‘I hate Jason Thomas’

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2002 | 10:16 a.m.

The 28th Battle for the Fremont Cannon is still three days away. But give Nevada-Reno inside linebacker Logan Carter credit for firing the first salvo in a war of words between the Wolf Pack and UNLV.

Carter, a redshirt freshman from Nevada Union High School in Grass Valley, Calif., who ranks third on the Wolf Pack with 18 tackles, was quoted in Tuesday's Reno Gazette-Journal saying he "hates" Rebel quarterback Jason Thomas and that he hopes Thomas scrambles because "I'll be there."

Ironically, Carter's quotes were in a story that started with Nevada-Reno coach Chris Tormey saying he was "not interested in any vendettas" in reference to Thomas' touchdown run with eight seconds left that capped UNLV's 27-12 victory at Mackay Stadium last year. But some of Tormey's players made it clear they were still upset with the late score.

"It is disrespect toward us," wide receiver Tim Fleming told the Gazette-Journal. "We are a Division I school, too, and we want to show that to them."

But it was Carter who went a step further.

"I had to sit in the crowd last year and watch that happen to us, watch Jason Thomas run in the extra touchdown," Carter said. "That personally just hurt.

"I have already watched quite a bit of film on (UNLV) and already I hate Jason Thomas. All we need is to get a good pass rush because once he gets one guy in his face, he breaks down and starts running with it. And I'll be there."

And ...

"Hopefully, we will have some spy calls where I just spy on him and I can go get him. That would be great."

Thomas seemed surprised upon learning of Carter's quotes following Tuesday night's chilly and windy practice at Rebel Park.

"I don't see how you can hate me, Logan, if you don't even know me," Thomas said with a chuckle. "Those are strong words. But that's fine, though. That's part of a rivalry.

"That's good. He's worried about me. I don't even know who he is. That's a good sign for me, I guess."

Thomas said he understood why Nevada-Reno's players may still be upset over his last-second touchdown last year.

"I can understand that, but I'm not on that side, so it's not my problem," Thomas said. "I'm not going to worry about that. All I'm worried about is winning and keeping the cannon.

"I knew some things like this would be said back and forth this week, but we don't want to get involved in that. We've got enough to worry about besides putting material up in their locker room to get them more pumped up."

Thomas, who grew up in one of the trash-talking capitals of the world, Compton, Calif., seemed to get fired up even more for Saturday night's game after hearing Carter's comments.

"I love rivalry games for stuff just like that," Thomas said. "I love it. Because after the game all those quotes don't mean nothing. The only thing that means anything is what the scoreboard says."