Wheaton turns it around for Rebels

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005 | 9:17 a.m.

ALBUQUERQUE --- Simply put, Donell Wheaton had his coming out party Monday at University Stadium.

A 6-foot junior wide receiver from Narbonne High School in Harbor City, Calif., Wheaton is one of the Rebels' fastest offensive players, but he had caught a grand total of four passes in his college career before this season.

But on Monday Wheaton had a game-high nine receptions for 137 yards and a touchdown in the Rebels' 24-22 loss to the Lobos.

It was his 7-yard touchdown catch from Shane Steichen with 1:31 left in the game that gave the Rebels a chance to tie.

He started the 95-yard drive with a 39-yard catch on a simple go route to get UNLV out from deep in its own territory.

Wheaton also had a nice diving 29-yard grab in front of the Lobos' bench in the second quarter that seemed to jump-start the UNLV offense. The play originally was ruled incomplete but was reversed when Rebels coach Mike Sanford won a coaches' challenge of the call.

"I thought I was in," Wheaton said of the play. "I looked at the ref and he said I was out. It was on their sideline. I'm just glad coach Sanford decided to call it out. We needed something to get us going and that what kind of sparked us."

Wheaton was one of the top players for the Rebels during both spring practice and fall camp, so his strong showing in the opener didn't come as a total surprise.

"He's on his way to being a good player," Sanford said. "He did a great job today. He made some plays. ... He's going to be featured in this offense."

Wheaton gave a lot of the credit for his performance to Rebels quarterback Shane Steichen.

"Shane really stepped up," Wheaton said. "He did a real good job today. I'm proud of him. He wasn't nervous. He knew what he was doing. That's the difference between the quarterback he was last year." com