted 67-yarders.

"Just to get an honor like that once is quite an accomplishment," UNLV head coach Jeff Horton said. "To do it twice in a season is really special."

Kristosik, who also earned the award two weeks ago after averaging 51.3 yards on seven punts in a 38-16 loss at Colorado State, ranks second in the nation in punting behind Michigan State's Craig Jarrett (47.55 avg.) with a 47.1 average.

Not bad for someone Horton said "was close to getting run out of here" following a disappointing junior campaign that saw him average just 39.8 yards.

"Sometimes you have to have a setback to move forward," Horton said. "He's more dedicated about his job now and obviously he has much more confidence. He's got a new attitude this year and he has a good thing going right now."

Reed to start

Horton announced that senior Chad Reed would start Saturday afternoon's Homecoming game against Wyoming at quarterback.

Reed completed just 5-of-20 passes for 21 yards in his first college start last week, a 38-14 setback at BYU. However, he was sacked five times and had to hurry his throws because of BYU's strong pass rush.

"That was the first time Chad had played in a while," Horton said. "I know he got hit enough to get the kinks out."

Frog power

One of the surprise teams in the WAC and the nation so far has been TCU, which improved to 4-1 with a 21-10 victory over Fresno State last week.

A year ago the Horned Frogs were 1-10 and even lost to UNLV, 21-19. That's the last time the Rebels won.

But new coach Dennis Franchione, who left New Mexico to replace Pat Sullivan as head coach, has led a dramatic turnaround. The Horned Frogs are a 10-9 loss to Oklahoma away from being undefeated going into Saturday's crosstown showdown with SMU.

The key to the turnaround said Franchione, who turned around programs at both Southwest Texas State and New Mexico before heading off to Fort Worth, was more mental than physical.

"You can't change a team physically a great deal (when you first arrive)," he said, "but you can change them mentally."

"We talk in terms of playing hard, not winning. I don't put pressure on the players to win. They know they have to play their guts out, fight on every play, or they're just another team. We're doing that as well as any team in the country."

Now the Frogs, who finish their season on Nov. 21 at UNLV, are talking about the possibility of a bowl game.

Franchione is trying to temper such talk.

"I've told the players there's a fine line between arrogance and confidence," he said.