Some MWC teams considering JV football programs

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, March 20, 2002 | 9:58 a.m.

When it comes to evaluating talent in football, nothing beats video of a player competing under game conditions.

Unfortunately, unless a player is a starter or a key reserve, he has very little chance these days to prove himself except maybe on the practice field.

That could be changing, however.

Several Mountain West Conference teams -- including BYU -- are looking into fielding junior varsity football squads next fall. UNLV is not considering the proposal.

Junior varsity football was dealt a huge setback in the '80s and '90s when Title IX began reducing scholarship numbers to the current maximum of 85. Schools could also have unlimited graduate assistants to help coach a JV squad. Now they can have only two.

Still, BYU head coach Gary Crowton told the Provo Daily Herald recently he likes the idea of playing as many as three junior varsity games this year. The likely opponents would be two of Utah's top junior college programs, Snow and Dixie, which have sent a number of players to BYU over the years. A third foe could be the Air Force Academy JV.

"They'd have to be games early, in September, to fit in with Snow and Dixie's schedule," Crowton said. "And we've got several Thursday and Friday games, which would open up a few Saturdays."

Crowton played quarterback at Snow College against a BYU JV team that included future All-American Marc Wilson at quarterback.

"I think it can be useful," Crowton told the Daily Herald. "You can learn things, see things in players you'd never be able to in the course of a season."

Both Air Force and New Mexico played junior varsity games last year. The Lobos played just one game, defeating the Air Force JV squad, 46-23, on Sept. 9 before about 100 fans at University Stadium on a Sunday afternoon. But the contest proved to be a turning point for Rocky Long's squad.

In that game, a seldom-used backup named Casey Kelly started at quarterback and completed 21 of 37 passes for 369 yards and six touchdowns with one interception. A couple of weeks later, Kelly replaced struggling starter Rudy Caamano in the starting lineup for the varsity Lobos and helped New Mexico win five of its final seven games en route to a 6-5 overall mark.

"I thought it worked," Long said. "We were able to evaluate a few players who were not redshirting. Air Force came down to our place, stayed at a local base and all we did is pay for the officials."

So what about UNLV? The Rebels are within a two-hour bus ride of Dixie College in St George and only a three-hour bus ride from several junior colleges in Southern California.

"Nah, we don't have enough players," UNLV head coach and athletic director John Robinson said. "We just don't have enough players."

Besides being concerned about the injury factor, Robinson said the expense of playing JV games didn't make sense for his school at this time.

"The travel ... if the JV team played in Salt Lake City and we were playing in San Diego or somewhere ... would cost too much," Robinson said. "I'm just not in favor of it."