Offensive line coming together as UNLV eyes 1st win

UNLV senior left guard Julio Garcia had a message Friday for the rest of the offensive line before the Rebels’ 38-30 road loss to Fresno State, then the No. 22 team in the country.

“Just from past weeks, we were kind of worried about the schemes and stuff and other things that the other team was doing,” Garcia said. “But I told the guys, ‘Let’s just attack.’”

UNLV’s offensive line helped pave the way for a season-high 433 yards from scrimmage Friday night, including a season-high 281 passing yards in a game the Rebels led midway through the fourth quarter. Senior running back Charles Williams eclipsed the century mark for the second time this season, finishing with 102 yards on 19 carries.

Quarterbacks Doug Brumfield and Cameron Friel had cleaner pockets from which to throw.

Garica manned his post at guard and incumbent starters Leif Fautan and Tiger Shanks assumed their respective posts at center and right tackle. But Daviyon McDaniel shifted from right guard to left tackle, replacing Clayton Bradley as the starter, and Amani Trigg-Wright made his first start of the season at right guard.

UNLV coach Marcus Arroyo acknowledged the changes Monday during his weekly conference, but credited the improved play to the chemistry the group is beginning to develop.

“More than anything, you’re seeing a group that’s playing together. The screen game, the run game, doing things more and more, I think are just helping us get a feel for who we are,” Arroyo said. “We didn’t go crazy. You don’t get a chance to install a bunch of stuff. … More than anything, it’s just the repetition and the continuity.”

Additional practice and game repetitions figure to help the offensive line, which has been a work in progress since the Sept. 2 opener against Eastern Washington. The Rebels ran for a season-high 199 yards that night, but issues in pass protection resulted in four sacks that proved costly in the 35-33 loss.

Ranked Power Five foes Arizona State and Iowa State dominated the trenches, limiting UNLV to 155 and 130 rushing yards, respectively. Arroyo teased the changes up front last week during his press conference and followed through Friday to key the second-highest yardage output of his 10-game tenure.

“They did a good job for a one-week change in a short week,” Arroyo said, noting that Bradley played Friday as part of a rotation. “We didn’t get everything we wanted. There’s some things we’ve got to clean up. We’re going to have another rotation set here this week. … I’m excited for them to get through and correct the errors from last week.”

Garcia, too, believes there’s still room for growth, particularly in pass protection. The Rebels allowed four more sacks Friday and are allowing an average of four per game thus far this season

“We’ve done a better job of staying on guys in the run and being more physical,” Garcia said. “Once we fix the (pass protection), we’ll be straight.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.