Columnist Ron Kantowski: Bruised but upbeat Jarrod Jackson and the beating he took

Monday, Oct. 24, 2005 | 8:10 a.m.

About a half-hour after taking the beating of his life Saturday night, quarterback Jarrod Jackson emerged from the UNLV locker room at Sam Boyd Stadium trying hard not to favor his badly bruised ribs. Except for his gray athletic shorts, he was sans clothing -- not because he wanted to show off his physique to an envious media, but because getting dressed was much too painful.

Jackson wobbled over to the where the cameras and microphones were, as if he had just climbed off a horse that didn't care to be ridden. He was asked if he had ever taken a worse pounding than the one the Utah defense had just administered during a 42-32 victory over the Rebels.

"Not that I can remember," Jackson said with a grimace. "But it was fun. We gave them a game."

Fun? Did he say fun?

Jackson's idea of fun and mine are slightly different. Mine includes a sandy beach, a tall drink with an umbrella in it and assorted Hawaiian Tropic swimsuit models. Jackson's must include bamboo shoots, pulled groin muscles and Bea Arthur.

UNLV coach Mike Sanford, an optimist who has never seen a dark cloud from which he couldn't pull a silver lining (although last weekend's 42-7 defeat at Air Force certainly tested him), said this particular game's legacy was the way the 2-6 Rebels battled to the finish after falling behind 35-13.

Battling to the finish wasn't easy, in that the game took a Pacific Coast League-like 3 hours, 47 minutes to complete. But what I'll remember in addition to all of those TV timeouts was watching Jackson writhing in pain in a fetal position and getting up -- not once, not twice but three times -- to re-enter the game.

After aggravating tender ribs that were bruised two weeks ago against San Diego State, Jackson went down more times than Joe Frazier against George Foreman in Jamaica. He could still throw the ball, but he couldn't run with it because that would have involved being tackled. Exposing his ribs to further abuse was pretty much out of the question, although the Marquis de Sade had his fingers crossed.

Unfortunately, the bloodthirsty Utes continued to play tackle football and put their helmets on Jackson every chance they got. It was as if Jackson had a homing device on his sternum.

Late in the game, Jackson got skewered on a corner blitz and was down so long that Joe Cortez would have counted him out three times. When he finally staggered to the sideline, Jackson looked like a '68 Buick that had taken a direct hit during a demolition derby.

He actually sat out two plays that time before he was summoned for more cruel and unusual punishment.

"I thought Jarrod Jackson showed a lot of guts, determination, toughness," Sanford said of his backup quarterback, whom he had talked about benching in favor of Young McDonald -- true freshman Mike McDonald -- during the practice week.

But it was only an idle threat because Sanford had no intention of playing McDonald and blowing his redshirt season.

Jackson, who has mostly struggled since taking over for injured Shane Steichen after the fourth game of the season, compiled numbers that were almost as impressive as his intestinal fortitude. He completed 29-of-54 passes for 356 yards and three touchdowns. It was the most prolific outing for a UNLV quarterback since John Denton threw for 401 yards against San Jose State in 1997, although it should be noted that Jackson amassed much of the real estate after Utah called the dogs off.

Well, some of them, anyway, as Jackson took a licking and kept on ticking.

Afterward, I heard a cell phone ring near where UNLV's wounded warrior was holding court. I'll bet it was the ghost of John Cameron Swayze, calling to congratulate him.

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Ron Kantowski can be reached at 259-4088 or at ron@lasvegassun.com.