Columnist Ron Kantowksi: Four steps to improving Rebel football

Ron Kantowksi

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2002 | 9:14 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Before I get into how to improve the UNLV football program in four easy steps, whose idea was it to schedule an off week before next week's season finale at Colorado State?

I mean, did anybody truly believe the Rebels would be playing the Rams with a lot riding on the outcome, and that UNLV might actually benefit from having an extra week to prepare?

Didn't think so. But with a twist here and a turn there, that's still entirely possible in our lifetimes. (Provided medical science continues to improve the life expectancy rate).

UNLV should start by:

UNLV has plenty of players. It just doesn't know how to use them. If Air Force quarterback Chance Harridge runs the ball 20 times a game, Rebel counterpart Jason Thomas, who is built like an ox, should have carried it 25 times. In last week's 49-32 loss to Air Force, he ran just once by design.

The Rebels also misused talented players such as scatback Dominique Dorsey (too many runs between the tackles), running back Larry Croom (by not handing or throwing him the ball) and to a lesser extent, wide receiver Earvin Johnson (by never establishing him as the "go-to" receiver).

Like its MWC brethren, UNLV is not in position to out-recruit Oklahoma and Ohio State for the 330-pound offensive tackles that are required to play smash-mouth football. At the mid-major level, the idea is to run around people, not over them.

But when was the last time the Rebels ran a reverse, a counter or even a stinking pitchout?

A source close to the team said UNLV actually experimented with the shotgun formation this year, before shooting itself in the foot. It turns out the Rebels couldn't find a center who could snap the ball to Thomas without it hitting the ground first.

The option is college football's great equalizer. It is the reason Craig Fowler, Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and the ESPN Game Day gang make an annual visit to the Air Force Academy. And it explains why a woeful team such as Navy can have mighty Notre Dame on the ropes late in the fourth quarter.

The Rebels should follow Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry to Texas or Georgia or wherever he finds all those wishbone QBs and get one for themselves. Heck, unlike the guys Air Force is forced to recruit, he wouldn't even have to be that smart. He could build model planes, instead of aspiring to fly real ones.

Ever been to Fort Collins? It's not exactly the garden spot of Colorado. Yet Lubick continues to find enough diamonds in the rough -- and more importantly, refine them -- to where in-state Big 12 brother Colorado wants no part of CSU between the 20s.

What has to be frustrating to Rebels fans is that when it comes to respectability, the program under Robinson is tantalizingly close.

But I'm afraid if there's not a change of philosophy, the cigar may never get lit.