Payne, defense take spotlight in Ely scrimmage

ELY — UNLV held its first major scrimmage of fall camp this morning at Broadbent Park here. It was mostly done in a situational format (4th-and-goal at the one, three and nine-yard lines with the game on the line, four minute offense protecting a seven-point lead, two-point conversions, etc.). Still, for the hardy two dozen or so Rebel football fans who made the trip to watch (including newest Las Vegas Locomotives WR Casey Flair), there was plenty to be gained from watching.

Here is my good, bad and ugly from the morning’s action:

THE GOOD

* Wide receiver Phillip Payne: He was my unofficial offensive MVP. The 6-foot-3 sophomore from Western High School scored two touchdowns on his familiar fade route despite good coverage. He truly is amazing in the red zone. The defense knows it’s coming, he is well covered and he still finds a way to catch the ball. He reached over potential starting corner Warren Zeigler for one of the TDs even though Ziegler had his nose in his jersey.

* The secondary: Yes, you read that right. Junior safety Alex De Giacomo, who was wearing the coveted black jersey for his MVP play in Friday’s practice, and senior Ryan Tillman both came up with interceptions on starting quarterback Omar Clayton during goal-line drills. And sophomore safety Chris Jones from Shadow Ridge HS had the hit of the day when he laid out an unsuspecting Payne on a post pattern, drawing oohs and ahhs from his teammates. The good news is that Payne, who missed the final month of the 2008 season with a concussion, bounced up and didn’t miss a play.

* Linebackers not named Jason Beauchamp: Junior Ronnie Paulo, another Western High product, had a sack, another tackle for loss and recovered a fumble. Sophomores Nate Carter from Las Vegas High (sack) and Beau Orth (forced fumble) of Bishop Gorman also made big plays.

* Junior tailback Channing Trotter. Was easily the best running back in the scrimmage. I had him for 33 yards on five carries including a one-yard TD against the first team defense in a 4th-and-one drill. He also had a 14-yard run against the No. 1 defense.

* Defensive tackles Martin Tevaseu and Isaako Aaitui. Forget about trying to run up the middle on these big 300-plus pounders. The second team offense tried a handful of times and it wasn’t pretty.

THE BAD

* The second team offensive line: Keep your fingers crossed that the starting offensive line, which looks very good, can stay healthy because these is a big drop off after that. Freshman center Jason Heath struggled with his long snaps all morning and the rest of the line failed miserably when it came to trying to open holes for running backs. True freshman tailback Bradley Randle, who saw most of the carries with the No. 2 offense, finished with minus-15 yards on six carries and was lucky to get back to the line of scrimmage. Welcome to D-1 football Bradley.

* Clayton, who was not “live” all afternoon, had the two interceptions which was a major surprise. He made up for it however with the two TDs passes to Payne and another to Jerriman Robinson. He also hit Rodelin Anthony for a two-point conversion and did a nice job running the four-minute drill. No worries here.

THE UGLY

* Junior Brendon Lamers, a JC transfer who failed to beat out backup QB Dack Ishii last year, was easily the worst of the three punting prospects (PK Kyle Watson and left-footed walk-on Daniel Ayers are the others). He averaged about 10 to 15 yards less per boot than Watson and Ayers and also fumbled a snap.

* Senior wide receiver Renan Saint Preux had two dropped passes and compounded that by fumbling a handoff from backup QB Mike Clausen on a flanker reverse.

NOTES AND QUOTES

* No major injuries were suffered during the scrimmage. Wide receiver Ryan Wolfe, who has a sore knee, played just two series but is fine.

* Jones on his big hit on Payne: “In high school I played against Phil in a scrimmage. I’ve always wanted him to come inside but he never did because he was always catching balls over our corners. … I did what I had to do. That’s my job. … After I hit him the first thing that came to mind was “is he going to be okay?” We obviously want him to be healthy for the season.”

Said Payne: “It was a speed-post and the corner was behind me. I didn’t even see Chris coming. He made a good play. He popped me. … I didn’t really feel it but it was a good hit.”

“Obviously (Payne’s concussions last season) are a concern but it’s football,” UNLV head coach Mike Sanford said. “You’ve got to play.”

* Here’s one for the believe it or not file: Two scouts from the New England Patriots attended the first half of the scrimmage. They seemed to be focusing most of their attention on Beauchamp and Tevaseu.

* Sanford said that Jordan Barrett, the team’s top linebacker recruit last year who took wide receiver Marcus Sullivan’s spot on the roster when Sullivan failed to pass his high school math proficiency test, will play tight end this season. “In high school he played linebacker and tight end,” Sanford said. “We have a lot of depth at linebacker right now and we think the best opportunity to help this football team right away is at tight end. … He’s good with it.” Barrett, who originally was going to grayshirt, also will play on special teams.