UNLV-BYU Notebook: Clayton just fine … according to Clayton

By Ryan Greene

Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008 | 10:55 p.m.

PROVO, Utah -- Always defiant and never wanting to show any signs of weakness through his comments to the media, Omar Clayton may have told a little white lie following Saturday's 42-35 loss at BYU.

The UNLV sophomore quarterback, who threw for 321 yards despite having to leave the game twice after hits to the head, said all is well.

"I'll tell you that I'm in tip-top shape," he said when asked about his condition. "I just know I got hit hard, lost my breathe."

The first play that knocked Clayton out came after he found Casey Flair for a 19-yard gain just into the red zone. Iona Pritchard was flagged 15 yards for a late hit on the helmet-to-helmet contact. Clayton was on the ground for a minute or so, then was given some tests on the bench. In the meantime, Mike Clausen scored on a one-yard touchdown run in Clayton's place.

It was reported on The Mtn. network during the game's broadcast that the hit was to his jaw, which was slightly fractured earlier this season on a similar hit.

Clayton returned to lead another touchdown drive before the half. His second exit would come in the middle of a third quarter TD drive, when he called a timeout after completing an 11-yard pass to Flair on third-and-10.

"There was the first time in the game where he was out, flat out," UNLV coach Mike Sanford said. "I can't remember what exactly was wrong with him, but he was out. The second time, he couldn't see."

Clausen capped that drive with another touchdown run after completing two passes for 30 yards to get the ball down to the BYU two-yard line.

Clayton came back and nearly led a drive in the game's closing moments which nearly tied things up as time expired.

"Omar Clayton is the heart and soul of our offense," Flair emphasized after the game.

He now has 1,849 passing yards and 17 touchdown tosses compared to just three interceptions this season.

No comment ...

Mike Sanford was never asked about the game's officiating during a 10-minute postgame press conference.

He also made it a point that he didn't want to be questioned on it, which is a sign that maybe he wasn't too satisfied.

"If anyone wants to ask, I'm not gonna answer any questions about the officiating," he said following his response to a question about the hard hits on Clayton.

One non-call which Sanford was visibly unhappy about came while UNLV was driving to take a 35-34 lead midway through the fourth quarter. On a 22-yard connection from Clayton to Phillip Payne down the sideline, the freshman receiver took a helmet-to-helmet shot from Andrew Rich. Payne was on the turf for a couple of minutes after holding onto the ball, but would return to action.

"I don't remember parts of it, it was hard," Payne said of the hit, also saying he momentarily lost his breathe due to the impact.

No longer perfect ...

The Rebels, who were the last FBS team in the nation to boast a perfect mark in the red zone this season, saw that run end at 25 when their last-gasp effort to tie things up at LaVell Edwards Stadium fell shy.

True, the game's final snap came from the BYU 25-yard line, but that was following a loss of 11 on second down thanks to the Cougars' lone quarterback sack of the afternoon.

On the final play, a jump ball thrown to Payne - something he's specialized in finishing on this season - was just a bit short of his grasp.

"It was basically like a jump ball and the defender boxed me out, and I just couldn't make a play when I should've," Payne said. "Point blank, I couldn't make a play when I should've."

He had three grabs for 46 yards, giving him 27 catches for 415 yards and seven touchdowns so far in a stellar freshman season.

King of the mountain ...

With eight catches for 92 yards on Saturday, senior receiver Casey Flair, a former walk-on, became UNLV's all-time leader in receptions.

He now has 192 for his career, which surpassed the previous mark of 187, set by Damon Williams in 1998.

He knows that his stay at the top probably won't last all that long, as junior Ryan Wolfe - who had 10 catches for 136 yards against BYU - has 180 for his career.

"It's something that I'm happy about today, I wish it would have come in a victory, especially in an atmsophere like this," he said. "It feels good to get it. Ryan Wolfe's right behind me, so I've got to try to keep him on my backside for the rest of the season."

It was never an option ...

Sanford was asked during his press conference whether he ever considered allowing BYU to score so his offense could have more time with the ball compared to the 1:36 it got following the Cougars' go-ahead touchdown and two-point conversion to make it 42-35.

"We would never do that," he responded. "That's a quitter's attitude. There's no quit in this team, there's no quit in this coaching staff and there's no quit in me. I would never, ever, ever ask my team to let them score, never in a million years."

The defense in fact did come up big on a couple of occasions. Twice in the second half BYU got the ball deep into UNLV territory only to come away with a field goal each time. Those stops kept the door open for UNLV to grab the 35-34 lead it held with just under seven minutes to play.

When asked if the offense still trusts the defense with slim margin late in games, Omar Clayton was quick and to the point.

"Absolutely," he said.

Next up ...

Things don't get any easier for UNLV, who welcomes No. 15 TCU to Sam Boyd Stadium for a 5 p.m. kickoff next Saturday night. The game will be televised by CBS College Sports.

The Horned Frogs' national ranking could receive a boost following their 54-7 throttling of Wyoming in Fort Worth Saturday afternoon. TCU's strength this season has come in stopping the run on defense and producing on the ground when it has the ball.

Things got flipped upside down Saturday. Quarterback Andy Dalton threw for 334 yards and four scores on just 16 completions, while no Horned Frogs ballcarrier had more than 25 yards. Wyoming's Devin Moore, on the other hand, had 114 yards and a score on 25 carries.

TCU is now 8-1 overall and 5-0 in league play, as its BCS hopes may not be dead yet.

This and that ...

... The announced attendance of 64,081 in Provo marked the largest crowd UNLV has played in front of (and probably will play in front of) this season ... The Rebels are still tied for first in the FBS ranks in turnovers lost this season, as Clayton's interception thrown on the game's final play bumped UNLV's total to six on the day. Florida also had one in a blowout win against Kentucky, keeping the two schools tied atop the heap ... UNLV went without a takeaway for the second straight game ... Mike Clausen's two touchdown runs were the first scores of his career ... While Casey Flair set a school record, BYU's Austin Collie set a conference mark. His seven catches for 113 yards gave him six straight games in triple digits in terms of yardage. That broke a six-year-old league record previously held by San Diego State's J.R. Tolver ... Jason Beauchamp, the MWC's leading tackler this season, had 12 stops for the Rebels. He was not flanked this week by sophomore Ronnie Paulo, who suffered a sprained ankle a week ago against Air Force. In Paulo's place was Rusty Worthen, who registered nine tackles, broke up a pass, had a QB hurry and combined on a tackle for loss ...