Rebels ‘D’ must slow potent QB, Warriors

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2003 | 9:16 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 with an examination of how it turned out.

Last week at Wisconsin, the UNLV defense unplugged the six refrigerators disguised as Badgers offensive lineman and turned Camp Randall Stadium into a Ballroom Blitz.

Depending on which set of stats you looked at, the Rebels sacked Wisconsin's veteran quarterback, Jim Sorgi, eight or nine times en route to a stunning 23-5 victory against what was then the nation's 14th-ranked team.

Part of the reason the Rebels' defensive line and linebackers enjoyed a sack lunch is that Sorgi had about as much mobility as Johnny Unitas in galoshes.

That won't be the case Friday when UNLV lines up against Timmy Chang, Hawaii's record-setting quarterback, who sets up quickly and gets rid of the football even faster.

"He will complete a lot of passes and they will move the football," UNLV coach John Robinson said in deference to Chang and the Run-'N'-Shoot Warriors, who are 1-1 after being demolished 61-32 at No. 4 Southern Cal Saturday.

"He starts out 7 yards deep (in the Shotgun formation) and fades to 12. It's gonna be hard to get to him. People who think we're gonna get eight sacks ... well, they're not gonna see that happen."

Robinson said he expected Chang to throw at least 60 passes on a warm night, so conditioning may be an even bigger factor than usual.

"The patience needed to play against a team like this ... it's tough," Robinson said. "Our defensive line is going to get very tired rushing after this guy time after time after time -- and not having the excitement of sacks."

One advantage the Rebels will have in preparing for Chang and his supporting cast is that Hawaii doesn't pose the running threat that Wisconsin did. But it puts a lot more receivers into the pattern, which occupy more defenders.

Part of the attraction to the Run-'N'-Shoot is that somebody is usually open. And Chang, who is closing in on Ty Detmer's NCAA career passing record, has a knack for finding the open man.

"I've seen the quarterback at Hawaii on TV," said Rebels defensive end Chris Eagen. "He's a great athlete, a great quarterback. They spread out the ball and that's a hard offense to defend against. All we can do is (try to) get pressure on him.

"Last week we proved we could do that against a very, very good Wisconsin team. Now we just have to keep it up."

In that Hawaii throws on virtually every down -- the Warriors completed 40 of 67 passes against USC against only 16 running plays -- at least the Rebels' pass rush will be able to head up the field a little quicker, said Dietrich Canterberry, the other defensive end in UNLV's 3-4 scheme.

"But you still have to worry about the draw," Canterberry said, "because that will destroy if you get to running up the field after the quarterback."

Given the way the Rebels were coming after Sorgi, Eagen and Canterberry were surprised that Wisconsin didn't use more draws and screens to keep them honest.

Hawaii coach June Jones indicated it may not have mattered.

"They try to confuse you, mix it up," he said. "They do a lot of zone blitz and that kind of stuff. They try to screw up your protection from kind of a 3-3 look."

Warriors running back John West was similarly impressed, and even compared the UNLV defense to that of USC.

"Basically, they smell the ball," West told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. "Just like USC, they're pretty much swarming to the ball."

But then, as West said, Hawaii's offense is a little more productive than Wisconsin's.

"Our offense is pretty good," he said. "As long as we limit our mistakes, I don't think anyone can stay with us."