Summers ready to heat up

He made sure he knew his assignment on each play and where to line up. But Summers then found he didn’t have enough time to properly check the Aggies’ defensive set.

While Summers didn’t play poorly, this wasn’t the breakout game expected of the former University of California player and junior college All-American. He received surprisingly few touches in rushing 10 times for 40 yards, including a game-winning 11-yard touchdown.

No matter how many carries he gets in Saturday’s 7 p.m. home opener against Wisconsin, Summers at least expects to feel more comfortable.

“It was his first Division I football game, and he’s going to get better as time goes on,” UNLV coach Mike Sanford said Monday.

Summers already is establishing himself as a leader. He and fellow tailback David Peeples called a 12:30 p.m. meeting Sunday with the offensive linemen to talk about Utah State and watch videotape.

The meeting lasted until 2 p.m. when “the coaches kicked us out,” Summers said. At the meeting, Summers expressed his displeasure with the offensive line, which committed three false-start penalties against the Aggies.

“We were always playing catch-up,” Summers said. “I talked to the offensive line and said we couldn’t have mental mistakes because it sets us back. We were all on the same page because we win as a team, so we need to cut down on those mistakes that are critical, and they kill drives.”

Summers said the linemen were receptive, and he believed it was necessary to call the meeting with a top-10 team visiting this week. Wisconsin was No. 7 in The Associated Press Top 25, but is expected to move up at least one spot after No. 5 Michigan was upset Saturday.

“It’s a bigger week, and everybody knows it’s a big game,” Summers said.

Perhaps this will be a bigger week for Summers, a 240-pound junior who said he needs a lot of carries to be truly effective.

“The more carries, the better I do in a game,” he said. “I feel I wear down the defense. Guys don’t want to keep tackling.

“That’s true of any running back. You have to get in the rhythm of things. You figure out what the defense is going to do and how they’re going to tackle you.”

Sanford said he expected Summers to receive more carries, but wouldn’t commit to it because of uncertainty on how the game will proceed.

“There are going to be games where he will end up carrying the ball a lot,” Sanford said. “It will vary from team to team, from defense to defense.”

Utah State’s defensive strategy dictated the ball be mostly kept out of Summers’ hands. In the first half, the Aggies crowded the line while UNLV went conservative to ease redshirt freshman quarterback Travis Dixon into his first game. With little room to run, Summers gained 26 yards on eight carries.

Summers doesn’t expect the same strategy from Wisconsin. He said the Badgers not only “stayed true to the 4-3” in Saturday’s 42-21 win over Washington State, but they also used 4-2 and 4-1 defensive alignments.

Utah State was forced to spread out when the Rebels employed an empty backfield in the second half to cut down on the heavy blitzing.

The strategy worked as UNLV rallied from a 10-3 halftime deficit.

“We could’ve resorted to hammering away in there,” Sanford said, “and it would’ve been the same result in the second half. And I don’t think anybody would’ve wanted that.”

• NOTES — Tight end Chris Butler is this year’s Tom Wiesner Award winner, which goes to the senior who best displays courage and determination. Butler will wear a special patch all season. Wiesner, who played at Wisconsin, was instrumental in creating the series with the Badgers. This will be the fourth meeting between the teams since 2002, and games are scheduled for 2010 and 2011. … Treasure Island is Wisconsin’s official host hotel. Pep rallies are scheduled for 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday.