‘Wait ‘til next year’ cry is over

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2000 | 9:26 a.m.

All things considered, 1999 was not a bad opening act for the John Robinson Era of UNLV football.

The Rebels snapped a 16-game losing streak with a season opening 26-3 victory at North Texas, followed that up with a miraculous last-play 27-24 victory at Baylor -- the first time since 1974 that the Rebels started 2-0 on the road --and also ended a 20-year drought in Laramie with a 35-32 upset of Wyoming.

But even as Robinson and company were burying those skeltons, the word around Rebel Park was "Wait 'til Next Year."

Wait 'til USC transfer Jason Thomas was eligible to play quarterback. Wait 'til Kevin Brown, a second team all-Pac-10 choice in 1998 at Washington State, joined the running back corps. Wait 'til Robinson could fill in some more holes with another solid recruiting class. Wait 'til the young offensive line had another year to mature.

Well, next year is finally here.

Although last year's three wins equaled the two-year total preceding his arrival, Robinson knows much more will be expected from his squad in year two. And he seems to welcome that challenge.

"Long-range plans are overrated -- we're here to win now," he said. "We're definitely looking for big improvement. You have to show progress every year, but as it gets closer to kicking it off, you just think about winning. It wouldn't be fun otherwise."

The Rebels were picked to finish sixth and seventh in the Mountain West Conference's preseason media and coaches polls. Whether they can do better than that will depend on how quickly the multi-talented Thomas, who hasn't played competive football in almost three years, adapts to Division I competition and whether the Rebels, still lacking quality depth at many positions, can avoid key injuries.

Here's a position-by-position breakdown of the squad:

Unlike the past two years, the Rebels actually have quality depth at this position in sophomore Matt Ray, who played well as a true freshman in three starts last year, and senior Jason Vaughan, who started the first eight games of 1999 before being sidelined with concussion problems.

Senior James Wofford, who led the team in rushing two years ago with 816 yards, will be a jack-of-all-trades in the backfield, playing fullback, tailback and even some H-Back this year.

Washington transfer Jabari Johnson and sophomore Steven Costa add quality depth.

Newcomers Bobby Nero, a sophomore transfer from Oregon with 10.38 100-meter speed, and junior Charles James, another former high school track star, add some much needed deep threats to the offense. Sophomore Troy Mason and redshirt freshman Michael Johnson are promising young, athletic receivers who should see plenty of action.

A player to keep a watch on is sophomore tight end DeJhown Mandley, who figures to play a much bigger role in the team's offensive schemes this year.

Quality depth is still a big problem here, especially at tackle.

Three JC All-American defensive ends -- Anton Palepoi, Scott Parkhurst and Adrian Watson -- join improving sophomore Ahmad Briggs and junior Steve Newton to give the Rebels good depth on the outside. But the big key will be how well senior Anthony Suggs, junior Ahmad Miller and sophomore Phil Reed can help plug up the middle at the tackle spots.

Senior Tyler Brickell returns at strong outside linebacker while JC transfer LaMar Owens and sophomore Tosh Burrus figure to split time at the weak outside linebacker spot.

Both starting safeties -- senior Randy Black and junior Sam Brandon -- are excellent hitters who could vie for all-conference honors.

The big key here is how well sophomores Jamal Wynn, Joe Haro and redshirt freshman Sean Mackey perform at the other corner spot. Thanks to Thomas, that position figures to be a very busy one this year.