Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2003 | 10:45 a.m.
Chance Kretschmer said he remembers last year's Battle for the Fremont Cannon battle with UNLV very well. And it isn't a very pleasant memory.
"I was there at Sam Boyd Stadium on the sidelines on crutches," said Kretschmer, a 6-foot-2, 228-pound junior from tailback from Tonopah. "It was only a couple of weeks after my knee surgery. It was tough to watch. It was frustrating not being able to be out there with my teammates."
Kretschmer, a former walk-on who led the nation in rushing as a redshirt freshman in 2001 with 1,732 yards and 15 touchdowns, played just two games last season after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament on a late out of bounds hit in the Wolf Pack's 31-28 upset of BYU. So he had to watch UNLV's 21-17 victory against the Wolf Pack from the sideline.
Such won't be the case on Saturday night at Mackay Stadium, however. Thanks to a lot of blood, sweat and tears, Kretschmer is back and playing better than ever for WAC-leading Nevada-Reno (3-1, 2-0), which will try and snap a three-game losing streak to John Robinson's squad.
Kretschmer ranks eighth in the nation in rushing with an average of 127.8 yards per game. Any doubts that he wasn't back in old form were erased two weeks ago when Kretschmer earned WAC offensive player of the week honors after rushing for 156 yards and three touchdowns in the Wolf Pack's 42-30 victory against San Jose State.
"He is bigger and stronger than he was as a freshman and he appears to have the same speed and vision," Nevada-Reno coach Chris Tormey said. "He did a great job of running the football. He was keeping his legs up and going and he was breaking tackles."
Kretschmer followed up his San Jose State performance with his third 100-yard game of the season in Saturday night's 12-9 slugfest with SMU. Kretschmer had 120 yards on 24 carries against a Mustang defense that allows just 122.5 yards rushing per game and leads the WAC in total defense.
"He's a good back," SMU coach Phil Bennett said. "He's big. He's strong. He's not a guy who is going to break any 70 or 80 yard runs but he's a tough back who fits what they do which is get you in third and short and give him the ball. I'm not sure he's back where he was before his injury but I sure would like to have him on our team. He's a good back and a great competitor."
Needless to say, UNLV's top priority on defense will be trying to slow Kretschmer down on Saturday night.
"He's one of the premier backs in the country," UNLV defensive coordinator Mike Bradeson said. "He led the nation in rushing as a freshman, so he's a No. 1 priority."
Bradeson said he hasn't noticed any drop off in Kretschmer's game since the knee injury.
"No, not at all," he said. "He's still running hard and plowing through people. They get a bunch of people in front of him. It's almost like the old 'Student Body' stuff (that USC ran in the '60s and '70s). That's what they've done is run over people."
Kretschmer says he still does feel the effects of the reconstructive surgery on occasion.
"I get some pains now and then," Kretschmer said. "I wouldn't wish this injury on anybody. It was very painful at times and then at other times things would go well. But it is a long road back."
Kretschmer spent much of his spring and summer running up and down the aisles of Mackay Stadium. He said he hasn't been timed in the 40 since the injury.
"They won't let me," he chuckled. "I'm not the fastest guy anyway."
UNLV safety Jamaal Brimmer, the reigning Mountain West Conference defensive player of the year, understands.
"I think he's one of those guys who is kind of like me a little bit," Brimmer said. "I guess he's not the fastest guy. I know that he's a big, strong running back who probably didn't get a lot of looks out of high school. But he's got the stats to prove that he can play the game."
Brimmer said he expects UNLV to use a defensive strategy similiar to the one they used against Wisconsin and Anthony Davis in the Rebels' 23-5 upset on Sept. 13th in Madison.
"Speed to the ball, not letting them breath type of thing," Brimmer said. "If we can frustrate the main focal point of their offense, I think that's real big as far as moving on and winning the game."
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