UNLV has picked up a verbal commitment from wide receiver Sean Linton (6-foot-2, 180 pounds) of Helix High in La Mesa, Calif.
To read more about Sean check out the story on RebelNation.Net.

http://rebelnation.reviewjournal.com/wr-sean-linton-verbally-commits-to-unlv

UNLV got some good news on Tuesday regarding the injury status of starting quarterback Omar Clayton.

Turns out Clayton, who was complaining of a sore right (throwing) shoulder after UNLV’s 30-27 loss at Wyoming on Saturday, didn’t need to undergo an MRI after all. Instead, a second set of X-rays revealed no damage to the shoulder and Clayton is expected to resume practice on Wednesday.

“I thought it was an MRI but it was a different kind of X-ray,” UNLV head coach Mike Sanford said after practice Tuesday night. “It was completely negative.”

Sanford said he is “even more optimistic today than I was (Monday)” that Clayton will be able to play in Saturday afternoon’s Fremont Cannon game at Nevada. Clayton, who has thrown a touchdown pass in 13 consecutive games, dressed but did not practice on Tuesday as backup Mike Clausen took the snaps with the first team.

“There was a chance that something was broken in there,” Sanford said of Clayton’s shoulder. “He did not practice today because he was sore. He’ll practice tomorrow and he’ll practice Thursday. I would say it will be a game time decision on (whether he starts or not).”

Meanwhile, the big worry for the Rebels was off the field. Two defensive players from American Samoa — starting tackle Isaako Aaitui and end Daniel Mareko — have not been able to reach family members after a tsunami hit the island on Tuesday killing at least 39 people.

For further UNLV sports information, click on www.rebelnation.net

Omar Clayton is scheduled to have an MRI done today to access the damage on his right (throwing) shoulder and putting the status of UNLV’s starting quarterback in limbo for Saturday afternoon’s big Fremont Cannon battle at Nevada.

Clayton, who complained of soreness in the shoulder after UNLV’s 30-27 loss at Wyoming on Saturday, did not take part in the team’s short Sunday afternoon practice.He told the media after the game that he did not think the injury was serious.

Clayton had an X-ray done on the shoulder Sunday. There is some concern that he may have suffered some damage to his AC Joint so the MRI was order for today.

“We need to find out exactly what is wrong and if there is anything serious,” UNLV head coa ch Mike Sanford said.

Clayton said he suffered the injury shortly before tossing a 18-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Wolfe early in the fourth quarter that gave UNLV a 27-20 lead. He was drilled on the play before that while attempting an incomplete fade pass to Phillip Payne and also three plays earlier when he connected with wide receiver Jerriman Robinson for a key third down 14-yard completion.

Sophomore Mike Clausen, who replaced Clayton on UNLV’s final series, would be the starter if Clayton can’t go.

Sanford said he expects co-starting safety Marquel Martin (concussion) to return to action play against the Wolf Pack but was still not sure if starting wide receiver Rodelin Anthony (second concussion this fall) would be cleared to go.

Also, backup defensive end Daniel Mareko will be sidelined for at least four weeks with a broken right arm.

For further coverage of Rebel football, check out www.RebelNation.Net.

UNLV quarterback Omar Clayton, who threw for a career-high 340 yards in Saturday night’s 34-33 victory over previously unbeaten Hawaii, was named the Mountain West Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week today.

It’s the second time in his career that Clayton has received the honor. He shared the award almost one year to the day (Sept. 22, 2008) after helping lead the Rebels to an overtime win over Iowa State. He is the first UNLV offensive player to win the award outright since Jason Thomas won it on Nov. 4, 2002. There had been four co-winners since.

Clayton, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound junior from Normal, Ill., passed for three touchdowns, including a 15-yard game-winner to sophomore wide receiver Phillip Payne with 36 seconds remaining, and also rushed 11-yards for another TD. He set career highs for yards passing (340) and completions (28).

Clayton has now thrown a touchdown pass in 12 consecutive games, the third longest streak in Mountain West Conference history. The league record is 15 straight games set by BYU’s John Beck in 2001-02.

Air Force linebacker Andre Morris (7 tackles, 2 sacks at New Mexico) was named MWC Defensive Player of the Week while Colorado State punter Pete Kontodiakos (47.2 average vs. Nevada) won the special teams honor.

UNLV could be without two key starters for Saturday night’s game with Oregon State. Here’s a link to the story on www.rebelnation.net.

http://tinyurl.com/lfjc5v

Those of you who used to look forward to getting your copy of Rebel Nation every Thursday will now find much of the same content and more on our new website  www.rebelnation.net which started up this morning.

Columns by UNLV coaches Mike Sanford and Lon Kruger and recruiting gurus Tom Lemming and Bob Gibbons can now be accessed on the Internet site as well as blogs by Rebel football star Ryan Wolfe, golfer Brett Kanda, Jeff Wollard, photographer Louie Traub, Channel 8 morning anchor Dave McCann and myself. ESPN 1100 broadcaster Dave Cokin will also break down the games in the Mountain West Conference each week and you will also find this week’s “Where Are They Now?” article on former Rebel star Hunkie Cooper.

Only about 40 percent of the site is currently up and running and new features will be added almost daily so we ask for your patience as we expand. Team pages for all Mountain West and Pac-10 Conference schools as well as Nevada, Hawaii and Notre Dame are up and have in-depth files on this week’s games as provided by The Sports Xchange.

Each team page also a scoreboard for that week’s football game. At the bottom of each scoreboard you will also find game previews, matchups, recaps and stats as provided by The Sports Network along with links to live odds.

Like I wrote earlier, this is still a work in progress so please be patient if you should run into some technical problems on the site. Please email me your comments/suggestions for the site to sguiremand@reviewjournal.com. Hope you enjoy our new website!

Former UNLV guard Kevin Kruger has signed a one-year contract to play with the Original Marines Napoli, one of 16 teams in Italy’s top division (Serie A) of professional basketball.

Kruger made the announcement on his Facebook page this afternoon. The team’s website also ran a story on Kruger’s signing as did eurobasket.com.

The popular Kruger, the son of UNLV head coach Lon Kruger, helped lead the Runnin’ Rebels to a Mountain West Conference Tournament championship and Sweet 16 berth in 2007. He most recently played with the Utah Flash of the NBA Development League last spring where he averaged 13 points in 24 games.

The Original Marines roster also features former Utah forward Lance Allred and former Clemson star Terrance Oglesby. The team’s website lists “Jellybean” Joe Bryant, father of Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, as its head coach.

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.

All-MWC linebacker Jason Beauchamp (33) will also line up some plays at defensive end this season. (Photo by Steve Guiremand)

While growing up near San Diego, it was only natural that one of Jason Beauchamp’s idols would be Chargers linebacker Junior Seau.

“I watched him every Sunday,” Beauchamp, a first team all-Mountain West Conference linebacker, said. “We’d even go to his restaurant on Sundays and watch his games. … It was a great time to grow up and watch Junior Seau.”

This season the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Beauchamp, who led the MWC with 127 tackles as a junior, will get his chance to do his very best Junior Seau imitation. He’ll line up anywhere from several linebacker spots to both defensive end positions. You can also expect to see him moving around looking for a gap to shoot in his quest to sack the opposing quarterback.

It’s all part of Mike Sanford’s master plan to bring some pass-rushing punch to a defense that garnered a woeful 11 sacks a year ago.

Jason Beauchamp

“I would say Jason is going to be a little more of a hybrid guy this year,” Sanford said. “He is a linebacker and he’ll play linebacker but he’ll also play some defensive end. He’s going to play both positions. He’s a good pass rusher and we want to utilize that in some situations.”

Sanford, an assistant coach at USC when Seau played — current UNLV offensive line coach Gary Bernardi actually recruited Seau to Troy — said Beauchamp will utilized in many of the same ways of the future NFL Hall of Famer was.

“Obviously Junior Seau is going to be in the NFL Hall of Fame and was a tremendous player,” Sanford said. “But that’s the type of hybrid player that Jason has a chance to be for us.”

So what does Beauchamp think of his new responsibilities?

“It’s different,” he said. “I think the key for me is to just understand what the coaches are doing and believe in what they’re doing. If I do what they say, everything will happen as planned.

“I love linebacker. I’m a natural. It’s all I’ve played all my life. This is something new. I’m ready to learn. And this will show my versatility. It will challenge teams that we play. It will be one more thing they have to study up for. I don’t have the type of freedom that Junior had but I’m definitely going to put stress on some opposing tackles like Junior did. It’s a great opportunity. I’m blessed to be in this situation.”

Sanford believes Beauchamp has done a nice job in fall camp of learning his new responsibilities.

“He’s doing a really good job,” Sanford said. “Along with being better in the secondary in pass coverage, we’ve got to improve our pass rush this year. And Jason gives us an element of speed and quickness coming off the edge. And he’s a good pass rusher. It’s something we need.”

CAMP NOTES: UNLV held its final practice in full gear at Broadbent Park this morning. The team has one more workout in helmets and shorts tonight before busing back to Las Vegas on Thursday morning. The team returns to Rebel Park for practice on Friday night. …

Star of the final morning workout was junior corner Mike Grant who had an interception and twice stopped Phillip Payne on end zone routes. “A great day,” Sanford said. “He’s very competitive and doing a very good job. He’s getting better and better. He’s one of the reasons it’s harder to throw on our defense.” …

Tailback C.J. Cox (left hamstring) took part in the first 80 minutes of practice but had to shut it down when he began to start feeling some pain again. “Everything else was fine,” Cox said. “I was feeling pretty good. But then I was running an out route and I started to feel it a little bit. It was starting to get fatigued so I stopped.” Cox hopes to be able to return and take part in 75-percent of the drills in practice on Friday night. …

Kicker Ben Jaekle (back surgery) did some kickoffs for the first time this fall and reported no problems.

Junior tailback Channing Trotter, left, gets a block from Joe Hawley (59) during a run drill Tuesday at Broadbent Park in Ely. (Photo by Steve Guiremand)

ELY — Just one more day to go for two-a-day workouts for UNLV’s football team in this small, friendly and cool (as in weather) mountain town about four hours north of Las Vegas.

The Rebels have two more practices at Broadbent Park on Wednesday before heading back to campus on Thursday morning. Head coach Mike Sanford has called it his best camp here.

So which players have made the most of their nine days in Ely? I asked Sanford that question and, not surprisingly, the first name out of his mouth was junior tailback Channing Trotter.

With expected starter C.J. Cox sidelined the past two weeks with a nagging hamstring injury, the 5-foot-8, 195-pound Trotter has stepped up and been by far the top running back here in the race to replace Frank “The Tank” Summers.

Trotter may be a couple inches shorter and about 45 pounds lighter than Frank The Tank but he has shown an amazing ability to move the pile while also exhibiting the quickness to elude would-be tacklers. He also has good hands, an ability he displayed this morning during a one-on-one pass catching drill where he made two circus grabs.

Channing Trotter returns a punt as assistant Kris Cinkovich looks on. (Photo by Steve Guiremand).

“Keep doing that and we’re going to move you back to wide receiver Trotter,” wide receivers coach Kris Cinkovich joked.

No chance of that happening. Finding a replacement for Summers was offensive priority No. 1 for fall camp.

“I think camp is going great sir,” Trotter said. “I’ve been running with the one’s (first team offense) most of the time. In the live (tackling) situations I feel like I’ve made some plays, things that have set me apart to be the guy for the season

“Coaches have praised me and told me I’m doing all the little things right. I take pride in that and continue to work hard every single day.”

“He’s having a really, really good camp,” Sanford said.

Trotter attributes his ability to break tackles to his hard work in the weight room. He’s closing in on a 400-pound bench press (he also did 22 reps of 225 pounds) and squats 450 pounds.

“I take a lot of pride in what we do in the weight room and I try and transfer it over onto the field,” he said.

Whether Trotter is the starter for UNLV’s Sept. 5 opener with Sacramento State could will likely be determined in the next week.

The 5-foot-11, 195-pound Cox, who started a game last year as a true freshman and is the team’s top returning rusher (191 yards on 54 carries), will finally return to the practice field on Wednesday morning and is scheduled to take part in about 50 percent of the drills. If that all goes well, he’ll take part in 75 percent of the team’s practice on Friday night at Rebel Park and could be cleared to return to full workouts by the weekend.

“I’ve been sitting around for two weeks now,” Cox said. “I tried to come back too early a week ago and re-aggravated (his left hamstring) so I had to sit another week. I’m kind of excited right now. I’ve been running a lot the last couple of days, doing blocking drills, and it hasn’t hurt me. Right now we’re being a little cautious and hope I don’t pull it again.”

C.J. Cox watches a run drill Tuesday in Ely. (Photo by Steve Guiremand)

Cox, who entered fall camp as co-No. 1 at tailback with senior Chris Brogdon, suffered the injury during the first practice of fall camp.

“I hadn’t even taken a carry yet,” he said. “It was only about 30 minutes into practice and I was running a “go” route just by myself. Then I felt a pop twice in my hamstring. I just fell down. I couldn’t believe it because I had never pulled anything before in my life.”

Although he’s frustrated by not having been able to practice, Cox said he is happy to see Trotter excel in his absence.

“That’s one of my best friends on the team,” Cox said. “I love having competition between us. Even if he does excel more than I do, I’m always going to be up for him. If it’s a one-two punch this year, then that’s great too. That would be just how we are off the field.”

Sanford said he hopes to settle on his No. 1 tailback by the middle of next week.

Other players Sanford singled out for having strong camps here include quarterback Omar Clayton, offensive tackle Matt Murphy, wide receiver Rodelin Anthony, Brogdon, junior cornerback Mike Grant, senior defensive end Heivaha Mafi and junior defensive tackle Ramsey Feagai.

The 6-foot-2, 340-pound Feagai, who began fall camp battling freshman Sean Tesoro for a starting offensive guard spot before giving defensive line a shot, has been one of the biggest surprises of fall camp.

“I think he’ll play for us,” Sanford said. “Obviously Martin Tevasau (an NFL prospect) will start but he’ll play. And in certain situations, like short yardage and goal line, he’ll probably go in there with the first group. That move has been a very positive one for us.”

Defensive tackle Ramsey Feagai (65) has been one of the biggest surprises of fall camp in Ely. (Photo by Steve Guiremand)

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.

ELY — My hotel room won’t be ready here for another hour or so. The good news is that thanks to modern technology I can jog down a few notes from this morning’s Rebel football practice at Broadbent Park here while sitting at a picnic table under the shade of a large oak tree while also enjoying the 75-degree weather and a nice cool breeze.

* The star of the morning practice was undoubtedly junior college cornerback Mike Grant, a fall enrollee from Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif.

JC transfer Mike Grant starred at corner on Friday morning.

Grant had several impressive pass breakups during various passing drills and also had an interception during an 11-on-11 passing drill, jumping in front of Jerriman Robinson on an out route for what would have been an easy pick six.  He and another junior college corner, Warren Ziegler, played on the first team defense most of the morning.

I asked UNLV head coach Mike Sanford if we would be seeing No. 25 (Grant) starting at corner on Sept. 5 against Sacramento State at Sam Boyd Stadium and he just chuckled.

“It’s too early (but) that’s kind of a deduction a lot of people have,” Sanford said. “It’s too early, though. We still have a lot of competition going on at that position. We have personnel groups. We have regular and we have nickel. He and Warren Zeigler were playing with the one’s in nickel and dime today but that’s an ongoing thing. We won’t make any of those decisions until guys are consistently people. You can’t have a bad day.”

After his impressive practice, several teammates joked that Grant should prepare for wearing a black jersey, emblematic as the top defensive performer in practice.

And if I were a betting man, I would put a small wager on Mr. Grant starting at corner for the Rebels this season. …

* Speaking of corners, junior Quinton Pointer, who gutted his way through most of last season with a bad elbow, also played well today at linebacker in the team’s dime package.

“He’s had some good days up here,” Sanford said.

* Ho hum. Remember “The Catch” that Western High product Phillip Payne had to help the Rebels upset Arizona State last year? Well Payne had another one-handed beauty today, reaching out to his left while falling backward with corner Kenny Brown closing in on him. And he made it look easy … again.

“He’s a very good player,” Sanford said of Payne. “The one thing we need him to become is to continue to improve and be an all down and all field player. He’s obviously very good when it comes to laying the ball up there and making a play in the end zone.”

* Quarterbacks were not “live” during a third down drill featuring the No. 1 offense against the No. 1 defense. And defensive end Malo Taumua wasn’t exactly too thrilled about that fact.

After safety Terrance Lee pulled up as a scrambling Omar Clayton ran out of bounds, a fired-up Taumua screamed at Lee: “Bleep that! Tackle his (butt)! That’s bull (fill in the blank)!”

“I’m sure Malo would like to see Omar stay healthy for the start of the season,” Sanford said.

Sanford added that he will make his quarterbacks live for at least part of Saturday morning’s big 10 a.m. scrimmage here.

“A portion they’ll be live,” he said. “Right now we just don’t know what portion it will be.”

* Congratulations to former Rebel wide receiver Casey Flair who announced on his Facebook page last night that he has signed a contract to play for the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League.

* It was just one pass-rushing drill but redshirt freshman offensive tackle Yusef Rodgers did a nice job of tying up all-MWC linebacker Jason Beauchamp.

Hard core UNLV sports fans who aren’t quite hard core enough to make the long four hour drive north to Ely for Saturday morning’s big football scrimmage have another excellent option for some entertainment that afternoon.

Popular Runnin’ Rebels head basketball coach Lon Kruger will be at Findlay Toyota at 7733 Eastgate Road in the Valley Auto Mall in Henderson to talk with fans and also sign copies of his hot-selling book, “The Xs and Os of Success: A Playbook for Leaders in Business and Life” that he co-authored with D.J. Allen.

Kruger is scheduled to be at Findlay Toyota from 1 to 3 p.m. If you’re lucky, you may also bump into former UCLA All-American and 1995 Final Four MVP Ed O’Bannon who is the sales and marketing manager for Findlay Toyota.

Not a bad doubleheader for autograph hounds. And you won’t find too nicer or classier guys in sports than these two.

I remember covering O’Bannon’s press conference announcing his college choice of UNLV (over UCLA and USC among others) back in 1990 at Artesia High while working for the old National Sports Daily. Hard to believe that was almost 20 years ago. Ed, who later switched to the Bruins when the NCAA came snooping on Jerry Tarkanian’s program, still looks like he could suit up and dominate for the Bruins. Me? Well, three kids and too many bowls of ice cream have definitely taken their toll.:)

B.J. Bell hopes to charge on to the Rebel football scene this fall.

Junior defensive end B.J. Bell is the third member of his family to put on the UNLV football uniform.

Oldest brother Zach was a linebacker for the Rebels under John Robinson in 2001-2004. And you might have heard of his other brother, Beau, who was the 2007 Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year before heading off to the NFL to play for the Cleveland Browns.

B.J. bears a striking resemblance to Beau facially. However, at 6-foot-2 and 260 pounds, he is already about 25 pounds heavier than Beau. And unlike his two older brothers who played linebacker, he’s a pass rushing defensive end who garnered 10 sacks last year at Santa Ana (Calif.) College en route to first team J.C. Gridwire All-American honors. That’s one less sack than the entire UNLV team registered in 12 games a year ago.

B.J. Bell

“I think he has a tremendous future,” UNLV head coach Mike Sanford said. “He’s going to play for us this year. Every day he just has to learn what we’re doing a little bit better. He’s got a ton of ability and we’re excited about him.”

B.J. Bell, who initially received strong interest from Pac-10 schools but eventually picked the Rebels over offers from Kansas, San Diego State and Marshall, says he’s excited to add to the Bell football legacy at UNLV.

“It feels pretty cool,” he said. “I’m glad I can be a part of a legacy. I’ve got some big shoes to fill but I also play a different position than Beau and Zach played. I feel I can make a name for myself and not just live off my brothers’ names. I’ve just got to go out and play to the best of my abilities.”

B.J. Bell used to attend Rebel football camps when he was younger. At that time he wasn’t particularly interested in joining his siblings in wearing the Scarlet and Gray.

“I thought it was too hot,” he said with a smile. “I never really wanted to come. But now that I came here I’m having a great time. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”

He said his older brothers didn’t push UNLV on him as hard as some might expect.

“Beau and Zach both wanted what was best for me,” he said. “They said they’d support me with whatever decision I made. I thought about how they both came here and liked it a lot so why not me?”

B.J. and his new Rebel teammates take part in their first practices in the small mountain town of Ely today. He was asked what kind of advice Beau gave him on surviving the next nine days up north.

“Beau said to just do everything full speed,” he said. “He warned me that it is going to be cold (lows in the low 40’s) in the morning. The difference is I love the cold so I don’t really mind that.”

Obviously B.J. Bell has a mind of his own. Now the question is can he make a name of his own in UNLV football lore?

Ryan Wolfe

UNLV senior wide receiver Ryan Wolfe was one of just three players from the Mountain West Conference to be selected to the Biletnikoff Award ’s “watch list” today.

The award, presented by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation, recognizes the top wide receiver in college football. The winner will be announced as part of ESPN’s College Football Awards Show on Dec. 10th.

Wolfe, a two-time all-MWC pick, is already UNLV’s all-time leading receiver with 209 career receptions for 2,735 yards. He also holds the school mark for career 100-yard receiving games with 10.

BYU tight end Dennis Pitta and Colorado State wide receiver Rashaun Greer, a product of Mojave High in North Las Vegas, were the other players from the MWC to make the list.

Here’s the complete Watch List:

2009 BILETNIKOFF AWARD WATCH LIST
Kris Adams, UTEP; Seyi Ajirotutu, Fresno State; Brandon Banks, Kansas State; Doug Beaumont, Louisville; Arrelious Benn, Illinois; Dezmon Briscoe, Kansas; Antonio Brown, Central Michigan; DeAndre Brown, Southern Miss; Ryan Broyles, Oklahoma; Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State; Tyron Carrier, Houston; Eric Decker, Minnesota; Jacoby Ford, Clemson; Cortez Gent, Florida Atlantic; Mardy Gilyard, Cincinnati; AJ Green, Georgia; Rashaun Greer, Colorado State; D’Andre Goodwin, Washington; T.Y. Hilton, Florida International; Shay Hodge, Ole Miss; Jerrel Jernigan, Troy; Damaris Johnson, Tulsa; Julio Jones, Alabama; Brandon LaFell, LSU; Detron Lewis, Texas Tech; Kerry Meier, Kansas; Dennis Pitta, BYU; Taylor Price, Ohio; Aldrick Robinson, SMU; Naaman Roosevelt, Buffalo; Greg Salas, Hawaii; Jordan Shipley, Texas; Jacory Stone, Eastern Michigan; Golden Tate, Notre Dame; Damian Williams, USC; Stephen Williams, Toledo; RYAN WOLFE, UNLV.