Columnist Steve Guiremand: Fresno’s Ruffin ready for return to Vegas

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Dec. 10, 1999 | 9:35 a.m.

Steve Guiremand's college football column appears Friday. Reach him at 259-2324 or steveg@vegas.com

UNLV football fans will notice a familiar face on the Fresno State sidelines during next Saturday's EA Sports Las Vegas Bowl VIII at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Ruffin McNeill.

The popular McNeill was UNLV's defensive coordinator for Jeff Horton in 1997 and 1998. After Horton was fired last November, he moved on to Fresno State where he is now the Bulldogs' defensive line coach.

"We feel very fortunate to have him," Fresno coach Pat Hill said. "He's a special guy who has done an outstanding job for us."

The Bulldogs finished second in the WAC and 35th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 22.1 points per game. Much of the credit for that goes to the job McNeill did helping mold a young defensive line that had just one senior starter, end Frank Battle.

"He fits in great for us," Hill said. "He's done a great job with our defensive front. We had a sophomore (tackle Alan Harper) who was a first team all-conference player for us and a freshman (Nick Burley) who was honorable mention. Ruffin did a good job of helping to develop their talents."

And no one can question McNeill's dedication. He is expected to be back at practice today after spending Thursday in a Fresno hospital with pneumonia.

"He had been hacking and coughing when he left on a recruiting trip," Hill said. "I think he got dehydrated and got some fluid in his chest, so he checked himself into the hospital. I think they had to pump him up with some fluids. But I think he'll be okay. I expected him back out there (today)."

I had just come home from the post office on Monday afternoon, where I had overnighted my Heisman Trophy ballot to the New York accounting office of Deloitte & Touche so that it would arrive well before today's 5 p.m. deadline -- only to find out my vote was pretty much worthless.

Reason? ESPN announced the five finalists invited to Saturday's Heisman Trophy show and the man I voted for, Florida State wide receiver Peter Warrick, wasn't even on the list.

Yes, I know all about Warrick's shopping spree at Dillard's that earned him a two-game suspension this year. It was a dumb mistake, but one he apologized for. On the list of dumb crimes committed by star student athletes, it didn't exactly rate up there with sexual assault or DUI.

So after wrestling over the decision on whom to vote No. 1 on my ballot, I went with my initial gut instinct -- Warrick.

He's easily the most talented wide receiver, if not athlete, in college football today. He is the best player on probably the best team in the nation. He turned down millions and the chance to likely be a top five NFL draft pick last year to return to try to win a national title for the Seminoles.

Without him, FSU wouldn't be going to the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4 to play Virginia Tech.

I was willing to cut a little slack for a guy who could have probably owned that Dillard's if he hadn't returned for his senior year.

Evidently, I was one of the few voters who did. When I read he wasn't even invited to New York, I was dumbfounded.

It's too bad. With Warrick there, at least there would have been a little drama leading up to Saturday's announcement. Now it's a given that Ron Dayne, whose late fumble into the end zone at Cincinnati may very well have cost Wisconsin a shot at the national championship, will be the Heisman Trophy winner for 1999.

In case you were wondering, I listed Dayne No. 2 on my ballot and Georgia Tech's Joe Hamilton No. 3.

Speaking of class acts...

Although many of those who have been around Dayne this year, including former UNLV head coach and current Badgers QB coach Jeff Horton, claim Dayne is a very shy, humble, down-to-earth guy, don't try telling that to columnist Ryan Semanko of the publication Sports Collectors Digest.

In a recent column, Semanko, who writes a column about autograph collecting, tore into "The Great Dayne."

Before Wisconsin's game at Minnesota earlier this year, Semanko and another collector asked Dayne for his autograph as he departed the bus at the team hotel on Friday night. Both were refused.

A little while later, Semanko spotted Dayne in the hotel lobby.

Semanko picks it up from there.

"Dayne stood around a while, so I approached him again. This time he said he didn't feel like signing. This was a major blow for me because it is so surprising to get turned down by a college athlete."

It should also be pointed out that Wisconsin's shabby sports information office refused to grant interviews with Dayne to both Las Vegas newspapers last year before UNLV played the Badgers in Madison.

It will be interesting to see how Dayne handles the media barrage he'll receive in the NFL next fall after winning the Heisman on Saturday.

Cheyenne High School defensive lineman Lynn McGruder, considered by some scouts the state's top prospect, got a home visit from Tennessee head coach Phil Fulmer last Saturday and will take a trip to Knoxville on Jan. 14. The 6-2, 290-pound McGruder has already visited Wisconsin and Oklahoma and will visit favorite Texas next weekend. UNLV coach Mike Bradeson met with McGruder on Thursday and the Rebels are trying to convince McGruder, who stopped by several practices this fall, to use his fifth and final trip on UNLV. "(UNLV) is still in it," said McGruder, who is also still pondering offers from Oregon, TCU, Miami, Texas A&M and Cal. ...

Fulmer stopped over in Las Vegas after watching prize quarterback recruit John Rattay (6-4, 208) of Desert Vista High in Phoenix lose his final high school game a night earlier to Tucson's Sabino High, 21-10. That snapped a 26-game win streak for Rattay's Thunder squad. Rattay finished with 82 career touchdown passes, just one off the Arizona state prep record of 83 set by current Arizona State quarterback Ryan Kealy. ...

Little-known fact: Rattay and Mission Hills (Calif.) Alemany quarterback Casey Clausen, both among the nation's top 10 prep quarterback prospects, will graduate at mid-term and enroll in Knoxville in January. Both will take part in spring practice with the Vols. ...

Paul Hackett's decision to fire offensive line coach Steve Greatwood last week could backfire on the USC Trojans when it comes to recruiting. Offensive tackle Joe McGuire (6-6, 300) of Servite High School in Anaheim, Calif., one of the two top line prospects in California this year, said he may take some recruiting trips now despite committing to the Trojans last summer. Colorado, Michigan, Florida State and Notre Dame are among the schools he is considering. "That (Greatwood's firing) was disappointing," McGuire said. "It really was. But USC is definitely still the leader." ...

Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco offensive tackle Paul Molicer (6-5, 298) suffered a torn ACL in his left knee while scrambling for a fumble in the Braves' final game of the season against perennial West Coast power Santa Ana Mater Dei and may have to redshirt next year. UCLA leads Notre Dame, Stanford, Washington and Cal for his services.

archive