Reinforcement exercises help Rebels hang on to football

By Andy Samuelson (contact)

Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008 | 11:33 p.m.

UNLV football coach Mike Sanford says when a player on his team fumbles — even in practice — “it’s like the sky is falling.”

Rebel sophomore center John Gianninoto disputes that a dropped ball is Chicken Little-devastating, but dreadful nonetheless.

“We usually have to do wall sits. When you’re a 300-pound lineman it’s not fun to be in that position for any period of time,” said a straight-faced Gianninoto, as he described the disciplinary squatting exercise.

Perhaps it’s this proposition of pain that has the Rebels atop the NCAA charts in give-aways at zero. Only UNLV, Florida and Tulsa have yet to commit a turnover this season.

“It’s a miserable deal for them if the ball comes out,” said Sanford, whose 2-1 team has dropped the pigskin three times in three games — but recovered all three fumbles.

“We make a big deal out of it and we punish players after practice.”

The Rebels’ self-control has carried over from not just coughing up the rock, but reducing the amount of penalties committed as well.

UNLV is tied at 77th in the NCAA rankings for flags earned, but 12 of those 21 infractions came in the Rebels’ 42-21 loss at Utah. In its two victories, including last weekend’s big upset of No. 15 Arizona State, UNLV has soiled the field with just nine yellow hankies — equaling 62 total yards.

“We pride ourselves on getting things done correctly,” said quarterback Omar Clayton. “Against Utah we had a lot of penalties. We kind of lost our composure, poise.

“But last week we picked things up in practice and learned from our mistakes. We kept our composure, kept communicating and things turned out really well against Arizona State.”

So far this season the sophomore quarterback has experienced tremendous success, at least compared to his freshman campaign. After all, he’s thrown nearly as many passes this year (90) without an interception as he did all of last season, when five of his 95 attempts were picked off.

“As far as turnovers, I’m just letting the offense come a little easier and I’ve adjusted to being the leader,” said Clayton, who accounted for five turnovers by himself in his first start for the Rebels last season, a blowout loss to Colorado State.

“That comes with repetitions and practice,” Clayton continued. “There’s not a lot of times on the field where I feel rushed or pressured.”

Sanford attributes a great deal of the Rebels’ early success to his signal caller.

“He has a strong desire to win,” he said. “Obviously one of the ways to do that is to protect the football.”

Clayton says the confidence he’s shown in controlling his own mistakes has become contagious.

“It’s not just good for the offense, it’s good for the whole team,” he said. “It cuts out the big momentum shifts for the other team. Not committing turnovers or making crucial penalties really helps the defense.

“As we are able to move the ball and score it gives the defense faith in the offense. So if they can make a stop or just one big play then the offense will be able to succeed and get what we need to get done.”

And of course, such a high-level of confidence can also help to clear up those extra post-practice problems.

“Yeah we really want to avoid those,” Gianninoto said, this time smiling about the negative reinforcement for fumbling. “We pride ourselves on doing things the right way and we’re all mature enough to know that you can’t be a successful team with turnovers and stupid penalties.

“Coach Sanford always says: ‘Practice makes perfect, but a perfect practice enables perfection,’ when it really counts.”

Andy Samuelson is a sports writer/editor for the Las Vegas Sun. He can be reached at andy.samuelson@lasvegassun.com or 702-948-7837.