USA Today way too early Top 25

[TimothyC3]

23. UNLV (11-3) (23)​

UNLV looks to build on a recent surge under new coach Dan Mullen. The Rebels have been very active in the portal, where they’ve signed maybe the best class in the Group of Five. To get past Boise State and to the top of the Mountain West and reach the playoff, Mullen has to get the most out of Michigan QB transfer Alex Orji and rebuild at WR around several Power Four transfers. The defense played very well down the stretch of 2024 and looks to build on that strong close.

Big Ten powers lead too-early college football Top 25 rankings after spring practice

Spring football is almost in the books and the transfer portal has reshaped many rosters. A look at our too-early Top 25 for the upcoming season.

www.usatoday.com

 

[rebel5280]

UNLV football getting some love early!

 

[WarthogRebel]

5 years ago, If someone told me we would have a writeup like that, I would have laughed at them.

 

[Gator 82]

The best part is Boise State on the dropped out list. 😂

 

[rebel5280]

5 years ago, If someone told me we would have a writeup like that, I would have laughed at them.

It would not have been possible with Arroyo, EVER!

 

[Meister_Rebel]

Metrics. We seem to be missing schools from that piece of shit ****s from the Pac 7, that didn't want us, in that too early top 25.

 

[unlove]

Definitely nice to get the attention but we’ve had so much turnover - players and coaches - that I’ll believe we have a shot at the MWCC & CFP when I see the team perform on the field. I’ve got a ton of faith in CDM and staff but….

 

[rebeltob]

Definitely nice to get the attention but we’ve had so much turnover - players and coaches - that I’ll believe we have a shot at the MWCC & CFP when I see the team perform on the field. I’ve got a ton of faith in CDM and staff but….

This

 

[Couev]

Definitely nice to get the attention but we’ve had so much turnover - players and coaches - that I’ll believe we have a shot at the MWCC & CFP when I see the team perform on the field. I’ve got a ton of faith in CDM and staff but….

This is where I'm at. Looking at the roster, I think that the overall talent level of the roster is higher, but we're replacing a lot of starters and snaps across all three units. 4 starters on the OL, 4 starters on the DL, 5 starters in the defensive backfield, all three WR postions starters, the top 3 on th TE depth chart, top 2 QBs, all the HB depth behind Thomas, the K, P, and LS.

I have a lot of faith in Mullen and staff, but this is a LOT of turnover and a lot of moving pieces to get to buy in without a lot of your cultural buy in players still there. With all that being said, I still see us as a top 3 MWC team minimally and if we can get more out of Orjilandrea than we did out of Hajjluka then we will be really dangerous especially towards the end of the year.

If i had a top 25 vote, I'm not sure I'd give it to us knowing what I know.

 

[rebel5280]

Buy in to culture is the new norm if you are a G5, get use to it every year going forward until our conference affiliation changes!

The reason to be hopeful in the upcoming seasons for both football and basketball are the coaches leading those programs. Mullen and Pastner know what they are doing and they aren’t Arroyo or Kruger who had no idea how to run a D1 program and it showed in the results.

Top 3 in football could happen and would at least be winning but would be a huge let down to the fanbase. I think we can be no worse than where we were last year but this year we have to beat Boise at least once to be taken more seriously as a football program. In basketball, we need to finish at worst top 3 with a real chance to win the MWC tournament and be a real threat to get to the NCAA’s or it will be seen as more of the same.

We shall see, I’m hoping for exceeding expectations in both sports this year so get your popcorn ready!

 

[Rebel1986]

This is where I'm at. Looking at the roster, I think that the overall talent level of the roster is higher, but we're replacing a lot of starters and snaps across all three units. 4 starters on the OL, 4 starters on the DL, 5 starters in the defensive backfield, all three WR postions starters, the top 3 on th TE depth chart, top 2 QBs, all the HB depth behind Thomas, the K, P, and LS.

I have a lot of faith in Mullen and staff, but this is a LOT of turnover and a lot of moving pieces to get to buy in without a lot of your cultural buy in players still there. With all that being said, I still see us as a top 3 MWC team minimally and if we can get more out of Orjilandrea than we did out of Hajjluka then we will be really dangerous especially towards the end of the year.

If i had a top 25 vote, I'm not sure I'd give it to us knowing what I know.

You are forgetting how much of a turnover we had over the last couple of years?

 

[Couev]

You are forgetting how much of a turnover we had over the last couple of years?

I'm not forgetting, but this year is the highest replacement of snaps from season to season of any of the last 3. Adding to that a new staff which has already lost one coordinator and comparing it to Odom's first year (which was the closest of the 2 years of replacing actual snaps) it's hard for me to just say 'Well, we did okay with this the last 2 years, we must also do well with it for this year". Which I'm not sure is wrong yet--I'm certainly not Nostradamus--but I have a hard time feeling super confident that it's going to happen. I'm optimistic and pretty hopeful that we'll end up where every wants us to end up. I just think we have too many questions to say we're a lock to challenge Boise and Colorado State and be pushing for a G5 playoff spot this year in the middle of May especially at QB.

I'm not telling you how to feel, just trying to explain how I feel.

 

[Couev]

Buy in to culture is the new norm if you are a G5, get use to it every year going forward until our conference affiliation changes!

I agree, but what guys say and do in spring ball and on visits doesn't always end up being the same thing they do when the rubber actually hits the road. I'd like to think Mullen and Co sort of did their due diligence and hit more than they miss--but a lot of these transfers already left another situation and the guys on our squad who were the cultural cow bells at a starter level mostly graduated and transferred. I don't think it will be gone, but it will assuredly be different just based on the staff and the roster changes. If it were easy, every G5 program would be performing much higher on a national level.

The reason to be hopeful in the upcoming seasons for both football and basketball are the coaches leading those programs. Mullen and Pastner know what they are doing and they aren’t Arroyo or Kruger who had no idea how to run a D1 program and it showed in the results.

I agree. I'm hopeful and feel like people that understand how to lead a program are running both BB and FB. I'm more optimistic then I thought I was going to be. I just don't think I know enough about the team with spring practices without much reporting back around these parts in May to be confident.

Top 3 in football could happen and would at least be winning but would be a huge let down to the fanbase. I think we can be no worse than where we were last year but this year we have to beat Boise at least once to be taken more seriously as a football program. In basketball, we need to finish at worst top 3 with a real chance to win the MWC tournament and be a real threat to get to the NCAA’s or it will be seen as more of the same.

I agree with all of this.

 

[Rebel1986]

I'm not forgetting, but this year is the highest replacement of snaps from season to season of any of the last 3. Adding to that a new staff which has already lost one coordinator and comparing it to Odom's first year (which was the closest of the 2 years of replacing actual snaps) it's hard for me to just say 'Well, we did okay with this the last 2 years, we must also do well with it for this year". Which I'm not sure is wrong yet--I'm certainly not Nostradamus--but I have a hard time feeling super confident that it's going to happen. I'm optimistic and pretty hopeful that we'll end up where every wants us to end up. I just think we have too many questions to say we're a lock to challenge Boise and Colorado State and be pushing for a G5 playoff spot this year in the middle of May especially at QB.

I'm not telling you how to feel, just trying to explain how I feel.

Odom lost his OC in the first couple of days before they even started practice!

 

[Couev]

Odom lost his OC in the first couple of days before they even started practice!

Okay. So Petrino left after 21 days and left prior to the end of the season, which means he was not allowed any CARA time with the new players and which period included 100% of his tenure as a quiet or dead period for recruiting (total of 7 days on 'Quiet' period). Petrino was able to be replaced by a solid candidate from outside the program.

Arnett left after 99 days, which included 8 hours a week from 1/20 until he left on 4/8 for a total of 88 hours of supervised athletic activities per student athlete, 23 days of open recruiting and 26 days of quiet period. He also left a week before the start of spring practice and had to replaced by someone from within the program because of those time constraints.

Do you really think those are the same things because they both replaced a coordinator?

 

[Rosegreen1]

I don’t understand the pessimism and crying about being a preseason top 25 program.

This is a very talented team, the number of highly rated players coming in is mind blowing. Pair that with a very good coaching staff and one of the top head coaches in the game.

We’re not paying Mullen and having a good NIL deal just to eke through a season to 6 wins.

 

[Couev]

I don’t understand the pessimism and crying about being a preseason top 25 program.

There's a big gulf between guarded optimism and pessimism. This urge to try and put everything into a dichotomous box is wild. I stand on principle that given the question marks in the program I think a top 25 pre-season is premature. You say you don't understand but let me break down what I'm seeing which gives me some hesitation. We're replacing 22 of 25 starters, something like 80% of our previous years snaps (I refused to pay for the PFF so if that number is based on estimation and if I"m wrong I'll humbly retract though I think I'm coming in conservative). You've lost 18 of your top 20 tacklers and retained #7 and #20. You've lost 15 of your top 19 scrimmage yards retaining #2, #13, #14, and #19. This is way more turnover than we saw even under Odom's first year. We had to replace a coordinator almost 4 months into the staff's first season.

This is a very talented team, the number of highly rated players coming in is mind blowing. Pair that with a very good coaching staff and one of the top head coaches in the game.

I agree the talent is probably the highest it's ever been. The coaching staff is really good. Calling Mullen one of the top head coaches in the game is a bit of a stretch--definitely one of if not the best in the G6 though. We are bringing in some quality P4 depth who DID get snaps. There are reasons to be optimistic. I think the ceiling is higher than last year, I just think the floor is lower as well.

We’re not paying Mullen and having a good NIL deal just to eke through a season to 6 wins.

I'm sure Auburn thought the same of Hugh Frieze and Brian Harsin. Or TAMU with Jimbo Fisher. Or FSU with Mike Norvell. Or Brent Venables with Oklahoma. And that's just a few off my head without any research. If success were always simply a function of money then we wouldn't have flops or burnouts at the big programs, but that's simply not the case.

 

[rebel5280]

There's a big gulf between guarded optimism and pessimism. This urge to try and put everything into a dichotomous box is wild. I stand on principle that given the question marks in the program I think a top 25 pre-season is premature. You say you don't understand but let me break down what I'm seeing which gives me some hesitation. We're replacing 22 of 25 starters, something like 80% of our previous years snaps (I refused to pay for the PFF so if that number is based on estimation and if I"m wrong I'll humbly retract though I think I'm coming in conservative). You've lost 18 of your top 20 tacklers and retained #7 and #20. You've lost 15 of your top 19 scrimmage yards retaining #2, #13, #14, and #19. This is way more turnover than we saw even under Odom's first year. We had to replace a coordinator almost 4 months into the staff's first season.


I agree the talent is probably the highest it's ever been. The coaching staff is really good. Calling Mullen one of the top head coaches in the game is a bit of a stretch--definitely one of if not the best in the G6 though. We are bringing in some quality P4 depth who DID get snaps. There are reasons to be optimistic. I think the ceiling is higher than last year, I just think the floor is lower as well.



I'm sure Auburn thought the same of Hugh Frieze and Brian Harsin. Or TAMU with Jimbo Fisher. Or FSU with Mike Norvell. Or Brent Venables with Oklahoma. And that's just a few off my head without any research. If success were always simply a function of money then we wouldn't have flops or burnouts at the big programs, but that's simply not the case.

We don’t play in these conferences at all so I think there is more room for optimism and less pessimism, we are in the MWC not the Big 12, B10, ACC or SEC!

Mullen is probably the best coach in the MWC now but yeah in the game, probably not but he is the best one we have had since JR!

 

[RebelScrub]

There's a big gulf between guarded optimism and pessimism. This urge to try and put everything into a dichotomous box is wild. I stand on principle that given the question marks in the program I think a top 25 pre-season is premature. You say you don't understand but let me break down what I'm seeing which gives me some hesitation. We're replacing 22 of 25 starters, something like 80% of our previous years snaps (I refused to pay for the PFF so if that number is based on estimation and if I"m wrong I'll humbly retract though I think I'm coming in conservative). You've lost 18 of your top 20 tacklers and retained #7 and #20. You've lost 15 of your top 19 scrimmage yards retaining #2, #13, #14, and #19. This is way more turnover than we saw even under Odom's first year. We had to replace a coordinator almost 4 months into the staff's first season.


I agree the talent is probably the highest it's ever been. The coaching staff is really good. Calling Mullen one of the top head coaches in the game is a bit of a stretch--definitely one of if not the best in the G6 though. We are bringing in some quality P4 depth who DID get snaps. There are reasons to be optimistic. I think the ceiling is higher than last year, I just think the floor is lower as well.



I'm sure Auburn thought the same of Hugh Frieze and Brian Harsin. Or TAMU with Jimbo Fisher. Or FSU with Mike Norvell. Or Brent Venables with Oklahoma. And that's just a few off my head without any research. If success were always simply a function of money then we wouldn't have flops or burnouts at the big programs, but that's simply not the case.

Jimbo fisher cashed out lol.

 

[Couev]

We don’t play in these conferences at all so I think there is more room for optimism and less pessimism, we are in the MWC not the Big 12, B10, ACC or SEC!

That's a fair counter point. However, apart from Frieze those guys were at or near the top of the salaries in their conference when they were signed which is why I picked those guys for the comparison. We're not the SEC, but you can pay top dollar for a coach and have an amazming NIL program compared to your peers and still put up a struggle bus to miss or barely make bowl eligibility. Hell, Jimbo is still making more per year right now than everyone in the SEC but Smart, Sark, DeBoer, and Kelly--and in 2017 when he signed the deal he was number two in the SEC behind only Nick Saban and when he signed his extension in 2021 he was the #1 salary in the SEC.

Mullen is probably the best coach in the MWC now but yeah in the game, probably not but he is the best one we have had since JR!

I agree. JRob had a better resume, but at the time we had him he was in the last little whimper of his career--his best years were gone. I don't know that you can say the same thing about Mullen, and on paper he should be an upgrade to Odom.

 

[dcut03]

That's a fair counter point. However, apart from Frieze those guys were at or near the top of the salaries in their conference when they were signed which is why I picked those guys for the comparison. We're not the SEC, but you can pay top dollar for a coach and have an amazming NIL program compared to your peers and still put up a struggle bus to miss or barely make bowl eligibility. Hell, Jimbo is still making more per year right now than everyone in the SEC but Smart, Sark, DeBoer, and Kelly--and in 2017 when he signed the deal he was number two in the SEC behind only Nick Saban and when he signed his extension in 2021 he was the #1 salary in the SEC.



I agree. JRob had a better resume, but at the time we had him he was in the last little whimper of his career--his best years were gone. I don't know that you can say the same thing about Mullen, and on paper he should be an upgrade to Odom.

I generally agree with your guarded optimism, and my nature is the exact same.

The good news that near complete roster turnover isn't such a crazy thing these days. So that is to our favor, vs how it would be traditionally.

I think we should be at least top 3, and the realistic ceiling is a MW crown and a potential Playoff berth in year 1. A lot will have to go right for that to happen, but the schedule is somewhat favorable to make that happen.

Mullen has had immediate turnarounds at really tougher jobs with less advantages compared to his peers, so I think some optimism is logical. But I don't think we are playoff or bust in year one, that just isn't reasonable even if it is attainable.

 

[Couev]

I generally agree with your guarded optimism, and my nature is the exact same.

The good news that near complete roster turnover isn't such a crazy thing these days. So that is to our favor, vs how it would be traditionally.

I think we should be at least top 3, and the realistic ceiling is a MW crown and a potential Playoff berth in year 1. A lot will have to go right for that to happen, but the schedule is somewhat favorable to make that happen.

But a lot will have to go right for that to happen. Mullen has had immediate turnarounds at really tougher jobs with less advantages compared to his peers, so I think some optimism is logical. But I don't think we are playoff or bust in year one, that just isn't reasonable even if it is attainable.

My feeling is that we'll be a top 25 team at some point legitimately this year, I just don't have enough questions answered after spring practice to feel confident saying we're already a top 25 team.

This is a funny place though, most of the time we're a cranky, salty, jaded bunch and anyone who even shows a shred of hope or optimism will get people shitting on them all the time. But here I am having to fight for not thinking that this is already the greatest team in UNLV history and the fact that I don't think we're there yet makes me essentially a doomer.

 

[dcut03]

My feeling is that we'll be a top 25 team at some point legitimately this year, I just don't have enough questions answered after spring practice to feel confident saying we're already a top 25 team.

This is a funny place though, most of the time we're a cranky, salty, jaded bunch and anyone who even shows a shred of hope or optimism will get people shitting on them all the time. But here I am having to fight for not thinking that this is already the greatest team in UNLV history and the fact that I don't think we're there yet makes me essentially a doomer.

It funny, but ESPN has our QB situation ranked in th 82-89 tier. Not 82-89th best QB, just the 82-89th best QB room.

I think most of us feel pretty good about QB, but that is pretty bad, at least pretty bad for a team with Playoff aspirations.

Ranking all 136 FBS QB situations into tiers ahead of the 2025 season

From Clemson to Kennesaw State, David Hale ranks all 136 FBS school quarterbacks into tiers.

www.espn.com

 

[Couev]

It funny, but ESPN has our QB situation ranked in th 82-89 tier. Not 82-89th best QB, just the 82-89th best QB room.

I think most of us feel pretty good about QB, but that is pretty bad, at least pretty bad for a team with Playoff aspirations.

Ranking all 136 FBS QB situations into tiers ahead of the 2025 season

From Clemson to Kennesaw State, David Hale ranks all 136 FBS school quarterbacks into tiers.

www.espn.com

There's big questions marks there. Orji was a 4 star recruit, but in 3 years with the Wolverines he didn't even throw 50 pass attempts despite them having a lot of injury issues during some of those years. And when he did throw he dinked and dunked and only went off one read and some RPO stuff (Average yards per attempt of 2.60 for his career and 2.55 last year--which had he gotten enough attempts to qualify would be dead last in the nation. Good, powerful runner though, but problems with accuracy and getting through simple, one sided passing trees. Doesn't have big arm talent either. Colandrea was a 2 year starter for a bad ACC team who has average arm strength, but throws the ball like he thinks he's Favre. He also seems to lack touch and the ability to layer throws against zone defense. Better processor of passing schemes, but thinks guys are more open than they actually are and falls in love with his presnap reads. Surprisingly athletic, but also takes a lot of sacks and his lack of size can hurt his reading of the field (5'10) We know what we have with Friel and Ochoa, I think. Serviceable depth but probably not solid Division 1 starting material.

It's not great when you put it all down on paper. Now Mullen has a history of developing QBs so I'm hopeful we can figure it out with one or combination of those guys--However, I think if we're being honest, the situation is probably better than what we had going into last year with two low accuracy QBs from FCS schools.

 

[Boston Rebel 2]

It funny, but ESPN has our QB situation ranked in th 82-89 tier. Not 82-89th best QB, just the 82-89th best QB room.

I think most of us feel pretty good about QB, but that is pretty bad, at least pretty bad for a team with Playoff aspirations.

Ranking all 136 FBS QB situations into tiers ahead of the 2025 season

From Clemson to Kennesaw State, David Hale ranks all 136 FBS school quarterbacks into tiers.

www.espn.com

There are some big time question marks at QB so I get that rating.

 

[InZoneU]

The QB position does genuinely worry me as being the weak link this year. Colandrea just looks so small and a lot of those clips during spring were DBs picking off his tipped passes. Orji, who knows...

 

[bcvegaspt2]

Doug Flutie is short.
Russell Wilson is short.
Drew Brees is short.

I'm sure there are others but I cherrypicked that list to fit my narrative.
The positives are that both played in the P4 and Colandrea held his own, for the most part. Plus, I've got to trust in Mullen since his track record deserves the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Boston Rebel 2]

Doug Flutie is short.
Russell Wilson is short.
Drew Brees is short.

I'm sure there are others but I cherrypicked that list to fit my narrative.
The positives are that both played in the P4 and Colandrea held his own, for the most part. Plus, I've got to trust in Mullen since his track record deserves the benefit of the doubt.

I agree and think Mullen will do well with them. In terms of how they looked on the field, it wasn’t particularly impressive so I can see why there are big question marks. Think he will improve their play but until you see it on the field I get the low ranking.

 

[RebelinWA]

Doug Flutie is short.
Russell Wilson is short.
Drew Brees is short.

I'm sure there are others but I cherrypicked that list to fit my narrative.
The positives are that both played in the P4 and Colandrea held his own, for the most part. Plus, I've got to trust in Mullen since his track record deserves the benefit of the doubt.

There is a lot of talent in both Colandrea and Orji. Colandrea happens to hold a record for the most passing yards as a rookie for any true freshman in the power conferences.

For context, he threw more yards in his freshman season alone than:
1. Johnny Stanton did in his entire 14 game career.
2. Hajj did last season (I know he ran a lot too).
3. Almost as many as Friel has for his entire career.

He did all of that while running for his life. Virgina's O line was very bad. Last season alone, he got sacked 39 times. In fact, he was the third most sacked QB in the nation after Shedeur Sanders (42) and Brayden Schager (40). He also played 2 less games than Sanders did.

 

[Boston Rebel 2]

There is a lot of talent in both Colandrea and Orji. Colandrea happens to hold a record for the most passing yards as a rookie for any true freshman in the power conferences.

For context, he threw more yards in his freshman season alone than:
1. Johnny Stanton did in his entire 14 game career.
2. Hajj did last season (I know he ran a lot too).
3. Almost as many as Friel has for his entire career.

He did all of that while running for his life. Virgina's O line was very bad. Last season alone, he got sacked 39 times. In fact, he was the third most sacked QB in the nation after Shedeur Sanders (42) and Brayden Schager (40)

That O line could account for some of those picks…hopefully.

 

[Couev]

Doug Flutie is short.
Russell Wilson is short.
Drew Brees is short.

I'm sure there are others but I cherrypicked that list to fit my narrative.
The positives are that both played in the P4 and Colandrea held his own, for the most part. Plus, I've got to trust in Mullen since his track record deserves the benefit of the doubt.

There are lots of outliers of short kings being solid QBs, especially in the college game. Ty Detmer, Eric Crouch, and Johnny Manziel also both won the Heisman and both were under 6 feet. Manziel, like Wilson, is from a more modern version of the game with huge lineman as well so it can be done with a short guy--especially if he has a wiggle.

Generally, those guys all have a couple of qualities that are + or ++, whether it's a big arm, the ability to run the ball, the ability to make broken plays, footwork/mechanics, or outstanding accuracy.

I don't think Colandrea has any of those really, maybe a + athleticism, but I don't know that he has anything that I'd judge to be ++. He doesn't have great mechanics though, and that's where I am hoping Mullen can lift him up. Orji probably has more + characteristics, but again, nothing that I'd call ++.

If Mullen can fix footwork and throwing mechanics either of these guys will take a huge step forward. But Orgi had 2 years with Harbaugh who is pretty solid as a QB coach, he helped develop Luck and did an excellent job with Smith and Kaepernick in the pros. Colandrea came from Tony Elliot's program who was the QB guru on Clemson's staff where he coached and developed both Watson and Lawrence. And that's probably why I have my doubts. It wasn't like these guys were struggling under Ed Orgeron and not getting any good QB development.

 

[RebelinWA]

There are lots of outliers of short kings being solid QBs, especially in the college game. Ty Detmer, Eric Crouch, and Johnny Manziel also both won the Heisman and both were under 6 feet. Manziel, like Wilson, is from a more modern version of the game with huge lineman as well so it can be done with a short guy--especially if he has a wiggle.

Generally, those guys all have a couple of qualities that are + or ++, whether it's a big arm, the ability to run the ball, the ability to make broken plays, footwork/mechanics, or outstanding accuracy.

I don't think Colandrea has any of those really, maybe a + athleticism, but I don't know that he has anything that I'd judge to be ++. He doesn't have great mechanics though, and that's where I am hoping Mullen can lift him up. Orji probably has more + characteristics, but again, nothing that I'd call ++.

If Mullen can fix footwork and throwing mechanics either of these guys will take a huge step forward. But Orgi had 3 years with Harbaugh who is pretty solid as a QB coach, he helped develop Luck and did an excellent job with Smith and Kaepernick in the pros. Colandrea came from Tony Elliot's program who was the QB guru on Clemson's staff where he coached and developed both Watson and Lawrence. And that's probably why I have my doubts. It wasn't like these guys were struggling under Ed Orgeron and not getting any good QB development.

At least for Orji, the defenses he faced were pretty scary. Michigan had an O line problem, but not to the extent of Virginia.

 

[rebel5280]

At least for Orji, the defenses he faced were pretty scary. Michigan had an O line problem, but not to the extend of Virginia.

The good thing is we are not in the ACC or the B10, we are in the MWC and that should make sledding for both QB’s a little easier. Both guys are big time talents, either out of high school Orji or already playing in larger conferences, so taking a step down to the MWC is a breather for both.

Let’s hope the combination of step down in competition and their talent gives us an edge this fall!

 

[Couev]

At least for Orji, the defenses he faced were pretty scary. Michigan had an O line problem, but not to the extend of Virginia.

Virginia's line was woeful, and had been for both of Colandrea's years there. Orji's 3 starts were against USC (meh defense), Michigan State (poor defense), and Minnesota (pretty good defense). His snaps against OSU, Oregon, Texas, and Indiana were all as a runner--0 passing attempts in the four appearances against the best defenses in the B1G.

 

[Couev]

The good thing is we are not in the ACC or the B10, we are in the MWC and that should make sledding for both QB’s a little easier. Both guys are big time talents, either out of high school Orji or already playing in larger conferences, so taking a step down to the MWC is a breather for both.

Let’s hope the combination of step down in competition and their talent gives us an edge this fall!

I think that's a sane optimist's take. I hope you're right and I'm wrong!

 

[UNLVRebelDog]

I see the talent across the roster. My concerns are chemistry, QB's and the kicking game. We've generally excelled in these areas as of late. We've especially been blessed with great kickers and competitive games are often won and lost here.

We aren't playing for bowl games now. We're playing for a conference invitation, so 10 win seasons are the new bar with this coaching staff, in my opinion. That doesn't mean I can't see all our flaws, but we should be very competitive in an average conference.

 

[rebel5280]

I think that's a sane optimist's take. I hope you're right and I'm wrong!

I know my opinion is just that mine and I am optimistic due to the coaches we now have for football and basketball. You and everyone else is entitled to your own opinion, I can handle that.

I know all about “guarded optimism” and I get that too but I am hoping that those days are soon over for all of us concerning UNLV football and basketball.

I have been the biggest pessimist in the past because of coaches like Arroyo in football and TJ Cheeseburger and Kevin Kruger in hoops but now the vanilla or baseless arrogance is gone and we are in good hands and will see winning results sooner rather later or at the very least both programs will be leaning in the right direction from now on!

 

[dcut03]

Mullen is the X factor. His track record with QBs is arguably elite, and he has had a lot of success with players that seemed to lack the traditional measurables.

And both QBs were hand picked by him, and not carryovers that he is trying to Make due with.

 

[UNLVRebelDog]

Mullen is the X factor. His track record with QBs is arguably elite, and he has had a lot of success with players that seemed to lack the traditional measurables.

And both QBs were hand picked by him, and not carryovers that he is trying to Make due with.

Even if Hajj-Malik Williams had another season, I think I'd prefer to roll the dice on a QB upgrade. We are going to be very difficult to scout.

 

[j. spilotro]

Even if Hajj-Malik Williams had another season, I think I'd prefer to roll the dice on a QB upgrade. We are going to be very difficult to scout.

Hajj was “good” for us, but let’s be honest. Our passing game was far from stellar.