UNLV-Wyoming notebook: Starting QB question sure to be raised

By Ryan Greene

Friday, Nov. 14, 2008 | 1:55 a.m.

It's time for the million dollar question ...

With bowl eligibility now on the line next Saturday at San Diego State -- thanks to UNLV's 22-14 victory over Wyoming Thursday night -- who does Rebels coach Mike Sanford go with at quarterback?

Is it redshirt freshman Mike Clausen, who's steered the ship efficiently for two weeks now and has yet to commit a turnover?

Is it sophomore Omar Clayton, who could physically be ready to go after sitting those two games out with a torn MCL?

Clausen, for one, knows his role.

"Badly," he said when asked how much he wants to start the regular season finale. "I felt comfortable. Omar, he's a good quarterback, I know if he comes back he'll do the same thing. I just want to make sure he's 100 percent.

"We're friends. Never nothing hard against him. If he's back, it's his job, and I'm going to support him 100 percent. And if it's mine, I'm gonna go out there and play how I've been playing."

An answer probably won't be available until the middle of next week, but one thing is for sure: Either way, the Rebels have every reason to be comfortable with the quarterback who lines up behind center.

Clayton, in case you forgot, has completed 152 of his 258 pass attempts this season for 18 touchdown passes compared to just four interceptions. And in his first two career starts -- combined with a smattering of other appearances earlier in the year -- Clausen has proven to be just as steady. Following another sound performance Thursday he's 44-of-85 for 451 yards, three touchdowns and no picks.

One sidenote there, though, is that it may not matter who starts against the Aztecs, as running the ball over and over and over might be in the Rebels' best interests. SDSU ranks 118th out of 119 FBS teams in run defense, allowing 273.9 yards per game on average. In last year's meeting, Frank Summers rushed for 187 yards on 26 carries against the Aztecs.

The other thing is that the decision could turn out to be a no-brainer if doctors say Clayton can't go.

"We're just gonna do what's the best thing for their health," Sanford said when asked about the statuses of Clayton and freshman receiver Phillip Payne, who sat out Thursday after suffering his second concussion in three weeks against New Mexico. "I'm all about taking care of people. We're gonna do what's best for their health. I'm gonna listen to the doctors, and the doctors are gonna tell us what to do."

Lots of love for Wolfe

Sanford wasn't asked about him specifically during a 10-minute postgame press conference, but he went out of his way to shower some love on junior receiver Ryan Wolfe.

And it was well-deserved.

Wolfe was silently huge against Wyoming. He only registered seven catches for 53 yards, but came up with multiple third-down grabs over the middle in traffic, which Sanford pointed out were far from ordinary.

"I've coached a lot of receivers in my career, and I've coached some NFL receivers, but I'll tell you what, some of the catches and plays that Ryan Wolfe made tonight and has made during the course of this year are better than any player I've ever been around," Sanford gushed. "Just the stuff that he did tonight, in traffic, small, short, 5-yard gains that were for first downs. Just tremendous. What you're seeing there, you ought to enjoy, because he's special."

Wolfe was also inserted into the game defensively at the end of the first half as a centerfielder of sorts, helping swat away a couple of Hail Mary attempts by Wyoming's Chris Stutzriem.

Also interesting is the fact that Wolfe gained even more ground on senior wideout Casey Flair on the all-time school receptions list. Flair, who became the top dog on that list in a 42-35 loss to BYU last month, now is only ahead of Wolfe by one grab, 199-198.

But one list where Flair is not within Wolfe's range is on the career receiving yards list. With his 53 hashmarks collected Thursday night, he moved past Damon Williams into second place all-time in that category with 2,591. He's only 13 yards behind Earvin Johnson for the school's all-time top mark.

A sweet sendoff

Sixteen UNLV senior players saw their final game action at Sam Boyd Stadium Thursday night.

Three of those were fifth-year players who began their careers under former coach John Robinson: Flair, offensive lineman Mario Jeberaeel and running back David Peeples.

One last note they can hang their hat on is finishing the home schedule with the program's first winning record at Sam Boyd Stadium (4-3) since Robinson's 2000 team went a perfect 6-0 on the home turf.

"We have a tremendous senior class that I am very proud of as far as their attitude, the standard and the foundation that they've set for this program," Sanford said. "And tonight there were two things for us for motivation for that game. No. 1 was to continue on step two of becoming bowl eligible. And No. 2, and very equally important, was to win that game for the seniors, send them out with a victory at home."

Watson flies solo

Junior kicker Kyle Watson connected on three of his four field goal tries in the first half, making him 7-of-8 on the season.

However, his one miss brought the most intrigue, as it came from 45 yards away. All season long, Watson had been the team's short kick specialist, with sophomore Ben Jaekle handling kickoff duties and field goals from roughly 40 yards or longer. Though Watson, who was hitting 50-yarders during warmups, was given the assignment this time around.

Jaekle went 1-for-3 last week in the victory over New Mexico, and is just 5-of-10 with his distance tries on the season.

Next up

The Rebels' regular season concludes with a 5 p.m. kickoff against the Aztecs next weekend at Qualcomm Stadium. San Diego State holds the league's worst overall and conference records, having gone 1-9 so far with an 0-6 mark against MWC foes.

They'll play host to potentially BCS-bound Utah this weekend before welcoming UNLV.

This and that ...

... With another perfect red zone performance (4-for-4), the Rebels are now 34-of-36 inside their opponents' 20-yard line ... The Rebels went without committing a turnover for the sixth time this season. They entered the weekend with 10 giveaways on the season, which was tied for the sixth-lowest total in the nation ... Jason Beauchamp's string of games with double-digit tackles was snapped at six, as he finished with seven stops Thursday night. He still leads the team this season with 124 and recorded his third pass break-up of the year ... It was another less-than-stellar crowd at Sam Boyd Stadium, with the attendance announced at 18,154. It was an improvement from last week's announced number of 13,154.