UNLV spring recap No. 5: Sanchez says early practices help GPA

Monday morning came awfully early for most people because of daylight saving time and it was no different for the UNLV football team, which was slow in ramping up its energy during its 8:10 a.m. practice at Rebel Park.

“The biggest thing is teaching these guys how to be self starters,” UNLV coach Tony Sanchez said after the team’s fifth practice in eight days. “It’s a Monday, daylight savings, they had four tough practices, it took them a minute to get going. Once they did, the majority got going.

“There’s still a couple guys out here you’ve got to kick in the tail and just kind of remind them you can’t cruise through things. It’s not the majority at all, just a few outliers we’ve got to really kick into the middle if they’re going to make it here.”

Each of the Rebels’ 14 spring practices are scheduled for 8:10 a.m., with the April 9th spring game slated for noon. This is the first year UNLV has held its spring practices in the morning, which Sanchez said is designed to improve the team’s performance in the classroom. After holding morning practices in fall camp last year, the Rebels raised their team grade-point average from 2.2 to 2.7.

“Every decision we make here, it’s 100 percent based on the student athlete,” Sanchez said. “The big perspective there is we get them up in the morning, we get them a grab-and-go breakfast, we get them in and out of meetings and onto the football field, we have a great practice, we feed them another hot meal, then they’re off to class. We get their day started and get their football out of the way so they have the whole afternoon to get going.

“Obviously, we’ve got to keep winning on the field but our No. 1 goal should be to gradaute our guys. You’ve got to win to live your mission out, but to go from a 2.2 (GPA) to 2.7, how did that happen? Well, we created an environment that allowed them to have success.”

Here’s a quick recap of Monday’s practice.

HIGHLIGHTS

* Darren Woods Jr., a redshirt freshman wide receiver, continued his stellar spring, making a leaping 40-yard catch over defensive back Jay’Onn Myles on a pass from Johnny Stanton during a team drill.

* Dalton Sneed was impressive in completing consecutive passes downfield to tight end Tim Holt and receiver Christian Clapp.

* On defense, sophomore defensive back Darius Mouton continued his strong spring with a shoestring interception of a Kurt Palandech pass and senior linebacker Trent Langham picked off a pass by Sneed.

* Dalton Baker, a sophomore defensive back from Bishop Gorman, intercepted a tipped pass thrown by Stanton.

NOTE

* Defensive back Mike Adams, a junior college midyear transfer, missed his fourth straight practice with a concussion suffered in UNLV’s first spring practice.

QUOTES

* Sanchez on team after fifth of 15 spring practices: “We’ve got to do a great job of finishing strong. We’re a third of the way done already, which is crazy. We’ve got spring break coming up, so we’ve got to have a great two more practices (Wednesday and Friday). If we do that and keep progressing, I’ll be pleased where we’re at.”

* Offensive coordinator Barney Cotton to Palandech during a team drill: “C’mon Kurt! What the (expletive) are you waiting for?”