Rebels make progress as power running team

When Tony Sanchez took the UNLV football coaching job in December, he made clear he would run a power offense that relied heavily on the run.

His hire as offensive coordinator, Barney Cotton, brought that same philosophy from Nebraska, where the Cornhuskers regularly had physical run games — top 20 nationally the past five seasons — and together they would work to mold the Rebels into that image.

The problem at UNLV was it had spread personnel, so this figured to be a transition season.

So much for that theory. The Rebels are running the type of offense Sanchez and Cotton want, even if it doesn't always work as well as they hope.

But maybe it's beginning to get there considering the Rebels are coming off a game in which they rushed for 517 yards and six touchdowns in Saturday's 80-8 victory over Idaho State.

"We did some great things last week," Sanchez said. "We've got to continue to progress, continue to teach, continue to be assignment sound and keep getting better. No excuse, we've got to get better, but we have a young offensive line. I think it showed in those (earlier) games with the physicality of it. Those guys are continuing to grow."

UNLV should have the opportunity to continue to improve and move the ball when the Rebels play at UNR at 4 p.m. Saturday. The Wolf Pack have had trouble stopping the run, allowing 193 yards per game on the ground.

Arizona hit the Wolf Pack for 301 yards and four touchdowns rushing, and Texas A&M gained 233 yards with one TD. UNR's most recent opponent, Buffalo, finished with 149 yards, though the Bulls failed to reach the end zone on the ground.

UNLV has made a concerted effort to establish a run game, sometimes more successful than others but still not close to a finished product.

The Rebels opened the season rushing for 164 yards at Northern Illinois, then followed that with 181 against UCLA. But UNLV was held to 92 yards at Michigan.

Then came the game against Idaho State, but how much to read into a performance against an outmanned Football Championship Subdivision opponent that allowed two UNLV fullbacks to combine for 137 yards rushing in the fourth quarter is tough to gauge.

The future, though, looks bright for the Houston trio of junior Keith Whitely (265 yards, 4.6-yard average) and freshmen Xzaviar Campbell (214, 8.9) and Lexington Thomas (131, 6.0).

Now the Rebels would like to get the passing game in order to create more of a balanced offense, but they didn't have much of a chance to work on that part of the offense against Idaho State. UNLV threw only 15 times, using quarterbacks Blake Decker and Kurt Palandech, and only twice after halftime because the game was such a rout.

Both quarterbacks, especially Decker, will be counted on to throw a lot more this season, beginning at UNR. Nothing helps a passing attack quite like a strong ground game.

"Any time you can run the ball as effectively and efficiently as we did last Saturday, it brings guys into the box, it opens up the passing lanes, it makes our jobs as quarterbacks a whole lot easier," Decker said. "It makes a tremendous difference in what we're doing offensively."

* NOTES — Starting cornerback Fred Wilson (left ankle) practiced Tuesday and is listed as day to day. He didn't play against Idaho State. Tim Hough, a redshirt freshman from Desert Pines High School, started in his place and intercepted two passes. Hough also returned a blocked field goal 54 yards. … Sanchez referred to UNR as the University of Reno, Nevada, in his weekly news conference Tuesday.

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65