UNLV quarterback battle could be leaning toward Blake Decker

One key focus that the UNLV football team has been working on this spring is to find a replacement for departing quarterback Caleb Herring. Early on it was thought that Nick Sherry who has 14 career starts -- 12 as a freshman -- but was pulled after the first two games of last season in favor of Herring.

Well, Sherry is in midst of a quarterback battle this spring with Scottsdale Community College transfer Blake Decker. Decker put up 4,241 yards and 47 touchdowns at the community college, but he does not really care about those personal goals and wants to win the starting job at UNLV, and helping the team win.

"I go out there and I compete. I describe myself as a competitor," said Decker. ... "I want to win more than anything, if that means throwing no touchdowns or throwing eight touchdowns," he said. "It's all about the team and it's about winning."

Decker enrolled in January to be able to compete for the starting job this fall, and so far he is doing well. There is a sense of urgency for Decker as he is 23 years old and UNLV is his third school. Decker is of the Mormon faith and served a two-year church mission in Mexico City, and he also spent some time at BYU before transferring to a junior college.

Head coach Bobby Hauck feels that Decker is more mature and with that hopefully he can pick up the playbook this spring and summer with a chance to possibly be the starter. So far, Hauck has been the impression of Decker being a fast learner, but also says that it will take a lot of work for him to be as comfortable with the playbook as Sherry who is entering his third year in the program.

Whoever is the quarterback will have a friendly wide receiver in Devante Davis who is an all-Mountain West player, and possibly even an All-American candidate.

The Rebels just wrapped up spring break and will finish up their spring practices over the next two weeks, but it seems likely that the starting quarterback job will not be decided until the fall.