In hindsight, play calling finally pivotal for Rebels

Hindsight: The recognition of realities, possibilities, or requirements of a situation, event, decision, etc., after its occurrence.

Hindsight: How many react to play calling in football.

Sure. It's easy to second-guess. To believe a team should have run when it threw, should have attempted to control the clock more than play fast, should have been conservative in its approach and not something its skill level is incapable of producing.

The hindsight theory takes off following a loss.

UNLV played well enough for stretches Thursday to beat Minnesota, to open Bobby Hauck's third season as coach with his fifth win for the Rebels, to set a positive tone when beginning a season of four straight home games.

It didn't, falling 30-27 in three overtimes.

It was 13-all after regulation, meaning the Rebels played one of their finest games defensively under Hauck.

They weren't all that good on the other side.

Brent Myers called plays for UNLV after being promoted to offensive coordinator in the offseason, called them for a side led by a redshirt freshman quarterback - Nick Sherry - making his first collegiate start and a line that struggled protecting him.

"I think the key with such a young (quarterback) is to try and get him into a rhythm early," Myers said. "I do believe you have to establish the run and play-action pass to help him. We've spent a lot of time on improving those things since a year ago.

"I would say the (pass protection) wasn't as bad as it looked. We need to keep people off (Sherry), but he also needs to make quicker decisions."

I thought the Rebels should have run the ball more early against Minnesota, that when Sherry had 18 pass attempts and running back Tim Cornett just six rushes at halftime of a game the Rebels trailed 7-3, those numbers should have been reversed.

I thought that by receiving the second-half kickoff and going three-and-out with three incompletions was a short-sided plan, that it established zero momentum and took no time off the clock and wasted a chance to set a tone for the final two quarters.

This also is true: The Rebels last season couldn't complete a pass from your stove to the sink. They averaged 109.6 yards passing a game and threw for 8 against UNR.

Eight.

Total.

As in two fewer than 10.

The only teams nationally with worse passing games in 2011 were Army and Navy, who consider the forward pass about enticing as fighting a war today with sabers and harpoons.

But it's like this for UNLV: Sometimes, you have to force the issue even when lacking the personnel.

Cornett is UNLV's most productive player and opened the season with an effort of 127 yards on 25 carries. He is good and, with enough blocking, could be great.

But as weeks passed last season and opponents needed just a minute of film study to understand UNLV had no chance of throwing the ball, they stacked lines and refused running lanes and laughed their way to routs as the Rebels averaged fewer than 4 yards a carry.

You can't win that way. You can't survive.

Sherry is young, and his mistakes on Thursday are correctable, but this isn't a case where the Rebels merely can accept that their quarterback has no experience and not throw it.

He averaged 7.2 yards per completion against the Gophers, meaning the work-in-progress of an offense continues.

"Teams just ganged up on us last year," Hauck said. "Sometimes, you have to throw it just to back them off. When it comes to (play calling), with me being in charge of special teams, our coordinators are way ahead of me on the opponent's film each week. I always feel they have a better handle on it.

"I might say during a game that I want to see something on first down the next (offensive) series or two or a trick play we have designed, but for the most part, I'm not calling a lot of plays on Saturdays."

Boise State. Arizona State. Utah. Washington. Louisville. Myers has been a part of staffs that know and produce good offenses. UNLV finally has a quarterback promising enough to believe he won't be playing safety by spring ball. The running back has a chance to be special.

For the first time since Hauck arrived, play calling could mean the difference between winning and losing most weeks.

In hindsight, we haven't seen enough to determine how much.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on "Gridlock," ESPN 1100 and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.