Running game a positive out of the Rebels’ first spring football scrimmage

By Taylor Bern

Saturday, March 31, 2012 | 2 a.m.

There are no major breakthroughs at a spring football scrimmage. No roster spots firmly won or lost. No decisions made.

UNLV’s scrimmage on Friday afternoon, the hottest day of the year so far, was just another small step toward the season. A chance to get some live action for a group that desperately needs it before they take the week off for spring break.

“The scrimmage days for me are just a chance to see who’s ready to play at live speed and who isn’t,” UNLV coach Bobby Hauck said.

With three returning senior starters off a two-win team, everything needs to get better this offseason. And a lot of young players needed Friday just to assess their level of play in the closest thing to real action to be found in March.

In that regard, junior running back Tim Cornett liked the level of fight that the Rebels played with.

“Nobody likes pushovers,” Cornett said. “Everybody wants to win.”

The day started out great for Cornett as he caught a short pass from quarterback Caleb Herring on the first play and took it for a 50-yard touchdown.

The scrimmage, which went about 80 plays, was a mix of straight-up offense vs. defense, and then some situations like fourth-and-5 at the 25 or first-and-goal at your own 1-yard line. Cornett added another score later, backup running back Bradley Randle scored twice, including a 40-yarder straight through a big hole made by the offensive line, and even senior Eric Johnson showed some moves with a 25-yard rushing score. Johnson, a 5-foot-7 wide receiver, has tentatively moved to running back to fill the vacancy left by Dionza Bradford’s departure.

Cornett said that Johnson, who played running back in junior college in California, has the athleticism for the spot. His biggest difficulty will be learning to wait for blocks, something that’s not in a receiver’s repertoire.

The running game — the offensive line was at times dominant — may have been the star of the show, a slight surprise considering what it had recently lost. That credit goes to Cornett, who has the look and the talk of a team leader.

“I was already prepared to be the guy,” Cornett said. “Every time I come out here in practice, I’m trying to separate myself from competition, not just get ready for Minnesota or whoever else we have on the schedule.”

The competition at quarterback is still wide open, and Hauck cautioned against taking too much out of Friday. Since they never get hit, Hauck said, the live aspect of the scrimmage isn’t as important to that group as it is to the others.

But it still felt good, said smiling transfer quarterback James Boyd. Herring didn’t take any reps after the first couple of drives, which left most of the duties to Boyd, senior Sean Reilly and freshman Nick Sherry.

Boyd seemed to take most of the snaps and tossed three touchdown passes, including a 52-yarder to junior receiver Jonathon James, a Canyon Springs product, that traveled about 45 yards through the air.

“Turned my head and let it go,” Boyd said.

Other highlights included freshman defensive back Peni Vea ripping the ball away from tight end Jake Phillips and taking it the other way for a score, then later Phillips making a one-handed grab for a 29-yard completion.

Make no mistake, there were plenty of bad plays, too — penalties, blown assignments, indecision. That’s to be expected with any team this time of year, especially one dealing with the Rebels’ level of inexperience.

Still, there was reason to walk away from Rebel Park with some optimism. The scrimmage was physical and players on the sidelines were yelling and getting into every play. Cornett said the offense would have the advantage in locker-room trash talk.

Nothing was decided, yet Friday was a positive day.

“Everybody’s grinding, everybody’s in the weight room on time, lifting and pushing each other,” Boyd said. “It’s all a competition. Nobody has a starting spot.”

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.