Notebook: UNR star Colin Kaepernick has everyone’s attention

By Ryan Greene

Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010 | 2:15 a.m.

Time to celebrate the first win of his UNLV career was short, and Bobby Hauck's welcome back to the grindstone early this week is film of a 6-foot-6, 220-pound nightmare who appears to be all but unstoppable right now.

Stopping — or at least slowing down — Nevada-Reno dual-threat quarterback Colin Kaepernick is without question the Rebels' top priority in preparation for this Saturday's rivalry showdown at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"I think he has the potential to be the best college quarterback in the country," Hauck said at his Monday press conference. "In terms of production, he runs the ball as well as most running backs in the country, and they have a downfield throwing game that makes for a unique combination — one that you don't see very often."

A four-year starter for the Wolf Pack, who at 4-0 will come to town ranked 25th in the country, Kaepernick is well on pace to make his last year on campus his finest.

So far, the lanky weapon has thrown for 924 yards, seven touchdowns and just one interception, while adding another 451 yards and eight scores with his legs. In leading the Wolf Pack to convincing victories over Cal and BYU, he's proven to the nation that his team is in fact for real, and in the process has even gained some steam as a Heisman Trophy darkhorse candidate.

All that matters to UNLV fans, though, are the nearly flawless performances he's strung together against the Rebels in the last two meetings with the Fremont Cannon on the line.

In 2008, Kaepernick ran for an astonishing 240 yards and three TDs on just 18 carries, while piling up another 176 yards and two scores through the air in a 49-27 UNR victory. Last October, in what was maybe UNLV's most embarrassing defeat in recent memory, he led the way in a 63-28 rout with 381 total yards and an incredible 83.3 pass completion percentage.

When all is said and done this season, his career numbers could be simply mind-blowing, as he's got a legitimate shot to finish with more than 10,000 passing yards and 4,000 rushing yards. He's already accounted for 115 career touchdowns.

"The thing that maybe I think is the most remarkable piece to the puzzle with him is how durable he is," Hauck continued. "He doesn't look like an incredibly durable guy physically, but he's never hurt. He's a physical runner, he gets hit and he gets back up and runs it some more. That's been phenomenal. Maybe more than anything else, I think that's the thing you admire most about him."

Hauck, obviously, won't be in the mood to gush over or admire Kaepernick come Saturday, and he's taking the task at hand quite seriously.

The planning of how to slow Kaepernick and the pistol offense will all be done behind closed doors this week.

Literally.

Hauck will close the gates at Rebel Park to both the public and the media leading up to the showdown with UNR.

What those kept out of practices won't see is what Hauck said is going to be not only a heightened level of fire from the players, but also from the coaching staff.

"If our guys aren't juiced up for this one, then we've got problems," he said. "We can tell our guys will be fired up to play. What we can't do is go out and lose our minds, but they're going to come out with a certain intensity and we need to be in that frame of mind."

Rivalry gets high praise

In his days as an assistant coach at several stops and then a head coach at Montana, Hauck saw some of the West Coast's fiercer rivalries first hand.

Despite having not been on the sidelines yet for a UNLV-UNR clash, he can already sense the importance it holds within the state boundaries.

"This one would compare to, from what I know about it, I would compare it to (Montana vs. Montana State)," he said of the game tapped as 'The Brawl of the Wild.' "All the other ones I've been involved with pale when compared to that one. Just ... they hate each other. They don't like each other at all."

Top priorities

Hauck and his staff spent Sunday afternoon dissecting the tape from UNLV's 45-10 thrashing of New Mexico the night before.

The final product looked good on paper, but Hauck listed two key improvements he wanted to see made moving forward.

One is simply continued play-making ability. After the Rebels totaled only 38 points in their first three games, they found the end zone six times on Saturday alone. Even though it was against one of the nation's poorest opponents, four of those scores came on plays of roughly 40 yards or more. Against a team that can strike the scoreboard at any time this weekend, UNLV could find itself in a situation where the game turns into an arm's race.

Also, Hauck said that third-down efficiency will need to be better.

Even though the Rebels scored a ton on Saturday, they could have easily had more after the Lobos' levees broke late in the first half. UNLV finished the night just 1-for-11 on third down conversions, and is 18-of-57 (32 percent) in those situations so far this year.

Personnel updates

Quarterback-turned-safety Mike Clausen showed vast improvements from his first game on defense to his second, Hauck said after examining Saturday's film.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior was caught off-guard on the Lobos' lone touchdown, which came on a post route in the first quarter down the middle of the field, but atoned for it with an opportunistic interception and a handful of tackles.

"He did some nice things, he had a couple of physical plays," Hauck said. "He was in the right spot at the right time, his eyes were seeing what the offense was doing much better than the week before. It looks like a good move for us."

It appears that Clausen will now replace Travis Dixon for good in the starting lineup. Dixon underwent an MRI on Monday for an unspecified leg injury, with Hauck adding that "it doesn't look good."

Another position where some shake-up could be coming is at tailback.

Senior Channing Trotter and redshirt freshman Bradley Randle are still atop the heap, but expect to see more of junior defensive back Deante' Purvis now on offense.

He made his offensive debut on Saturday late in the game, running for 12 yards on four carries. His speed could make him an asset there in providing depth, as both junior C.J. Cox and freshman Tim Cornett are currently banged up.

"We've got some guys who are going to have to be in situations as two-way players for us," Hauck said. "That's just the way it is — I'd anticipate Deante' to be a two-way player for us."