April 22, 2000
LAS VEGAS - New UNLV quarterback Jason Thomas (6-4, 240) first used a ground attack and then took to the air to wow the crowd of more than 1,200 fans at Kick Off 2000 held at Rebel Park Saturday.
Thomas, a sophomore who sat out last season after transferring from USC, led UNLV in both rushing (81 yards on six carries) and passing (89 yards, one touchdown and one interception) in the school's finale of the second spring practice under head coach John Robinson.
Thomas' day included rushing gains of 32, 20 and 19 yards and a 65-yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman receiver Michael Johnson that traveled at least 50 yards in the air. Johnson led all Rebel receivers with 74 yards on two catches. Charles James and Nate Turner also had two receptions apiece.
UNLV's only other offensive score came from another newcomer - big running back Kevin Brown (6-1, 230). The senior, who sat out 1999 after transferring from the University of Washington, rolled up 78 yards on only five carries (15.6 per attempt), which included a jaw-dropping 54-yard touchdown run down the right sideline. Senior tailback Jeremi Rudolph added 10 yards on four carries and Turner had 16 yards on an end-around.
Four other quarterbacks attempted at least one pass for the Rebels, including senior Jason Vaughan who started the scrimmage and completed three of five attempts for 21 yards.
Defensively, UNLV was led by senior safety Amar Brisco, who had two of the Rebels' three interceptions on the day, including one he returned for a 41-yard touchdown. Junior middle linebacker James Sunia led all tacklers with five while linebacker Ryan Claridge, strong safety Sam Brandon and defensive end Saeed Abdul Malik all added four apiece.
UNLV is off until the team reports back to campus in mid-August. The Rebels' season opener is September 9 on the road vs. Big 12 member Iowa State. UNLV opens its home slate one week later by hosting North Texas at 7 p.m. PDT. Season tickets are now on sale by calling (702) 895-UNLV.
UNLV KICK OFF 2000 SCRIMMAGE STATISTICSRUSHINGNAME ATT YDS AVG TDJason Thomas* 6 81 13.5 0Kevin Brown* 5 78 15.6 1(54)Jeremi Rudolph 4 10 2.5 0Nate Turner 1 16 16.0 0Mike Waters 3 14 4.6 0Royce Boone 2 6 3.0 0James Wofford 1 2 2.0 0
PASSINGNAME ATT CMP INT YDS TDJason Thomas* 8 4 1 89 1(65)Jason Vaughan 5 3 0 21 0Matt Ray 4 1 1 18 0JR Davies 1 1 0 11 0Ryan Hanson 3 1 1 5 0
RECEIVINGNAME REC YDS AVG TDMichael Johnson 2 74 37.0 1(65)Charles James* 2 16 8.0 0Nate Turner 2 15 7.5 0Troy Mason 1 18 9.0 0Johnny Graham 1 11 11.0 0James Wofford 1 5 5.0 0Andrew Dubiellak 1 5 5.0 0
SCORING SUMMARYUNLV Offense -- Kevin Brown 54 yd runUNLV Offense -- Michael Johnson 65 yd pass from Jason ThomasUNLV Defense -- Amar Brisco 41 yd interception return
TACKLE LEADERSNAME TT TFLJames Sunia 5 0Ryan Claridge* 4 0Sam Brandon 4 0Saeed Abdul Malik 4 1Sharif Hamilton 3 0Tyler Brickell 3 0Lamar Owens* 3 1Jamal Wynn 3 0Joe Haro 2 0Toby Smeltzer 2 0Devon Rose 2 012 Players with 1 Tackle
INTERCEPTIONS/QB SACKSNAME INT TD SACKS-YDSAmar Brisco 2 1 0-0Sharif Hamilton 1 0 0-0Phil Reed 0 0 1-8Alonzo Freeman 0 0 1-6Saeed Abdul Malik 0 0 1-5
PUNTINGNAME NO YDS AVGRyan McDonald 4 144 36.0
*2000 TEAM NEWCOMER
