Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2003 | 9:03 a.m.
Editor's note: The key matchup of each UNLV football game will be previewed in the Sun this season and followed up after the game with an examination of how it turned out.
Offensive linemen in the Western Athletic Conference have a lot in common with rocker Sammy Hagar. Because for the past three years, they haven't been able to drive 55, either.
Fifty-five is the jersey number worn by Nevada-Reno defensive end Jorge Cordova, and around the WAC, Double Nickels has been about as well received as the speed limit during the Carter administration.
If the first four games of 2003 are any indication, Cordova will probably find a way to get to the football when UNLV and UNR renew their rivalry at Mackay Stadium up north Saturday night in a battle of 3-1 teams. That's almost a given.
But if the Rebels, with offensive tackles Matt Williams and Tyler Crandal having drawn the shortest straws, can delay him from getting there quite so fast, it may give UNLV a chance to once again establish its running game.
It's not going to be easy, as no less an opponent as Oregon discovered a couple of weeks ago. Cordova, a 6-foot-2, 250-pound senior, had 14 tackles against the Ducks, including four for losses. He also scored a touchdown, falling on a fumble in the end zone, as the Wolf Pack played Oregon to a competitive 31-23 defeat.
With Cordova out of the way, the Ducks' offensive line waddled all over Michigan the very next week, controlling the line of scrimmage in Oregon's stunning upset.
"He's a real good defensive football player, probably one of the better defensive ends we'll see," said UNLV offensive line coach Rob Boras, noting that the Rebels will also be wary of Derek Kennard, the defensive tackle who lines up alongside Cordova on UNR's four-man front.
"He's very quick and then there's that word that's overused a lot -- motor. But he plays every play longer than everybody, and has success doing it."
That explains why Cordova is the Wolf Pack's leading tackler with 39. It's highly unusual when a down lineman leads a team in tackles these days -- for instance, Leon Moore tops UNLV's D-line with just 11 stops -- and yet Cordova is just as strong as a pass rusher.
Maybe even stronger. Cordova has four sacks this year and 22 for his career, which again, are totals that would do a blitzing linebacker proud. Last year, his nine sacks led the WAC.
Yet, the Rebels probably will run right at Cordova at the start, for two reasons. The first is that like most active defenders, Cordova makes a lot of tackles and big plays down the line or field. The second is that the Rebels always try to establish what they want to do first before adjusting to the other side's personnel or scheme.
"We're really not going to change much of our offense, because he does make most of his plays when he's not getting run right at," Boras said. "The nature of our run offense, obviously there will be enough times when we run right at him, so we're really not going to change our philosophy because of that.
"But if we find he's making a lot of plays from behind, then maybe we need to change it during the game. That's just the nature of our offense. We have enough (strength) where we feel we can right right at him."
And why shouldn't UNLV fell that way? The Rebels have been able to run the ball against everybody they've played and that includes Wisconsin, which had four sides of beef disguised as defensive linemen.
As Boras said, if it turns out the Rebels have to run around Cordova instead of through him to beat UNR, so be it. But they prefer the aggressive way.
"No question," Boras said of beating somebody physically rather than with finesse. "As an offensive line coach, that's what we're preaching all the time, that when you run at somebody, it kind of takes away their will to play a little bit.
"Throwing the ball is great and so is finesse. But ultimately, it comes down to beating the guy across from you."
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