Columnist Ron Kantowski: Rebels’ offense a thing of the past

Monday, Oct. 20, 2003 | 9:52 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Let's see now, the date of UNLV's victory against Wisconsin was Sept. 13, or 9-13.

Was that B.C. or A.D.?

I'm not saying that the Rebels' stunning win at Madison seems like a long time ago, but when I looked down in the end zone the Rebels were trying in vain to get to Saturday, there were a couple of spiders spinning cobwebs on the bright orange pylons.

In this space two weeks ago, when the Rebels were 4-1 and talking about national rankings, conference championships and bowl games and the like, I wrote that as well as they played during the preseason, I didn't see them running the table in the Mountain West.

In fact, while I thought they would pick up the two wins it would take to become bowl eligible (and still do), I had no idea where they would come from. For the first time I can remember, there are no automatic wins in the MWC this year.

Especially with an offense like UNLV's.

This was supposed to be the year the Rebels became a can of worms, and opened up the offense. Jason Thomas is gone, and his replacement, Kurt Nantkes, was going to throw the ball 30-plus times a game in UNLV's version of the West Coast offense.

Well, the West Coast offense has gone south. Out of desperation, the Rebels did throw 30-plus times Saturday -- 31 to be exact. But to be painfully exact, Nantkes completed just 13, as the Rebels were whipped in every phase of the game -- well, I guess the cheap shots and personal fouls were about even -- in a 28-10 loss to resurgent Utah.

It wasn't all Nantkes' fault, of course, as that big and supposedly improved UNLV offensive line could not protect him, even though the Utes seldom blitzed. Nantkes has roughly the same foot speed and mobility of Meat Loaf, which isn't a good combination when the guys in front of you can't block or play guitar.

Nantkes was sacked four times Saturday. Worse, it was as if Thomas never left, as Nantkes turned the ball over twice on the most basic of plays, the center exchange, just as Thomas used to do. But at least Thomas, an elusive, bruising runner, was a major threat when the offensive line turned to Swiss cheese and the pass pocket collapsed.

Afterward, Nantkes complained about the "(expletive) reverse" Utah ran toward the end of the game to run up the score. I think his bigger concern should be hanging onto the (expletive) football in either red zone.

But this rough stretch he's in notwithstanding, I think the Rebels' offense is still a bigger problem than the guy who is running it. Obviously, it's difficult to execute, or the Rebels would be able to make a first down once in a while and give the defense, God bless' em, a chance to sit down and enjoy a spot of Gatorade.

Secondly, it's boring. This offense, or at least the way the Rebels run it, makes Woody Hayes look like Bill Walsh. I guess when it's going good, it'll spring a decent running back such as Larry Croom for an 11- or 12-yard gain. But with the way the Rebels are throwing the ball, it still takes about seven or eight of those plays just to get into field goal range.

Man, just once before I get older than Joe Paterno's pants I'd like to see a UNLV team come out in the triple option, like Air Force, or that spread offense Utah is running under first-year coach Urban Meyer. Was that fun to watch or what?

Utah's offense sometimes looks likes a bad fire drill. But most of the time, there are four or five receivers spread across the field. You think that puts some pressure on the defense?

Once a while, the Utes will run a play without a quarterback, letting Parris Warren, their athletic wide receiver, take a direct snap and improvise like Herbie Hancock. On another occasion Saturday, Warren ran a sweep, pulled up and completed a throw-back pass to Alex Smith, the quarterback.

And what about all those keepers, where Smith looked like Steve Young and Jim Brown all rolled into one? They are designed into the Utah offense, as Smith can take off anytime he sees fit.

Heck, UNLV coach John Robinson wouldn't let Nantkes take off if he was an airline pilot on an open runway.

If you're a Rebel fan, you should be getting more frustrated than Ruschard Dodd-Masters, UNLV's feisty defensive back who was ejected for bumping an official Saturday. But the Rebels' recent downward spiral isn't the referees' fault.

It's the offense. It's the same as it ever was, which might work on a rainy day in Wisconsin, or maybe even against Brigham Young, in a down year, or San Diego State, in any year.

But it didn't work against Air Force and it didn't work against Utah.