Week off gives hopeful Rebels chance to heal

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Nov. 10, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.

UNLV now has two weeks sit around and think about the nightmare that was Saturday's 7-0 loss to San Diego State.

But if you listen to the Rebels players, the bye this weekend could not have come at a better time.

"Actually, it's a great time," senior tailback Larry Croom said. "A great time. I personally have a lot of bumps and bruises I need to take care of. Kurt (Nantkes) can get healthy again. It's definitely a good time to have a week off."

"Our offense is struggling but now we have two weeks to try and fix it," junior tight end Greg Estandia said. "It will give Kurt some time to get healthy again and I think we'll be a lot better for it. It's a much needed week off."

Anybody who watched the Rebels muster up just 175 yards in total offense against the Aztecs and get shut out for the first time since 1999 would probably agree with that assessment.

The Rebels (5-5, 1-4) more than likely need to win both of their final two games against Colorado State (5-5, 2-3) on Nov. 22 and at Wyoming (4-5, 2-2) on Nov. 29 to get a likely Las Vegas Bowl invitation.

"As you can see, nobody is down in this locker room," offensive guard Marcus Johnson said. "We know we can still finish the season strong and get into a bowl."

"If we finish out the season by winning these last two games, we can still have a special season," added Croom.

Nantkes can use the time off more than anybody.

Noticeably limping throughout the loss to the Aztecs with a bad groin pull, Nantkes scored some big points with his teammates in the leadership department by insisting he play in the second half of the game.

"I told (UNLV coach John Robinson) that I wanted to move the ball and I wanted to win this game," Nantkes said. "He believed me and we almost did."

Nantkes, under a heavy pass rush, overthrew a wide-open Estandia in the end zone on a first-and-goal at San Diego State's 5 with what would have been the game-tying touchdown with a little more than six minutes to go in the game. After fullback Dyante Perkins gained 2 yards on second down, Nantkes failed to connect on back-to-back plays with wide receiver Earvin Johnson, including a third-down fade route that Aztecs safety Marviel Underwood deflected.

"That's been our bread-and-butter play all year," Nantkes said. "What can you say? Give (Underwood) credit. He made a good play on it."

The Rebels will practice just three days this week -- Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday -- before starting Colorado State game preparations on Sunday night.

"We've just have to shake it off and come back and get ready to play better," Robinson said.

"Yeah, I am definitely a little bit disappointed about the playing time," Steichen, who completed just 1 of 5 passes for 7 yards and lost a fumble on a quarterback sack, said. "But I guess they felt that playing Kurt in the second half was our best chance to win."

"I told Shane I was sorry that it happened the way it did," Robinson said. "We're certainly are going to get him ready to play these last two games. I feel terrible about the way things worked out."

Might the Rebels let Steichen play a couple series in each of the last two games, say at the start of the second quarter, like Robinson once did at USC with Brad Otton and Kyle Wachholtz en route to the 1996 Rose Bowl?

"We may do that," Robinson said. "It's something we haven't figured out yet. We still have 13 days to figure that out."

Steichen was under the impression he will play in each of the final two games.

"They told me I'll play the last two games," he said. "Hopefully I'll get some time in there and do the best with that opportunity and see what happens."

As bad as those numbers are, it puts the Rebels in some pretty good company.

Defending national champion Ohio State managed just 196 yards in total offense in a 16-13 victory against the Aztecs on Sept. 6th in Columbus and had just 10 first downs. The Buckeyes also were held without an offensive touchdown managing just three field goals and a 100-yard interception return by strong safety Will Allen.

Buckeyes quarterback Craig Krenzel put up worse numbers than Rebels quarterback Kurt Nantkes. Krenzel was just 5-of-20 for 76 yards and an interception while Nantkes finished was 14-of-29 for 137 yards but had three interceptions.

"I thought this was a statement game for us," San Diego State linebacker Kirk Morrison said. "We have one of the best defenses in the country and we wanted to prove it against a good UNLV offense. People thought the Ohio State game was a fluke and they kind of overlook us."

The Aztecs will get another chance to make a big statement on Saturday when they travel to Colorado State and face Mountain West Conference offensive player of the year Bradlee Van Pelt.

Rebels offensive guard Marcus Johnson said it seemed like San Diego State knew which play was coming before they ran it..

"They must have a defensive mastermind or something," Johnson said. "It seemed like every play we were running they'd know where to go and when to go. They had a good scheme going on and they flat-out beat us."

"We felt that with the quarterback down they were going to try and run the football," Morrison said. "And once we took them out of running the football, we knew that we would be able to stop them. We just came at them all-day long regardless who the quarterback was."

Seward, a Bonanza High graduate who now has 291 tackles in his career, needs just four more tackles to break the school career mark of 294 set by safety Randy Black (1997-2000).