Devante’s Diary: It’s great to be back!

Hey, Rebel Fans, welcome back to my diary. It’s been a while since I made an entry because I missed six weeks with an injury. I didn’t want to write while I wasn’t playing because I didn’t have much to talk about. I’ve really missed it but am happy to report that we’re back in action and I hope everyone enjoys the final month.

It was tough sitting out and having to watch because you really want to be out there battling with the guys and helping the team win. I tried my best to make it a learning experience. It kind of helped me, in a way, because I became more vocal and tried to help anytime I could as a leader on the sidelines. I also got to see how things work on defense — not just the secondary but also the D-line and linebackers — and that can only help me be a better player.

Being out also gave our young guys the opportunity to blossom and Devonte Boyd and Kendal Keys, who are both freshmen, showed up big time. They made a lot of progress in a hurry. I mentor them as much as I can and would tell them what I was seeing when they came to the sidelines. To watch them go out and play well was really great. I’m so happy for them and they know that.

We played Air Force last week and for me it felt great to be back on the field and playing. I’m sorry we didn’t get the victory but I want to say thank you to everyone who came out and supported us at the stadium. It really means a lot to see the people out there who have stuck with us through the season.

I will say that I should have played better. I had to shake the rust off in terms of locating the football while it’s in the air and I had a few drops. It was a productive game numbers-wise (six receptions for 114 yards and a touchdown) but I could have played better and will play better.

This weekend we are going to face BYU up in Utah. UNLV has not played them since 2010 so I have never been up there. Our quarterback, Blake Decker, went there for a year out of high school and he said it’s a nice place to play and they are a team that really plays hard. You can see on film that they play with great speed and it’s going to be really physical up there.

We’ll be playing at night and looking at the forecast, it’s going to be cold. But if we can survive playing at Air Force last year, when it was well below zero, I think we can survive any cold! I love playing in front of big, loud crowds so it’s going to be exciting.

Talk to you all next week.

Go Rebels!

—Devante

UNLV travels to play BYU on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT. The game can be seen on ESPNU.