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No. 1 defense, Clayton shine in scrimmage
UNLV held its final major scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium. And after a slow start, junior quarterback Omar Clayton looked in mid-season form.
Clayton, who misfired on his first three attempts against the No. 2 defense, bounced back to complete seven of his next nine passes for 109 yards, including an 18-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Wolfe. He also ran three times for 37 yards and was intercepted once.
The No. 1 defense stole the show, however, stopping the No. 2 offense on all six possessions and didn’t yield a first down.
“I think we have a chance to be a really good team football team,” head coach Mike Sanford said. “Are we ready to play a game tonight? No. I thought our No. 1 defense came out and did a really good job. Obviously, I think it shows we’ve made improvement on defense.”
Sanford wasn’t as happy with the No. 1 offense, however.
“I thought our No. 1 offense was too sloppy,” he said. “We had too many penalties. … I didn’t think the offense was as sharp as it had been or how I expect them to be.”
Among the stars of the scrimmage:
* Junior cornerback Mike Grant, playing on the No. 2 defense, cut in from of Phillip Payne in the flat for an interception of Clayton.
* Cornerback Quinton Pointer had a sack and an interception.
* Linebacker Jason Beauchamp and defensive tackle Malo Taumua each had a sack and three tackles.
* Linebacker Beau Orth had two tackles and several pressures on the quarterback.
* Wolfe had three catches for 33 yards and a touchdown.
* The top special teams performer was senior Kyle Watson who excelled in both punting and placekicking. Watson was a perfect 7-of-7 on field goals including a 48 yarder.
* Junior tailback Channing Trotter had a one-yard touchdown run on a goal line drill and appears to be the favorite to win the starting tailback job. He carried five times for 17 yards.
The Rebels, who begin game preparation for their Sept. 5 opener against Sacramento State on Tuesday, did not suffer any major injuries in the scrimmage.
