April 7, 2001
LAS VEGAS - A new class of UNLV runners impressed a crowd of 1,112 at Kick Off 2001 held at a cold and windy Rebel Park on campus Saturday.
With the departure of three players that accounted for nearly 2,000 yards on the ground for the last year's 8-5 squad, senior-to-be Jabari Johnson and junior-to-be Joe Haro led a group that gave fans a good look at the next wave of Rebel running backs.
Johnson, who once played at the University of Washington, led all rushers with 77 yards on just eight carries. Haro, who served as a defensive back last fall, had 52 yards on eight carries, including a 15-yard score. Third-string tailback Royce Boone added 70 yards on nine attempts. Overall, UNLV finished with 311 yards rushing from nine players, including two quarterbacks.
The passing attack was not a big factor in head coach John Robinson's third spring game since coming to UNLV. All-America candidate signal-caller Jason Thomas was 8-of-18 for 109 yards, one interception and one 36-yard touchdown to Bobby Nero while redshirt freshman Kurt Nantkes was 6-of-12 for 46 yards.
Nero led all receivers with four catches for 64 yards while Michael Johnson finished with three receptions for 32 yards. The defense was paced by reserve lineman Phil Reed's nine tackles, which included two sacks. Redshirt freshman Jamaal Brimmer out of Las Vegas' Durango High School had the day's only interception.
The scrimmage's other touchdowns came on a three-yard burst by reserve fullback George Gordon, a six-yard scramble by Thomas and a seven-yard scoring pass from Nantkes to Charles James. Returning place-kicker Dillon Pieffer was 2-2 on extra point attempts and nailed his only field-goal attempt from 37 yards out.
UNLV has four practices remaining before spring practice ends April 14. The Rebels' season opener is September 1 vs. Arkansas in Little Rock. UNLV will opens its home slate six days later by hosting Big Ten Conference Co-Champion Northwestern in a game that will be nationally televised by ESPN.
Season tickets are now on sale by calling (702) 895-UNLV.
UNLV KICK OFF 2001 SPRING GAME STATISTICS
RUSHING
NAME ATT YDS AVG TD
Jabari Johnson 8 77 9.6 0Royce Boone 9 70 7.8 0Joe Haro 8 52 6.5 1(15)Johnny Graham 10 49 4.9 0Steven Costa 3 25 8.3 0Kurt Nantkes 4 20 5.0 0Jason Thomas 2 11 5.5 1(6)Zach Bell 3 4 1.3 0George Gordon 1 3 3.0 1(3)TOTAL 48 311 6.5 3
PASSING
NAME ATT CMP INT YDS TD
Jason Thomas 18 8 1 109 1(36)Kurt Nantkes 12 6 0 46 1(7)TOTAL 30 14 1 155 2
RECEIVING
NAME REC YDS AVG TD
Bobby Nero 4 64 16.0 1(36)Michael Johnson 3 32 11.0 0Charles James 3 18 6.0 1(7)Trevan Sorensen 1 14 14.0 0DeJhown Mandley 1 12 12.0 0Troy Mason 1 10 10.0 0Andrew Faga 1 5 5.0 0TOTAL 14 155 11.1 2
SCORING SUMMARY
UNLV Offense -- Bobby Nero 36-yard pass from Jason ThomasUNLV Offense -- Jason Thomas 6-yard runUNLV Offense -- George Gordon 3-yard runUNLV Offense -- Joe Haro 15-yard runUNLV Offense -- Charles James 7-yard pass from Kurt NantkesUNLV Offense -- Dillon Pieffer 37-yard field goal
TACKLE LEADERS
NAME TT PBU INT SACKS
Phil Reed 9 0 0 2Adam Seward 5 0 0 0Joe Hunter 5 0 0 0Ross Dalton 5 2 0 0Alonzo Freeman 5 0 0 0Jamaal Brimmer 5 0 1 0Bill Cofer 4 0 0 0Devon Rose 4 0 0 0
