Rebels must find way to slow Fleming, Air Force’s air show

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Sept. 28, 2000 | 10:16 a.m.

Simply put, UNLV starting cornerbacks Kevin Thomas and Amar Brisco have a big problem on their hands Saturday when the Rebels host Mountain West Conference-leading Air Force at Sam Boyd Stadium.

How big? Try 6-foot-5, 220-pounds big.

That's the size of Falcons wide receiver Ryan Fleming, who finds himself in the rather unusual position of leading the MWC in receiving at 99.3 yards per game.

Unusual because Air Force runs the wishbone offense. Yet the athletic junior from Wyoming, Ohio, already has 10 catches for 298 yards and three touchdowns after three games. He had just eight catches the entire 1999 season as the Falcons' No. 3 wideout.

Fleming will have a six-inch height advantage over Thomas and a seven-inch edge over Brisco. And the former prep basketball standout has shown he knows how to use that size to his advantage against smaller corners so far this season.

Fleming won several "jump balls" with Utah's highly touted cornerback Andre Dyson last week, including one for a 45-yard touchdown grab in Air Force's 23-14 win over the Utes.

"My height definitely helps me," Fleming said. "On that last one (at Utah), he had the ball and I just kind of reached down and took it away from him."

"(Fleming) is a special kid," Utah coach Ron McBride said. "He's tough. We had three plays where the defensive back is right there and he went up and over him to get the ball."

"He's such a big target," said Air Force quarterback Mike Thiessen, the MWC's top-rated passing quarterback. "He's making me look like an all-star."

UNLV coach John Robinson is well aware of Fleming's talents.

"He's big and tall," Robinson said. "He really serves their offense well. He's very athletic. He can go down and make the big play for them in the passing game."

But to hear Fleming tell it, he is more satisfied with his blocking than with the fact he leads the MWC in receiving.

"My main goal is to be remembered as the best blocking wide receiver ever at the Academy," he said. "It's a good feeling when the safety is going really hard and you knock 'em out a couple of times in the game. Then they don't want to come at you any more."

Fleming first made his mark with the Falcons as a freshman in the team's annual Blue-Silver game in 1997. Playing on the scout team with Thiessen against the regular Air Force squad, Fleming caught 11 passes for 205 yards. Not bad considering that Air Force team would go on to finish 10-3 and play in the Las Vegas Bowl.

After starring in a couple of junior varsity games, Fleming was quickly moved up to the varsity by head coach Fisher DeBerry but didn't catch a pass.

The following year Fleming redshirted after suffering a broken leg -- an injury that threatened his career.

"We were practicing and ... a helmet went right through my shin," he said.

Fleming had to undergo surgery and have a two foot-long titanium rod inserted into his lower right leg along with three screws to help stabilize the fractures.

"It happened on September 7 and I really didn't even take a step until around Christmas," he said. "It took me over a year to really get going again."

But Fleming worked his way up to the Falcons' No. 3 receiver spot last year behind Matt Farmer and had eight receptions.

It took him fewer than three games this season to eclipse that mark. He caught five passes for a career-high 145 yards and two touchdowns in the Falcons' 31-23 win over BYU on Sept. 9 and became the first Air Force player since Steve Senn in 1989 to have back-to-back 100-yard receiving games when he followed that up with his three-catch, 128-yard performance at Utah. He had just two receptions for 45 yards in the Falcons' season-opening 55-6 blowout over Cal State Northridge.

"Obviously, this is nothing I expected going into the season," Fleming said. "But when they throw the ball to you in the option, you better take advantage of it because you're not going to get that many chances."