Columnist Dean Juipe: Rebels try to salvage the season

Dean Juipe

Friday, Sept. 28, 2001 | 10 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

If the UNLV football team were a comedy troupe, it would be the Not Ready For Prime Time Players.

Three games into the season, the Rebels are not only 0-3 but have seen their hopes for a spot in the national polls completely evaporate. As an added negative dividend, their Heisman Trophy candidate, quarterback Jason Thomas, has played so poorly that you have to start wondering if he deserves to be out on the field.

These were the chances head coach John Robinson was taking when he agreed to a difficult opening schedule. But even the most pessimistic follower of the team didn't see an 0-4 start coming, which is probable if not likely with 3-0 Brigham Young up next, Saturday at Sam Boyd Stadium.

In truth, UNLV could be 3-0 had it carried over any of the momentum it seemingly gained during the closing portion of the 2000 season. Others may disagree, but the Rebels could have and should have defeated Arkansas, Northwestern and Arizona -- all of which are good though hardly elite teams.

Instead, they lost to all three -- two of which were on national TV -- and the once-glorious expectations that greeted this season's arrival have been reduced to rubble.

One month into the season, is there a more disappointing team in the country than UNLV?

And a more disappointing player than Thomas?

For starters, his mechanics are terrible and he appears to have regressed at a time when he was expected to evolve into a top-flight leader and player. Instead, it looks as if he spent his offseason pursuing other endeavors, such as reading the multitude of complimentary features that were written on him during the summer months.

He's defying the commonly held belief that a player can't slide perceptively backward between the ages of 21 and 22 without an injury being the leading factor in the cause-and-effect equation.

Aside from continually throwing off the wrong foot, Thomas has been wildly inaccurate and prone to panic under the stress of a decent pass rush. He needs to get himself righted not only for the good of the team but for his own career, which will be cut significantly short of earlier predictions in the event he stays in this rut.

It's inexplicable that Thomas has lost his touch, his confidence and his penchant for pulling out of a jam with a brilliant run, yet that's what has happened within the past month. If nothing else, maybe Robinson needs to call more running plays for Thomas in an effort to ratchet up his confidence.

Either that or backup quarterback Kurt Nantkes ought to be preparing himself for additional duty.

UNLV's lousy situation, combined with BYU's presence here this week, is a reminder that a coach can over-schedule, as was the case with the Cougars last year. Nonconference games with Florida State, Virginia, Mississippi State and Syracuse looked imposing prior to the season and eventually provided BYU with only a single victory in the midst of a 6-6 campaign.

Is it hopeless for the Rebels? No.

But a great deal of damage has been done to a program that believed it was on the rise.