Aug. 19, 2006
UNLV football held its first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday, as head coach Mike Sanford and his staff led their charges through live-action sets on a warm morning.
The Rebels went through game situations, pitting at times the number one offense against the top defense, while also working on special teams in between sets. Sanford was pleased with a lot of what he saw on Saturday, but said the team still has plenty of work left before its opener at home on Sept. 2 against Idaho State.
"The number one offense moved the ball and did some good things, but there are some concerns in protection that we will look at on film and correct," Sanford said. "The number one defense also played well, but they allowed a touchdown in the red zone against the number two offense and that can't happen."
Co-starting quarterbacks Shane Steichen and Rocky Hinds shared time with the number one offense and both tossed touchdown passes. Hinds (7-10, 58 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT) threw the first score of the day, a five-yard strike to Aaron Straiten in the back of the end zone. He later hooked up with Casey Flair for another score. In between that Steichen (5-9, 73 yards, 1 TD) also connected with Flair, this one coming on a long pass play along the sideline.
Flair led the wide receivers, hauling in three passes for 75 yards and the pair of scores while Ryan Wolfe caught two passes for 30 yards and David Peeples added three catches for 12 yards. On the ground Ronnie Smith carried the ball six times for 28 yards and a score and Peeples added another five yards on three carries.
On defense freshman linebacker Jason Beauchamp was credited with three sacks and Daryl Forte made a strong play along the back of the end zone, diving to intercept a pass by Hinds on a two-point conversion attempt.
The scrimmage ended with a two-minute drill that saw the Rebels move the ball to within field goal range, bringing on junior place kicker Sergio Aguayo for a 53-yard attempt. Aguayo split the uprights with plenty of distance to spare, bringing the scrum to a close.
"We have 14 days until we play our first game and we need to keep on improving," Sanford said. "We need to eliminate the things that beat you and accentuate the positives. We are much further ahead at this point than a year ago but we have a ton of work to do over the next 14 days."
