Burning Question No. 5: The secondary? Starting jobs may never be solidified

By Ryan Greene

Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009 | 2:30 a.m.

Editor's note: UNLV coaches are looking to answer several questions while the Rebels football team practices in Ely. Reporter Ryan Greene counts down these burning questions through Wednesday.

ELY — Not all position battles draw to a close before the season begins.

That's the case for the boatload of players vying for positions in UNLV's starting secondary.

In reality, the decision of who will start the Sept. 5 opener at Sam Boyd Stadium against Sacramento State could come down to that afternoon.

Chances are, the decisions made at that time will be far from final.

"We're probably gonna go right up until game-time," Rebels coach Mike Sanford said. "That thing will probably even be a little fluid as the season starts and progresses."

It's quite a concept, actually — Keep 'em hungry for as long as possible.

Plus, it's a luxury the Rebels didn't even come close to possessing a year ago at this time.

"It's a good thing — it's what we want," defensive coordinator and safeties coach Dennis Therrell said. "Last year, we came out of this camp knowing that we had one glaring error, and that's that we had some twos that really weren't twos. If we got some injuries — which happened in the middle of the season — then we had some guys that had to go in that were threes and not able to compete.

"Now we feel we have twos, even a couple threes, we can put in the ball game and still compete."

Last year's camp was lopsided in a way, with the offense coming away with several more reasons to brag after almost every practice session.

That's changed, thanks to a heavy influx of fresh faces to this year's camp in the defensive backfield.

On any given day over the past couple of weeks, there could be any one of several combinations spotted in the secondary with the No. 1 defense. And it seems as though every day, there's someone new for Sanford to rave about following practice.

"One of the problems we had last year was we didn't have enough competition," Sanford said. "Guys got too comfortable and didn't improve as the season went on."

Of the eight defensive backs on the current roster who weren't with the team at the conclusion of last season, six have already seen reps in practice with either the No. 1 or No. 2 defensive unit.

Mix in returners such as — just to name a few — junior corner Quinton Pointer, sophomore corner Will Chandler, sophomore safety Chris Jones, junior safety Travis Dixon among others, and one could easily imagine the competition being a WWE-style battle royale of sorts.

That's far from the case.

"They're close," Therrell said. "It's been a tough camp, and a lot of times they've had to reach and grab a hold of each other to get through the day. That's a good thing. I'm sure anybody that doesn't get to start is gonna be disappointed, but I think he'll be happy for the other guy."

During nearly every rep on team passing drills over the past week in Ely, a solid defensive play has been met with waves of congratulations rather than cold looks.

It was the case on Friday when junior safety Alex De Giacomo picked off an Omar Clayton pass in the end zone. He was met with one of those en vogue mid-air hip bumps.

It was the case on Tuesday morning when 6-foot-3 freshman cornerback Courtney Bridget skied for a pick on the sideline, then tapped both feet down to stay inbounds. Teammates sang his praise for nearly two minutes after the fact.

The truth is, those gunning for the starting nods — and even positions with the second unit — don't have time to be envious of one another.

UNLV's pass defense ranked 60th out of 119 Division-I programs last season, and the Rebels didn't allow an opposing quarterback to throw for over 300 yards until the season finale at San Diego State.

But those numbers don't tell everything.

UNLV's seven interceptions tied for the fourth-lowest total in the nation, while the defense ranked 110th against the run. The fact that the secondary didn't offer much in terms of run support contributed to it.

The Rebels were also prone to allowing big plays.

That's what's made this camp so refreshing for the Rebels staff, as the defense has had just as many memorable moments as the offense. Balance appears to have been found.

What looks to be a more formidable pass rush will help UNLV out in the secondary should training camp success translate into the regular season.

But the fact that more playmakers are visibly present among the group back there is clearly visible.

— De Giacomo has proven so far to be a ballhawk, who appears to have a knack for sniffing out short routes and where the quarterback's attention is going on broken plays. It wouldn't come as a shock if he's a starter on Sept. 5.

— Juco transfer Mike Grant's strength is on display at all times at corner. He hasn't allowed receivers much room to move when applying press coverage, is tough to separate from and breaks passes up regularly. He appears to have the closest thing to a tight grasp on a starting spot out of all the corner candidates.

— Sophomore Kenny Brown and junior Warren Zeigler — both juco transfers — have added speed on the outside and both have active hands when a ball is approaching their man.

— Freshmen Charles Childers and Bridget have worked their way into added reps during team drills.

Still, the unit has been the focus, rather than the individual.

"Coming from my juco, things were more isolated as far as competition," said Zeigler, who stood out in spring ball after transferring mid-year from College of San Mateo. "We didn't win a lot of games like that, with vets not teaching the rookies.

"In the season, I think there's still gonna be a competition. We're still gonna be fighting for (practice) reps, all fighting to get on the field. Hopefully we all get to touch the field."

The fact that guys like Zeigler, Grant and De Giacomo came to campus with only two years of eligibility remaining also helped up the ante.

What helped attract those guys to UNLV in the first place was the unique situation — the fact that every position in the secondary was clearly open for the taking.

"There wasn't really a pitch, they just said they wanted me to play right away," Zeigler said. "They kept their promise. I'm coming in and playing right away. I'm not on the sideline. I'm not watching. I'm going against the No. 1 receivers on the team."

The staff has kept the guys guessing, too, as several spots with the No. 1 defense during team drills haven't been held for long.

Zeigler and Grant were with the top unit on Sunday and Monday, but on Monday, Pointer and sophomore Deante' Purvis took over.

At safety, Jones has held pretty strong to his position, while De Giacomo and Dixon have rotated in the other slot. Junior Calvin Randleman has also factored in there.

Chandler and Pointer have also seen time at the dime slot, while senior Terrence Lee is seeing plenty of time at the nickel and senior Ryan TIllman has rotated around, too.

It's not the easiest rotation to keep track of, and everyone is at attention.

For the returners, their ears perked up long ago.

"We already knew that, of course, last year, everyone was saying our secondary was questionable," said Jones, who added 20 pounds of muscle from the end of last season, helping complete his transition from quarterback. "We had a feeling they were gonna recruit a lot of guys, and they did. There's a lot of guys. That pretty much told all the returning guys 'Hey, you need to step it up or your spots can be taken in a heartbeat.'

Added Pointer: "I believe we feel that we have to come out and prove that we're better than what we showed last year. We have to show that we were starting and playing for a reason."

Proving that point won't come with a deadline, and that's what makes this unit's set of position battles rarer than most on the team.

And even from the returners, it's hard to find complaints.

"We're a unit first," Pointer said. "All the corners stick together, so if anybody needs help, we'll tell them what to do. At the same time, we're competing, so we're getting better at the same time."