Mike Scherer talked astir grit. About finishing. About intelligence toughness. About the ability, erstwhile things aren’t perfect, to instrumentality with it and bash your occupation and travel your assignment.
No substance wherever you are connected the field, nary substance what the situation, you’re expected to perform.
“When games travel down to crunch time,” said Scherer, the erstwhile UNLV shot antiaircraft coordinator and present linebackers coach, “we person to beryllium amended astatine that.”
It’s not unexpected fixed the position, but 3 of Scherer’s linebackers fertile among the apical six tacklers for the Rebels done 3 games. All 3 players — Kamuela Ka’aihue (Arizona), Cam Santee (Holy Cross) and Dee Crayton (Clemson) — are transfers.
Nobody for UNLV (1-2) played peculiarly good during a 44-6 loss astatine North Texas connected Saturday, and the Rebels present person a bye week to effort and get things close earlier traveling to Akron connected Sept. 26.
“I deliberation (the linebackers) are angry, I deliberation they’re embarrassed,” Scherer of the blowout nonaccomplishment to the Mean Green. “I’m embarrassed. But they came to enactment (for Tuesday’s practice) with the close cognition truthful we marque definite that ne'er happens again.
“We’ve done a decent occupation up to this point. There are cardinal things similar tackling we person to improve. We are learning what it requires to play good astatine the position. Our every-day habits request to beryllium better. We should beryllium (three of the apical six tacklers) successful the league and not conscionable the team. That’s what we expect. That’s what we’re striving for.”
New to program
As a team, the Rebels missed 29 tackles against North Texas, astir doubly the magnitude of their archetypal 2 games combined.
The Mean Green, connected the different hand, missed four.
Scherer says everyone is learning, that astir are technically somewhat caller to the UNLV program. Even helium spent a twelvemonth coaching astatine Purdue earlier returning to the Rebels.
That the cardinal is to further their cognition successful the presumption arsenic a linebacker, successful the defense, successful being capable to close mistakes connected the field, successful being capable to pb that full broadside of the ball.
“We person a batch of enactment to do,” Scherer said. “But they’ve besides enactment successful a batch to this point.”
Crayton says the linebackers recognize they’re the leaders of the defense, that everything flows disconnected the vigor they tin provide. That you instrumentality 44-6 arsenic a acquisition to get better, for which this bye week allows specified an opportunity.
“We’re not a statistical group,” Crayton said. “We don’t look astatine stats. We conscionable privation to play and bash our champion for the squad and person our coaches enactment america successful the champion presumption to assistance this squad win.
“We bounce backmost from (North Texas) by getting amended each day. What happened was unacceptable. It was an eye-opener for this defence and team. Something has to change, but thing changes if we don’t instrumentality this connected with a afloat caput of steam. We person to improve, ticker movie and cognize what we request to bash to hole it. Just onslaught it. Just support gathering and support our ft connected the gas.”
A wounded bunch
UNLV hardly escaped the North Texas nonaccomplishment injury-free. There are respective Rebels banged up, including antiaircraft backmost Tre Fulton, information Landyn Cleveland and wide receiver DeAngelo Irvin Jr. Starting halfway Austin Boyd besides remains out.
“Health is simply a immense portion of it,” UNLV manager Dan Mullen said. “If we get a ton of injuries, it’s a large accidental for the adjacent guys to measurement up and marque plays. It could besides permission immoderate gaps, not conscionable connected the tract but besides successful leadership. I archer guys, ‘You ne'er cognize erstwhile your accidental is to come.’ They person to spell instrumentality vantage of it.”
Contact Ed Graney astatine egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney connected X.
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