UNLV spring game notebook: Brogdon emerges to cap solid spring

Justin M. Bowen

Chris Brogdon runs with the ball Friday as UNLV plays its annual spring game at Sam Boyd Stadium.

By Ryan Greene (contact)

Saturday, April 18, 2009 | 12:30 a.m.

Mike Sanford said that one area he'd be keeping an eye on at Friday's annual UNLV spring game was the competition at running back.

Sure, incoming freshman Bradley Randle, who was on-hand to watch along with several other Rebels signees, figures to be key in the race to replace Frank Summers come July.

But one veteran turned in one of the night's more surprising performances, muddying up the race even further.

Senior Chris Brogdon, a 5-foot-7, 215-pound bruiser, started the game with the Rebels' No. 1 offense, and led all rushers with 24 yards on three carries.

"Chris has had a really good spring," coach Mike Sanford said. "I would say right now, Chris Brogdon and C.J. Cox are out in front, but it's very close with Channing Trotter and Imari Thompson right there, then we've also got Bradley Randle coming in, who will be right in the middle of that thing."

Sanford said once training camp begins, he expects a full-on five-man race for the No. 1 job.

Brogdon didn't register a single carry a year ago, while Cox is the most experienced returner, racking up 163 yards on 67 totes as a freshman.

Quite a highlight

Of senior Rodelin Anthony's four grabs on the night from his new No. 3 receiver slot, nothing drew more attention than a simple 8-yard snag along the right sideline on second-and-10 in the second quarter.

After catching the ball, the 6-foot-5 target turned and pushed toward the first-down marker.

Seeing two oncoming defenders, he tried to hurdle them, only to be snagged in mid-air and wrestled to the ground.

Oops.

"Well, yeah, I thought I was high enough, I just needed to go forward," he joked. "I just went up. I was kinda ticked off I didn't (make it), but I knew I wanted to protect my knees. I've been taking a lot of shots at my knees these last couple of years, and I'm just trying to stay healthy and get ready for the season."

Proof of improvement

UNLV's secondary was a glaring weakness in 2008.

On Friday night, a couple of newcomers defended admirably against what was one of the Rebels' biggest weapons a year ago on offense.

Sophomore receiver Phillip Payne, who led all UNLV wideouts as a freshman with seven touchdown grabs, was sent into the end zone twice on his patented fade route, which hardly ever failed last fall.

On Friday, mid-year juco transfers Kenny Brown and Warren Zeigler each broke one attempt up.

Ship-shape

While returning starters such as cornerback Quinton Pointer and linebacker Starr Fuimaono missed all of spring ball nursing old injuries, no one was added to the infirmary list.

And that's quite a relief for Sanford and his staff.

"As far as I know, there weren't any serious injuries, and that was a huge thing, to come out of spring without any serious injuries," he said. "I want to confirm that tomorrow. That's my first impression -- I'm very relieved and very excited that we came out of it healthy."

Both Pointer and Fuimaono are expected back at full strength for training camp.

Final numbers

Some statistics of note from Friday night's scrimmage ...

The ball was evenly distributed through the air. Senior Renan Saint Preaux caught two passes for 48 yards, while Payne had two grabs for 31 yards and senior Ryan Wolfe -- the school's all-time leader in receptions -- had three snags for 28 yards ... Senior safety Marquel Martin led all defenders with five tackles, while Malo Taumua, Ryan Tillman and Bennielee Shelby each recorded a quarterback sack ... Sophomore Beau Orth was solid in place of Fuimaono, with two tackles and a late tackle for a loss ... Les Obie was 8-of-16 for 62 yards for the Gray team.