Steichen takes the reins of Rebels’ spread offense

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Sept. 2, 2005 | 9:58 a.m.

Shane Steichen was a true freshman expecting to redshirt in 2003 when John Robinson surprisingly summoned him to replace an injured Kurt Nantkes in the 10th game of the season.

A 6-foot-4, 200-pounder from Oak Ridge High School in El Dorado Hills, Calif., Steichen entered the 2004 season as UNLV's backup quarterback before taking over starting duties again when Nantkes quit the team.

But things will be a little different for Steichen when he takes the field on Monday morning at University Stadium in Albuquerque for the Rebels' season opener at New Mexico.

Simply put, Steichen is "The Guy" now.

Unlike his first two years at UNLV, Steichen will have had almost three weeks of fall camp working with the first-team offense and getting the extra reps and coaching attention that go with being a starting quarterback. And he says he welcomes the challenges and pressure that come along with that position.

"Once you know you're 'the guy' it becomes my team," Steichen said. "And I need to take it upon myself to play good. A lot of the game is all on the quarterback. If I don't play good, then we're not going to play good."

That's especially true in new head coach Mike Sanford's shotgun spread option attack, where quick decision-making by the quarterback is crucial.

"Any system you run, there's always going to be pressure on the quarterback to perform," Steichen said. "That's just what you take when you're playing quarterback. I've just got to go out there and stay calm and collected and play my game."

And stay consistent.

Steichen enters his junior year having thrown more interceptions (11) than touchdowns (7) in a career that includes seven starts. With a strong, accurate arm and good mobility, he has played very good at times but has looked overwhelmed at others.

No better example of that was UNLV's 24-20 loss to New Mexico last season at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Steichen came off the bench late in the first quarter with the Rebels already down, 7-0, and seemed to energize his team with a pair of touchdown passes to Earvin Johnson to give UNLV a 17-10 lead. But he struggled badly after intermission, throwing a key interception in the end zone that would have stretched the lead to 24-10, and then fumbling the ball on a sack a few minutes later to set up what proved to be the winning touchdown.

Sanford has stressed to Steichen that he needs to cut down on his miscues and be more consistent to succeed this year.

"He's improved a lot since fall camp started," Sanford said. "One thing we challenged him about -- and he's responded to -- is being really good at placing the ball where it's easy to catch and also concentrating for 10 straight plays. He's tended in the past, and we saw it a little bit in the spring, to play good for seven or eight plays and then not concentrate for two or three plays. He is improving on that but he needs to continue to improve."

"I know that I have not been really consistent since I've been here," Steichen said. "This is my first year of being 'the guy.' I've got to be more focused on my part. Bottom line, I've got to be consistent and play well."

Steichen says he's much more comfortable running Sanford's new offense now than he was back in spring practice, when he was competing against junior college transfer Jarrod Jackson for the starting job.

"From the spring to now is a whole different level," Steichen said. "I have a lot of confidence now in what we're doing. I've never felt so good about what we're doing (offensively) before."

Sanford, who helped groom No. 1 NFL draft pick Alex Smith in the offense the last two years as offensive coordinator at Utah, said he believes the Rebels are further along with the offense than the Utes were his first year there in 2003 when Utah went on to win the Mountain West Conference championship.

"Yeah, I feel like that right now," Sanford said. "Now, we haven't been in the speed of the game yet. We'll see what happens in the speed of the game. It's a great challenge because we're playing New Mexico and they're extremely fast on defense. At Utah that year our opener was against Utah State and we struggled for 2 1/2 quarters in that game before we pulled away. It's going to be a big challenge."

A challenge for which Steichen says he's ready.

"Our game plan is in and guys are excited about it," he said. "We're ready to roll."