Columnist Ron Kantowski: Rebels one quarterback short of success

Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2003 | 9:36 a.m.

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

In another year, given the way quarterback Kurt Nantkes has struggled the past three weeks, this might be the time UNLV would switch to Plan B.

If only there were a Plan B.

Part of the reason Rebels coach John Robinson has been reluctant to talk about changing quarterbacks is that he doesn't want to shake Nantkes' confidence any more than Air Force, Utah and BYU already have. The other part is that it's a moot point.

Quarterback controversies are like the tango: It takes two to have one, and the that's where the Rebels are at least one short.

Although there are four quarterbacks listed on the depth chart, the three behind Nantkes are the second coming of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players.

Shane Steichen, a true freshman from Eldorado Hills, Calif., probably has the brightest future of the three, but at 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds, he's built like a javelin. He looks too fragile to play.

At 6-3, 225 pounds, Tyler Arciega, a redshirt freshman from Bonita, Calif., has the size to play Division I football, but not the experience. He looks too green to play.

The third body -- er, backup -- listed behind Nantkes is Scott Turner, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound sophomore from Vienna, Va. He's the least talented of the not-so-fancy passers which is too bad, because he probably understands the game better. His dad is Norv Turner, the former Redskins head coach and current Dolphins offensive coordinator. And his uncle Ron Turner is the head coach at Illinois.

Amazingly, Rebels fans also have been patient despite Nantkes' lack of performance, as he has yet to hear the boos that Jason Thomas tried in vain to block out last year.

Or maybe it's just that they've been watching the pregame warmups, too.

Rodeo superstar Charmayne James, who earned 10 consecutive world championships in women's barrel racing between 1984 and '93 and then did it again last year, announced her retirement last week at age 33. James and her horse, Scamper were so good that many fans who used barrel racing as a good excuse to shag another Coors at the National Finals Rodeo concessions stands began staying in their seats. New Line Cinema is planning a movie on James' life. ... With six wins against nonconference BCS opponents, the Mountain West Conference is tied with the ACC and Big East, conferences that receive automatic bids to the BCS bonanza. ... The MWC is 6-11 against BCS teams, but 3-2 at home. ... If St. Louis Rams rookie running back Arlen Harris looks vaguely familiar, you either receive the Hofstra alumni newsletter or were among the few hu ndred souls in the stands at the Paradise Bowl, an obscure college football all-star game formerly played in St. George, Ut! ah. This year, the game moves to Las Vegas where it hopes to be a little less obscure. It has been renamed the Las Vegas All-American Classic and will be played Jan. 17 at Sam Boyd Stadium. ... What do you suppose will happen if UNLV somehow becomes bowl eligible by winning two of its last four games and the Las Vegas Bowl, which has second choice of the Mountain West bowl eligibles, bypasses a more deserving team to take the Rebels? ... UNLV should copy Tennessee, which has adopted "Rocky Top" as its unofficial fight song, and drop the vague and uninspiring "Win With the Rebels" for "Viva, Las Vegas." Maybe then fans would sing along in the long shot the Rebels score a touchdown. ... Hopefully this isn't an omen, but after a big opening night, the Las Vegas Wranglers drew only 4,307 for its second home game on Friday. Wh ile that's just a couple hundred shy of the 4,500 Wranglers officials say they need to break even, it wasn't very good for ! a weekend. At some point, it might behoove the Wranglers to purchase an ad or two. ... Kudos, though, to whoever is responsible for coordinating the music during stoppages of play at Wranglers game to what is happening on the ice or within the arena. For instance, when the Wranglers were called for a phantom interference penalty, Billy Joel's "Innocent Man" accompanied the guilty Wrangler on his way to the penalty box. Then, with the Beatles "I'm a Loser" serving as a backdrop, the in-house cameraman panned to a chubby guy who was wearing a Red Wings jersey and sitting by himself. Although the same would have applied even if the guy wasn't overweight and sitting alone.

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