Coach Tony Sanchez prioritizes quarterback decision as UNLV camp opens

Fresh off UNLV’s first fall football practice Friday at Rebel Park, coach Tony Sanchez said his top priority early in training camp is naming a starting quarterback.

While prized recruit Armani Rogers practiced for the first time with the Rebels’ signal callers, the quarterback competition is essentially a two-man battle between juniors Johnny Stanton and Kurt Palandech.

“The biggest thing right now is I want to be able to make a quarterback decision sooner rather than later. It’s not really up to me, though. It’s up to those guys under center,” Sanchez said. “I would love in the next three or four days to sit down as a staff and say, ‘Where are we at? We had the spring and we have this. Are we going to see some separation?

“That’s a really important thing for us to pick that signal caller, so we can get him the reps that he needs. If Kurt can deliver the ball better, with the way he runs the football, he’s got a shot. If Johnny can go ahead and get the mental part of it down, and make the easy throws, then he’s got a great opportunity. And I think that will come clear here pretty soon.”

UNLV, which practiced in helmets and shorts, had 102 players “running around in PJs,” as Sanchez put it, 27 days before its Sept. 1 season opener against Jackson State.

There has been a considerable amount of roster turnover since the end of spring practice, when returning leading rusher Keith Whitely was suspended for the first three games of this season for violating team and university rules and Chris Lopez was listed as the starting left guard on the depth chart.

Both players have since left the program, along with several others, while the Rebels have added several promising players in highly-recruited freshman defensive end Jamal Holloway, freshman linebacker Cameron Carr, junior college transfer running back Evan Owens and junior offensive lineman Andrew Erbes, a graduate transfer from Idaho.

“You see those shirts, ‘Commit To Change.’ Change isn’t easy and not everybody signed on for what it is we’re asking these guys to do,” Sanchez said. “All we’re asking them to do is be a competitive Division I football team and to compete and play at a high level. It’s not for everybody, but nobody left with hurt feelings.

“I think they realized this is a year-round process, there’s an expectation 24-7 and we’re competing at a high level and we’re recruiting at a high level. So those really competitive guys are going to dig in and stick it out. And, at times, there’s going to be guys that say, ‘I don’t know where I fit in this place anymore. ”

Unlike in years past, UNLV’s practices are closed to the public — as is the case with most Football Bowl Subdivision schools — with the exception of two scrimmages at Rebel Park scheduled for Aug. 13 and Aug. 19.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.