Hinds’ struggles may be behind him

Saturday, Nov. 18, 2006 | 7:20 a.m.

What: UNLV vs. Wyoming

Where: Sam Boyd Stadium

When: 1:05 p.m. today

Tickets: $13 and up; 739-3267, online at unlvtickets.com and at UNLV ticket outlets at all Station and Fiesta casinos and the Galleria at Sunset mall

If there is any truth in the adage that there can be no progress without struggle, then Rocky Hinds should develop into one of the best quarterbacks ever to come out of UNLV.

In the three games since he became the undisputed starting quarterback at UNLV - that is to say, since backup Shane Steichen suffered a career-ending injury a month ago at BYU - Hinds and the Rebels' offense has had their share of struggles.

In losing each of the past three games - and running their streak to nine consecutive defeats - Hinds tossed five interceptions to only three touchdowns as the Rebels were outscored 91-40.

But, hard as it may be for some to believe, UNLV head coach Mike Sanford insists that Hinds is showing improvement despite his 1-8 record as a starter.

"I do believe that there are signs of improvement along the way," Sanford said of his sophomore quarterback. "The thing that he's got to completely eliminate is the catastrophic plays - throwing an interception for a touchdown, that's catastrophic.

"There are little things, little signs, where he is improving. He still needs to improve a ton more and the fact that we only scored seven points (last Saturday against San Diego State) is a classic example of that."

In that game, a 21-7 loss, UNLV managed to move the ball against the Aztecs but couldn't finish them off. The Rebels cracked the red zone five times in the game but came away with only one touchdown and five missed field goals.

"And it's not all Rocky's fault," Sanford said of the ineptitude the Rebels showed on offense against a team that went into the game with a 1-7 record and the second-worst scoring defense in the Mountain West Conference. (UNLV, for the record, is last in the nine-team conference in that category.)

"We're not getting stopped (offensively), we're stopping ourselves," Sanford added. "Just the fact that we're getting into the red zone and having to kick five field goals, that's (an indication) we're stopping ourselves.

"Any team that's good in the red zone they're good running the football, and we have not been good enough running the football - for a variety of reasons. And it's not one thing: We have to block better, we have to run better and we've got to make better decisions at quarterback that involve the running game."

While he conceded the results don't show it, Hinds said he is getting more comfortable running Sanford's complicated spread offense - and said it has nothing to do with Steichen no longer being in the picture.

"It's just more a matter of me playing more and getting a lot of reps in the games," he said. "Obviously, the more reps you get, the more comfortable you get out there."

Hinds, who did not play in a live game situation from the end of his junior season in high school in 2002 until this September, said shaking the rust off such a long layoff proved more difficult than he thought.

"You watch film and you do everything that you need to do to get prepared, but when you're not doing that in live situations - actually out there playing football in a while - then it's a little different," he said. "The main thing right now is not so much (learning) the offense; it's just me getting more comfortable with the game."