Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

Option presents challenge for Rebels

As UNLV prepares to open its Mountain West Conference season Saturday, it is considering its options.

Actually, it is considering Air Force's triple-option.

The Rebels, off to a rousing 4-1 start, have fared well against teams that primarily run the ball (Wisconsin) and teams that primarily throw it (Hawaii). On Saturday in Colorado Springs, they'll find out how they stand up against a team that pitches the ball around the backfield with the precision of the Flying Wallendas.

It's a new challenge, one that's more mental than physical according to UNLV coach John Robinson.

"We try to work on the concepts of defending it because you've got to be able to understand what they're doing," Robinson said. "They do a good job of looking at you, picking the things you're not doing well and then attacking those things.

"They do a great job of analyzing during the game. Their offense stays the same as far as preparation, but when you come out in the second half, they may have a different (appearing) offense, based on what you're doing."

There's a perception that the Rebels handle the Falcons' triple option better than most, with a lot of that based on UNLV's impressive 34-10 win at the Academy two years ago. But that Air Force team finished just 6-6 and its quarterback, Keith Boyea, was among the least heralded of those who have played the position for longtime AFA coach Fisher DeBerry.

Last year, Chance Harridge, who ranks right up there with Marty Louthan, Dee Dowis and assorted Morgans (Beau and Blane) on Air Force's long list of outstanding option quarterbacks, rushed for 114 yards on 21 carries as the Falcons piled up 366 rushing yards in a 49-32 victory at Sam Boyd Stadium.

It is the only time a Robinson-coached UNLV team has yielded 300 rushing yards. And it was the most given up by the Rebels since 1999 when -- you guessed it -- Air Force got 418.

Harridge, who was partly named after the John Wayne character in the movie "The Hellfighters," is every bit as tough as the Duke, although at 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, he's a lot smaller.

"He's fast, but he's not unbelievably fast," Robinson said. "But he's powerful. He's like a tailback."

Harridge's strongest trait is reading the defense, which, of course, is tantamount to Air Force's success. He must decide whether to stick the football in the fullback's belly, take it out and run himself or pitch the ball to a trailing back, usually a just a fraction of a second before being blasted by a defensive end or linebacker that outweighs him by 50 pounds.

Robinson said the Falcons prefer to attack the edges of the defense, but that may be more out of necessity rather than design. Harridge and the AFA fullbacks were held to 27 rushing yards in the Falcons' 24-10 win at BYU two weeks ago, and last week were overshadowed by Navy fullback Kyle Eckle, who rumbled for 176 yards on 33 carries, most of them right up the gut, in handing the 5-1 Falcons' their only loss.

Still, Robinson said if you don't respect the fullback, Air Force will make you pay.

"There a couple of guys tied to that inside game," he said, "and that's where their offense kills you. They stick the ball in the fullback's stomach and everybody goes in, and then they go 'Whoops!' and go around you.

"So it's assignment football, and you've got to be careful. Then once they declare where they are going with it, you've really got to fly to the ball."

There's where the Rebels' athletic outside linebackers and secondary might be able to neutralize some of the Falcons' precision. Still, having bigger, stronger and faster players than Air Force isn't always the answer.

The Falcons have beaten Notre Dame twice at South Bend and last year gave Virginia Tech all it wanted in the San Francisco Bowl, before a late turnover in the shadow of the Hokies' goal line ended AFA's upset bid, 20-13.

"We had a game plan that was better than their game plan -- I think," said Tech's Ronyell Whitaker, who forced the decisive fumble. "We knew what they like to do. We've all seen the option before, in rec league or high school."

But as Oklahoma proved under Chuck Fairbanks and Barry Switzer in the 1970s, the option isn't exactly a Pop Warner offense, especially when you are as dedicated to running it as Air Force is.

"Other quarterbacks might come to practice and throw downfield," Harridge says. "We come to practice and run the triple-option."

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