‘I’ll play the best guy’

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Aug. 12, 2004 | 9:18 a.m.

Kurt Nantkes starts his final preseason camp tonight at UNLV as the No. 1 quarterback for the Rebels.

The question is, will he still be No. 1 when UNLV opens its season Sept. 5 at Tennessee?

Rebels coach John Robinson said earlier this week that Nantkes enters camp, which begins with a 6:30 p.m. practice at Rebel Park, as the starter. But he left open the possibility that rising sophomore star Shane Steichen, who started two games as a true freshman and took most of the snaps with the first unit in spring practice while Nantkes recuperated from an injury, could win the job if he has the better camp.

"I'll play the best guy," Robinson said. "If Shane Steichen comes out here and performs better than Kurt, I'm going to play Shane Steichen."

Nantkes, a father of two who turns 25 in November, started 10 games last year and has thrown for 2,517 yards and 21 touchdowns in his career. He played the final month of the 2003 season with a dislocated pubic bone which eventually caused him to miss spring practice.

"Missing spring practice was horrible, but it was good in some ways," Nantkes said. "It was horrible because you miss out on the repetitions and throwing the ball. But missing out on spring ball also made me more hungry."

Nantkes wasn't even cleared to resume full-speed practice drills until late May. He tried to catch up by throwing to his teammates during informal workouts two nights a week during the summer.

"When I first went to the doctor about the injury he said, 'You didn't play on that did you?' " Nantkes said with a grin. "And I said, 'Yeah, two games.' And he couldn't believe it. ... Right now I feel as close to 100 percent as you can after taking some of the shots I've taken in the past."

Steichen, who has added 17 pounds of much-needed muscle in offseason weight conditioning drills and now weighs 185 pounds, said he felt he made excellent improvement by working with the first-team offense in the spring.

"That was big," said Steichen, of El Dorado Hills, Calif. "It makes you feel more comfortable with the guys. Getting more reps makes you better especially when it's with the first team. I think it will definitely help going into fall camp."

As for trying to wrest the starting job from Nantkes, Steichen was diplomatic.

"I'm going out there to just compete, not with Kurt, but I'm going to compete to just get better from a personal standpoint," said Steichen, who completed 17 of 38 passes for 215 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception as a freshman. "Whatever happens during the season happens."

New quarterbacks coach Brad Otton thinks the competition can only serve to make both players better.

"I think each of them will get snaps with the first team and the second team," Otton said. "(Robinson) wants to make it as competitive as we can. And I think both will work hard."

Nantkes welcomes the challenge.

"It's something I haven't had since J.T. (Jason Thomas) and I feel I played well when I was under the gun with J.T.," Nantkes said. "I practiced well. It's nice to have someone chomping at your ankles to keep you going and make you want to go 100 percent on the practice field. I think that carries over to the game.

"I feel I've been through too much to say this is not my team. I've taken too many hits, thrown my share of touchdowns and I've waited in the wings too long to be a senior and say it's not my job. It is my job. It's mine to lose as well. I've just got to get in here, make the correct reads, throw crisp passes and go out there and perform the way I know how."