Ray stays calm before start at QB for UNLV

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Nov. 11, 1999 | 10:29 a.m.

It was about a year ago at this time that Matthew Jeffrey Ray made his last start at quarterback.

Ray quarterbacked the Quincy (Calif.) Trojans, champions of the Shasta-Cascade League, in their CIF North Section playoff game against Trinty High School.

"We lost in overtime, 44-43," Ray recalls. "We should have won, but the refs blew a big call."

Now Ray, a true freshman who turned 19 last month, finds himself preparing to make his Division I college debut for UNLV at Air Force on Saturday afternoon.

There will likely be four times the population of Quincy -- a small lumber town of about 10,000 located about 75 minutes west of Reno in the Sierra Nevada Mountains -- on hand at Falcon Stadium to watch him throw his first college pass.

You would think Ray, who was originally ticketed to be redshirted this year until starting quarterback Jason Vaughan went down with a concussion last week, would be more than a tad nervous. If he is, he really hasn't shown it out at Rebel Park this week.

"Yeah, it's hit me," he said with a smile after one practice. "But, hey, I'm just going out there to play football. Everybody is asking me if I'm nervous. No, I've got all these good players around me to help me out.

"Football is supposed to be fun. You can't get too wound up out there. You've got to just go out there and play and do the best you can. When you make a mistake, you've got to put it behind you and move on. You can't dwell on it. ... I've been sleeping well this week."

"He's taken to (the starting job) very well," UNLV coach John Robinson said. "He's a freshman. He's had some ups and downs. But he's a bright kid who picks things up fast."

The 6-2, 190-pound Ray is a nephew of NFL and college coaching legend Bill Walsh, whom he has seen on occasion.

"I've been to the 49ers practice complex before," he said. "I got to meet Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. But the important thing is that (Walsh) really had nothing to do with teaching me football."

That honor would go to his father, Jeff, who is the head coach at Quincy High School.

"He knows a lot about coaching," Matt says. "I think he could coach at the college level one day."

Quincy High has a bye this week before beginning CIF playoffs, so Jeff Ray will be on hand in Colorado Springs to watch his son make his college debut on Saturday.

"He told me to take this opportunity and run with it," Matt said. "I'm a competitive guy. I've wanted to play all season. I think I've gotten better and better each week. Now I have an opportunity to show what I can do."

"He throws a real crisp pass," Rebel wide receiver Nate Turner said. "But you really can't tell how good he is until he get out there on the field and does it against real competition. Then you see how he reacts in certain situations when the pressure is on. I'll have a lot better idea of how good he is at halftime. But from what I've seen in practice, he's looking good."

And for an offense that has produced just six points in its last 11 quarters, that could be some long overdue good news.

* SAGAPOLU, VAUGHAN SIDELINED: Freshman defensive tackle Kawika Sagapolu, plagued by a pinched nerve in his neck, did not practice on Tuesday or Wednesday and may not play on Saturday.

"We'll just have to wait and see," Robinson said. "But he might not play."

Meanwhile, quarterback Jason Vaughan, still plagued by headaches and dizzy spells from a concussion, had an MRI earlier this week which came back "normal" according to trainer Kyle Wilson. However, Vaughan won't play Saturday.

"He hasn't been cleared to play," Wilson said. "He's still not 100 percent. We'll hold him out this week and re-evaluate his status next week. Time is on his side."

Running back Jeremi Rudolph (groin) and linebacker Jerrad Pierucci (concussion) have both practiced this week and will play.