UNLV spring practice recap No. 13: Rebels replicate game-time pressure

The entire UNLV football team crowded around kicker Nicolai Bornand at the end of Wednesday’s practice at Rebel Park and tried to distract him, but the senior stayed focused and calmly booted a 35-yard field goal.

UNLV coach Tony Sanchez designed the situation to be uncomfortable for Bornand.

“We’re out there joking around, screaming and whistling but you know he’s a little nervous out there,” Sanchez said. “You just try to put them in uncomfortable situations so they learn to actually enjoy that.”

Sanchez expects his quarterbacks to encounter a bit of the same situation in Saturday’s spring game, scheduled for noon at Peter Johann Memorial Field.

“I’ll tell them, ‘Here’s the deal. A lot of people will be watching you. Try not to screw it up,’ ” he said. “You just kind of laugh at it a little bit. The ability to be good is to manage your emotions. The more uncomfortable our guys can be and learn to actually be OK with that and be in uncomfortable situations, those things are good training drills.”

The Rebels worked on a lot of different situations in Wednesday’s practice, the 13th of 14 sessions before their annual spring game.

“We’re at the point now where we’ve installed most of our stuff so now we’re really attacking the situational stuff, because when you get into fall camp, it’s almost all situational stuff,” Sanchez said. “It was a good day today.”

Here’s a quick recap of practice:

HIGHLIGHTS

* Junior wide receiver Kendal Keys made several outstanding catches, reeling in a 50-yard touchdown pass from Johnny Stanton during a scrimmage.

“Keys really stepped up and made some big plays,” said Sanchez, who also praised the play of running back Lexington Thomas, the quarterbacks and the defense.

* Defensive back Kenny Keys batted down a pass by Stanton the play after his younger brother Kendal’s 50-yard score.

* Defensive back Javin White intercepted a pass by Kurt Palandech.

* Brandon Presley made an over-the-shoulder catch on a 12-yard TD pass by Palandech.

* Tight end Andrew Price made several nice catches in traffic and on the sideline.

* Darren Woods Jr. made a 20-yard catch on the sideline of a ball thrown by Stanton.

NOTE

Offensive lineman Michael Chevalier missed practice with a foot injury. The junior college transfer was in a walking boot on his left foot.

QUOTE

“The defense was flying around. They had some great stops in short-yardage,” Sanchez said. “The defense has been consistently good. The biggest thing is up front, we look so much tighter in our pass-rush lanes and stunts and things like that. Those guys are doing a great job.”