UNLV Rebels year 1 - awkwardmoment's Dynasty

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UNLV Rebels year 1

Posted on July 20, 2011 at 09:25 AM.

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UNLV Rebels ended the 2011 season with a record of 2-10, same as the previous year.

Freshman Quarterback Nick Sherry was surprisingly given the starter's job and showed some promising signs before a back injury sidelined him for the 2nd half of the season. Getting back his old job, Caleb Herring developed a strong rapport with his wide receiver and coupled with his scrambling abilities, the Rebels were suddenly giving headaches to defensive coordinators around the Mountain West. An extremely porous offensive line however prevented many drives from ending with more than field goals and the frustration spilled over with an on-field confrontation in the season finale between QB Herring and his linemen.

Sophomore running back Tim Cornett was heavily relied on and did not disapoint by amassing 937 yards and 6 TDs while managing to take the pressure from the QB and offensive line. Such a heavy workload did however cause a few physical breakdowns for the 6'0 tailback but Bradley Randle also showed some promise in relief.

The wide receiver corps was dominated by seniors Philip Payne & Michael Johnson but their numbers were lackluster and by the end of the season, the coaching staff started preparing for next year already by giving more playing time to sophomores. Small speedster Marcus Sullivan and tall lanky Kurt Davis gave enough production that the Rebels should feel comfortable about being able to replace the soon departing seniors.

Tight Ends showed itself to be a major area of need for the Rebels as none of the 3 seniors on the team managed to grab the wide-open job. The absence of a quality tight end both as a blocker and a checkdown passing option was identified as a major issue with the Rebels offense.

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The offseason turned out to be full of surprises for the Rebels this year, mainly at the QB position. First, following a season in which he was benched in favor of a true freshman at the beginning and emerged as a dual threat by the end of the season, QB Caleb Herring decided for a change of scenery and transfered out of the Mountain West, joining conference rival New Mexico. Less than a week later, UNLV found a more than adequate replacement as Nick Montana, QB with the University of Washington committed to transfer to UNLV for next season. Citing a lack of playing time, the son of Joe Montana was ecstatic about the opportunity he would be given in Las Vegas.