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Devonte Boyd joins ranks of UNLV’s best all-time receivers

Updated July 25, 2017 - 8:12 pm

If UNLV’s football program has done one positive thing consistently, it has produced quality wide receivers.

That was underscored Tuesday when Devonte Boyd was named to the preseason All-Mountain West team for the third year in a row. It was the ninth time in the past 11 years that a Rebels receiver has appeared on that team.

And Boyd is among the best of all time.

He heads into his senior season third on the school’s career list for reception yards with 2,630. That number is 865 yards short of Ryan Wolfe’s record and within striking distance of the Mountain West mark of 3,634 yards posted by Colorado State’s David Anderson from 2002 to 2005.

Boyd also is seventh all time at UNLV with 164 catches, though chasing down Wolfe’s 283 receptions from 2006 to 2009 is pretty much out of the question.

So is the idea that he’ll personally chart his rise up the career lists.

“I don’t pay attention to it, but people tell me different things,” Boyd said at conference media days at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. “I looked at the media guide to look at the big pictures.”

Boyd (6 feet 1 inch, 185 pounds) didn’t get much attention from other colleges coming out of Basic High School in 2013, but made an impact from the beginning. He was named conference freshman of the year in 2014 after catching 65 passes for 980 yards.

He was producing another top season last year even as fellow receivers dropped around him from injuries. Boyd caught 45 passes for 746 yards before suffering his own season-ending injury in the 10th week.

“Last year, the challenge was huge because he was literally the single Musketeer,” coach Tony Sanchez said. “By the time you get to the Fresno game (Oct. 1), you’ve got (Darren) Woods and (Brandon) Presley and (Kendal) Keys out for the year, so what do you see? You see a team that’s struggling to throw the ball, and you see defenses clouding and rolling coverage to his side. He still made big plays, but defenses kind of took him out of the equation.”

Sanchez said having those receivers back this season will make it difficult for opponents to design so much of their plan around shutting down Boyd.

When Boyd broke his left arm against Wyoming, though, that game showed more than any other his willingness to do whatever it takes to make plays. Boyd was in pain, but still caught a key pass in the 69-66 triple overtime victory over the team that would go on to win the Mountain Division.

“You watch it the next day and feel like, ‘How did we not know he was hurt?’” Sanchez said. “For him to do that and to tough it out, my goodness, we love that kid. He’s going to have a great year.”

Boyd was limited to no contact during spring practices, but kept himself sharp by participating where he could and diving deeper into the playbook.

“I did everything I normally do, just without my left arm,” Boyd said. “I still was running and getting my core right and making sure I was still active with the guys.”

Now he’s back with the guys, hoping for a healthy season and a strong end to one of the better careers in UNLV history.

“He’s a competitive kid,” Sanchez said. “You throw a challenge in front of him, and he’s going to answer it.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.

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