Guerra set to make a big impact

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Aug. 26, 2004 | 9:25 a.m.

UNLV coach John Robinson is expecting big things this year from sophomore tackle Marco Guerra -- and why not?

After all, Guerra is one big guy.

Although he is listed at 6-foot-5 and 330 pounds in the school media guide, Guerra is tipping the scales at about 353 pounds these days and is closer to 6-6.

"He reminds me of Norberto Garrido," Rebels offensive line coach Jonathan Himebauch said of his former USC linemate who went on to become a fourth-round pick of the Carolina Panthers in 1996. "They're the same size. They have the same stature. And Marco is a soft-spoken guy who really works hard and is a leader by example."

Robinson said: "Marco Guerra will go down as one of the best linemen in UNLV history. He has great size and is as nimble as any young lineman I have ever been around."

Both starting tackles from a year ago, Matt Williams (graduation) and Tyler Crandal (back injury), are gone this season, which puts the spotlight on Guerra even more. He'll line up next to senior guard Joe Critchfield at left tackle most of the time.

"He's made a lot of strides," Himebauch said. "For being 6-foot-6 and 340-ish -- and that's being kind -- he's really athletic. And he takes a lot of pride in his technique. That's the one thing you want guys to do -- work really hard on the small points of technique and come out and work hard every day. And Marco does that."

The other tackle position will be manned by another sophomore, junior college transfer Chris Bowser (6-6, 280), who takes over for Crandal at right tackle. And junior starting guard Zach Gorham also figures to see a few snaps outside.

"There's kind of a three-man rotation there between Gorham, Bowser and Marco at the tackle spot," Himebauch said. "Zach can jump in at a couple of different tackle spots. Chris has really stepped up after Tyler's injury. He still has miles to go but he is really stepping up to the challenge."

"Actually, it's kind of like a third or fourth opinion," Wilson said. "A couple of doctors looked at it at the scrimmage (Saturday) and another one looked at it here."

The early diagnosis was that Kirkland might need season-ending shoulder surgery. However, depending on what happens on Monday, there's still a possibility that Kirkland could come back with rehabilitation exercises.

The best-case scenario, however, is that Kirkland will miss about a month.

"We're trying to get as many opinions on this as we can," Wilson said. "There's still a possibility he may not need to have surgery."