UNLV’s Nantkes had trouble getting the ball to Johnson

Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2003 | 9:32 a.m.

Editor's note: The key matchup of each UNLV football game will be previewed in the Las Vegas Sun this season and followed up after the game by an examination of how it turned out.

It didn't take long for UNLV quarterback Kurt Nantkes to find wide receiver Earvin Johnson in Saturday's intersectional game at Kansas.

Johnson, who emerged as the Rebels' go-to pass catcher last season, was suspended for UNLV's season-opening 28-18 victory against Toledo, as he was one of 11 Rebels players who made phone calls using a stolen long-distance access code. His return to the lineup was expected to mark the debut of UNLV's vertical passing game.

Sure enough, on the Rebels' first play from scrimmage, Nantkes hit Johnson, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound junior, on a hook pattern for a 12-yard gain. But with the Rebels still leaning on their rushing game, the two would only hook up three more times the rest of the evening as the Jayhawks came on strong in the second half for a 46-24 victory.

"Coming into the game, I was more anxious than usual," said Johnson, who caught 51 passes last year for 793 yards. The last time he was on the field, he caught 12 balls from Nantkes for 132 yards as the Rebels shocked Mountain West champion Colorado State 36-33 on its home turf last November.

"I hadn't played in a game since last year but I felt good," Johnson said.

Johnson also looked good in hauling in a 31-yard strike up the left sideline that led to UNLV's first score, a 21-yard field goal by Dillon Pieffer that cut Kansas' lead to 7-3 midway through the first quarter.

After that, Johnson was hardly heard from. Early in the third quarter, he got behind the Kansas coverage and would have had a touchdown, had Nantkes not underthrown him. Instead, Remuise Johnson made a leaping interception at the 3, setting the table for a 97-yard touchdown drive that turned the momentum in Kansas' favor.

Johnson finished with four catches for 61 yards.

"They played a little different coverage than we thought," he said. "They played a little more man. That was the only difference. We thought they'd play more zone. But we adjusted to it."

Perhaps, but the Jayhawks secondary still did a nice job, holding Nantkes to 17 completions in 30 attempts and just 178 yards while intercepting him twice.

"It was frustrating," Nantkes said. "I felt like I was in a funk. It felt like the ball was coming off my hand funny. It just wasn't happening for us."