Rebels’ Dorsey new star of screen

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2001 | 9:36 a.m.

It was Monday afternoon at the movies starring Dominique Dorsey.

And the overflow crowd at Big Dog's Cafe attending John Robinson's weekly football luncheon gave it a big thumbs up.

The 5-foot-7, 153-pound Dorsey, who leads the nation in kickoff returns (46.7 average) and came off the bench to rush for 77 yards on 14 carries and score two touchdowns in Saturday's 35-31 loss to BYU, spoke to the turnout, then sat back as Robinson showed some of his remarkable runs in slow motion over and over.

"I don't know about you guys, but I kind of want to stay here and keep watching this," Robinson said. "You're looking at the beginning of a great career here for Dominique Dorsey."

As electrifying as some Dorsey's runs were during the game, they seemed even more impressive as Robinson showed them frame by frame.

In several runs, the true freshman from Tulare (Calif.) Union High School appeared to be surrounded by Cougar defenders only to find a way at the last minute to dodge all of their tackle attempts while exploding through a small hole.

Robinson, who coached NFL Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson with the Rams and Heisman Trophy winners Marcus Allen and Charles White during his USC head coaching days, put Dorsey's ability to make tacklers miss in that category.

"The great runners, whether it was O.J. Simpson or Hugh McElhenny or Eric Dickerson or Marcus Allen, have a way of accelerating at the opponent and then making you miss at the line of scrimmage," Robinson said. I don't know how you teach that. It's really impressive.

"It's that cutting and acceleration that (Dorsey) has and does so well. You know Marcus had an unbelieveable ability to cut back. But this kid can cut and also really accelerate."

Robinson said that junior Joe Haro, who is 35th in the nation in rushing with a 96.5 yards-per-game average, is still the starting tailback but that Dorsey "has worked his way into being a halftime starter for us. He'll carry the ball quite a bit for us."

Nevada-Reno head coach Chris Tormey, whose team hosts UNLV on Saturday in the annual battle for the Fremont Cannon, also had high praise for Dorsey on Monday morning's WAC coaches' conference call.

"Dominique Dorsey has just outstanding acceleration and great vision," Tormey said. "He really hits the hole quickly. ... He doesn't really need a hole."

The Rebels are averaging a healthy 180 yards per game rushing. Many of those runs came straight up the gut behind the blocking of center Pete Tramontanas and guards Greg Hulett and Tony Terrell.

"Greg Hulett had a great game for us," Robinson said. "It was his best game ever here. It was an 'A' game under any circumstances."

"I thought it stunk," he said. "We're accumulating the video to send to the conference."

Robinson was especially upset that two backward laterals were ruled incompletions. A similiar play by the Rebels at Arizona a week earlier was returned for a touchdown.

"The first lateral was clearly a lateral," Robinson said. "That throw was clearly back a yard, yard-and-a-half ... but those things happen."

Robinson said he was so upset that he pulled a groin muscle while running to yell at the side judge on the play.

Linebacker Ryan Claridge leads the MWC with four forced fumbles and has a good shot at breaking the school single season record of seven.

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