Columnist Dean Juipe: Exasperating QB may force coach’s hand

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2002 | 10:17 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

It's never a bad idea to put your best athlete at quarterback. He is, after all, the catalyst, so why not have him handling the ball on every play?

But there are drawbacks, as UNLV is discovering with Jason Thomas.

That's "The Exasperating Jason Thomas," to those of you who follow the Rebels and believe he must have added a preface to his birth name, given that so many fans need at least four words to identify him these days.

Thomas is UNLV's most gifted player, there's no doubt about it. But he also has the peculiar ability to single-handily lead the team to a devastating loss, as he demonstrated once again last Saturday against Wisconsin.

His faults were many: He fumbled, he bumbled, he flipped the ball away. He could neither grip it nor throw it, and his performance was so raggedly inept that it qualified as disheartening.

He also has put a man named Vince Alcalde in something of a tight spot.

Alcalde is UNLV's new quarterbacks coach and was brought in specifically to tutor Thomas. But in light of Thomas' poor showing and with Governor Kenny Guinn insisting that the university cut its budget by 3 percent, how long will it be before Alcalde and his salary are deemed expendable and, as a result, dutifully trimmed?

The answer: perhaps as short a time as a single week.

Luckily the Rebels play lowly Kansas this Saturday and Thomas' clumsiness should be less apparent than it was against the Badgers in a 27-7 loss. But if he were to have another bad game -- and he's into a second consecutive season of bad games -- the pressure will mount on head coach John Robinson to do something drastic.

Such as move Thomas into the equivalent of a wingback's position and insert Kurt Nantkes at quarterback.

This is an alteration that no one associated with the program wants to see happen. Nor is it the first choice of the fans, in spite of Thomas' continuing troubles.

Everyone wants to see Thomas succeed. He's a big, strong guy who speaks well and takes responsibility for his actions. It's clear that he has the very best of intentions.

But as was far too apparent in the opener, Thomas hasn't improved a lick when it comes to footwork and technique. Time after time he was throwing the ball awkwardly and off the wrong foot, and time after time those passes were incomplete or made their way into the wrong hands.

Once touted as a Heisman candidate and still perceived as a potential pro, Thomas has regressed to where there's some doubt he should even be starting for a mid-level college team such as UNLV. For sure, if things don't change he won't be drafted as a quarterback by any team in the NFL.

They'll use him as a kick returner and as some sort of speciality running back, which is what Robinson may be forced into doing before too long. No matter how strong his faith in Thomas, Robinson can't go on indefinitely with this type of liability at quarterback.

Thomas had all summer to make some progress, but none was made and now he and Alcalde may have to suffer the consequence. However reluctantly, their failures are forcing Robinson to at least consider implementing a Plan B.