Thomas facing test early in season

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2000 | 10:21 a.m.

Great expectations.

UNLV junior cornerback Kevin Thomas knows all about them. No player on the Rebels had more preseason honors than the 5-11, 180-pounder from Foothill High School in Sacramento, Calif.

Thomas, who shattered the school record for pass breakups in a season with 24 in 1999 and also led the team with five interceptions, was the Mountain West Conference's preseason Defensive Player of the Year and a second-team All-American by Athlon magazine. He also is one of 40 players on the Jim Thorpe Award watch list.

So what happens? On just the ninth play of the 2000 season, Thomas does something that happened just once in the entire 1999 campaign -- gets beaten for a touchdown.

Iowa State's Chris Anthony beat Thomas on a post pattern for a 39-yard score that gave the Cyclones their first touchdown en route to a 37-22 victory.

"Yeah, I was surprised they threw my way so early in the game," Thomas said after the Rebels' practice Tuesday night at Rebel Park. "I thought that they wouldn't throw at me much, especially that early. But that brought me back to reality."

Thomas bounced back to make eight tackles, second only to team leader Randy Black's nine, in the contest. He also had a pass deflection, which increased his school career record to 32.

"I thought he played corner good," Rebels coach John Robinson said. "He just didn't cover like he can. I just think he was like all corners out there. All corners get beat. It's a tough go."

Actually, Thomas was pretty much stride-for-stride with Anthony but said a moment of indecision came back to haunt him.

"I just couldn't decide whether I wanted to undercut him or go over the top," he said. "I was thinking too much instead of just reacting. But playing corner you're bound to get beat sometimes."

Blame it on opening game jitters.

"I'm nervous before every game," Thomas said. "But this time it just seemed to take a while to get into the flow. When I went out in the second half, I felt a lot more comfortable."

Thomas admits all the preseason publicity weighed on him at the start of fall practice.

"At first it did," he said. "Then I went in and sat down and talked with the coaches. They told me to forget about it and just go out and have fun and not to worry about awards."

If there is a positive that might come out of the early touchdown, Thomas hopes other teams that face the Rebels might throw more at his side now.

"Hopefully I'll get tested even more now," he said. "I want them to throw my way."

Robinson doesn't believe many college teams go into games planning to test a certain cornerback.

"I don't think (college coaches) pay much attention to that," he said. "In pro football, the ball is pretty close to the middle of the field. But in college football, a lot depends on which hash mark you're on that determines where you're going to throw the ball."

Robinson, who has sent a number of cornerbacks into the NFL during his college days -- Joey Browner, Jeff Fisher, Brian Kelly, Daylon McCutcheon -- believes Thomas has a bright future ahead of him.

"Kevin Thomas is simply one of the best players in the United States at his position," Robinson said. "He was last year and he will be again this year."