Moore growing into his leadership role on line

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2004 | 9:56 a.m.

Simply put, the UNLV football team is expecting a lot more from junior defensive end Leon Moore this season.

More big plays. More leadership. And, perhaps most important, more consistency.

Moore, an athletic 6-foot-5, 280-pounder from Rancho High School, understands.

"I've just got to step up and be a man out there," he said.

Many people think he will. The Sporting News college football magazine made Moore, who had 35 tackles and four sacks in four starts in 2003, a preseason first team all-Mountain West Conference pick.

"In the words of Adam (Seward), stuff like that don't get you drafted," Moore said. "It's a great honor for them to say that's what they think I'll be. But that's something that has to be put on the back burner right now. That's a preseason team. When it's the postseason all-conference team I'll be happy. But until then it's all work."

Moore, who came to UNLV as a skinny 212-pounder, has bulked up to 280 pounds thanks to hard work in the weight room. He bench-presses 350 pounds and has been timed at 4.9 seconds in the 40-yard dash on what he called a "bad day."

"The kid has some great tools and is a very good football player," defensive coordinator Mike Bradeson said. "But he needs to become more consistent out there because he's been kind of a flash player at this stage in his career. If he gives a consistent effort all the time, good things will happen."

Moore says he's been working hard on developing that consistency.

"I've had games where I've made some big plays and I've had games where I've only made one tackle," he said. "Now it's time to make a consistent effort and come out with a nice number after every game. It's time for me to step up and help this team win."

If fall camp is any indication, it would be hard to fault Moore's effort. He has already been involved in several scraps with teammates and has been an intense and at times dominant player for the defense in drills.

"They say you play like you practice," Moore said. "When I was a rookie it wasn't that I wasn't trying to play as hard as I am now, it's just that I didn't know how to play hard. My reads were very slow. I didn't see things out there when I should have seen them. My 'get-off' was slow when I got tired. And when you start sucking air you slow down. Those are the things I can't do anymore."

Moore will certainly have his work cut out for him when UNLV opens its season Sept. 5 at 14th-ranked Tennessee. He'll line up across from Vols senior tackle Michael Munoz (6-6, 315), the son of NFL Hall of Famer Anthony Munoz and a preseason All-American who is expected to be a high NFL draft pick next spring.

"He's a great player," Moore acknowledged. "They say he's maybe even better than his dad was. He's athletic and he's huge. But it's not like I haven't gone against guys like that before. Wisconsin had some great linemen. BYU always has huge players. And I don't think anybody in the country is more physical than Utah. But he definitely will be one of the best I've played against."