Sanchez likes play of Rogers, defensive front in UNLV scrimmage

Sunday’s UNLV football practice report from Sam Boyd Stadium:

Tony’s take

Coach Tony Sanchez on the fifth day of training camp:

“I thought (redshirt freshman quarterback) Armani (Rogers) looked really good tonight. Threw a lot of good balls. Unfortunately, we had a lot of drops tonight. We haven’t dropped that many balls in a long time, so those guys have got to do a better job. They’re a much better group, more mature than that, but when you’ve got veteran guys dropping balls, you can’t have that.

“I thought the front seven did kind of what we thought they’d do. We gave up one big run early, but they’re playing solid in the front seven.

“We gassed them a little bit tonight, the first time in full pads in a scrimmage situation. We didn’t give them much of a break. If you notice in the special teams drill in between, it was more conditioning than it was special teams. So it was one of those deals we really wanted to test their will.

“We fulfilled our objective, but we’ve got to watch film and be real critical. I told them, ‘These first 10 days, we’re going to kick you in the ass. We’re going to be tough on you guys because we’re not going to waste this talent.’ This team’s too talented to go out and have another two-win, three-win, four-win season. We need to go out and win some games this year, so we’re going coach them up hard.”

Notes

— Senior defensive tackle Mike Hughes Jr. and sophomore defensive end Nick Dehdashtian were held out as a precaution because both are dealing with hamstring injuries. Senior wide receiver Devonte Boyd didn’t practice during the latter part of the scrimmage because Sanchez said he needed the rest.

— Redshirt freshman Donovan Outlaw worked ahead of junior Nathan Jacobson at offensive right tackle.

“Earlier in the week, when we threw Outlaw in, he looked real good,” Sanchez said. “So we’ve got a competition going. We’ve got guys out there that two years ago started every game that don’t start anymore. We’ve got guys that started every game last year that don’t start anymore. We keep recruiting talented guys, so it’s one of those deals where you better keep going and performing because these young guys are coming.”

— Junior Ty’Jason Roberts played first-team cornerback in place of senior Robert Jackson. But Jackson is still considered No. 1 at that spot.

“There are certain guys, we know what they can do,” Sanchez said. “We’ve got to develop that third and that fourth guy in certain positions, that fifth guy.”

— Senior linebacker Brian Keyes intercepted Rogers at the goal line on a drill intended to mimic the final play of a game. But Keyes kept running with the ball rather than go to the ground, and Sanchez said this was a good opportunity to teach a lesson.

“If he falls down, the game’s over and we win,” Sanchez said. “If you fumble the ball, they scoop and score and we lose. So it’s one of those deals it’s good if you get it now because now we go back on film and it’s a teaching moment.”

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