Friday’s UNLV practice: Third down becomes first priority

The UNLV football team held its eighth of 29 fall camp practices at Rebel Park on Friday morning, with No. 9 scheduled for Friday night at Sam Boyd Stadium as the Rebels wrap up their second of four scheduled two-a-days. The team will hold a scrimmage that’s open to the public at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Rebel Park.

COACH TONY SANCHEZ’S TAKE: “We worked on third down. The offense had the upper hand in the first series but we came back later and the defense kind of had the upper hand. There was a little give and take, which is good.

“I thought both quarterbacks (Johnny Stanton and Kurt Palandech) played well today. They made some good decisions and threw some good balls. It’s good to see them come along. We’re progressing and moving in the right direction.”

CAMP STANDOUTS: Sanchez singled out several new standouts in camp, including freshman running back Charles Williams, freshman left tackle Jaron Caldwell, redshirt freshman wide receiver Darren Woods Jr. and sophomore wideout Brandon Presley.

“(Williams) is way further ahead and more physical than we thought he would be. That’s a big deal in the backfield,” Sanchez said. “(Caldwell) has been a huge standout. He’s the one guy that’s really further along than we thought he would be at this point.”

Defensive standouts have included senior defensive end Jeremiah Valoaga, sophomore defensive tackle Salanoa-Alo Wily, senior linebacker LaKeith Walls, junior linebacker Brian Keyes and sophomore cornerback Darius Mouton.

“(Valoaga) has a chance to be a really special player. (Wily) now instead of running around at 260 is running around at 290 and he’s kept that same quick twitch. He looks really good,” he said. “(Mouton) came in as the No. 3 (corner) and he’s right there as a (No.) 2 or a (No.) 1 now. He’s probably had the best camp at that position, so that’s exciting. We’re fired up about that.”

NOTES: Scouts from the Miami Dolphins and San Diego Chargers were at Friday morning’s practice.

* UNLV has six local freshmen walk-ons in defensive back Christian Minor (Canyon Springs High School), linebackers George Carmona (Cheyenne) and Daniel Godfrey (Sierra Vista), offensive lineman Angel Torres (Desert Pines), wide receiver Casey Acosta (Chaparral) and tight end Austin Cooper (Desert Oasis).

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him on Twitter: @tdewey33