UNLV completed its final intrasquad scrimmage of the fall on Friday. It was also the last practice open to the public. The scrimmage was UNLV’s 17th of 29 practices that will take place before the September 1st opener against Jackson State.
Neither Johnny Stanton nor Kurt Palandech made any significant strides toward taking the starting position Friday. Both quarterbacks threw redzone interceptions. Stanton spoke to the Las Vegas Review-Journal about his interception.
“The interception in the end zone is a quarterback’s mortal sin,” Stanton said. “You can’t have any ball security issues in the red zone and we had a lot of them today. In practice, we’ve been a lot better than that. Coach has been happy with us on ball security. Today we didn’t show that. We really took a backward step in terms of holding onto the ball.”
Palandech also spoke about the interception play.
“That’s a decision that can’t be made,” said Palandech. “We’re in the red zone, we already have points and I have to have more ball security there and throw that one away or take the check down. That throw can’t be made and I’ll learn from it.”
Head coach Tony Sanchez gave his take on the quarterback battle that has been going on since spring football.
“I thought that Kurt played great. He was much better than (Saturday’s scrimmage). He just had one glaring mistake,” Sanchez said. “Can we correct it? Absolutely. His eyes were in the wrong place. Instead of looking for the open receiver, he should have his eyes on the corner.”
Sanchez spoke briefly about Stanton.
“Johnny struggled a little bit more than he did last time,” said Sanchez.
Sanchez also commented on the quarterback competition in its entirety.
“It’s one of those deals that if you need to let it play itself out and wait, then you wait. You don’t rush the decision, because the decision’s going to have a major impact on the season,” said Sanchez. “I’ll be honest with you, as of today, both guys are going to play in Game 1. I think one guy’s going to be named the starter and he’ll start to get the majority of the reps. But you’re going to see whoever the No. 2 is at some point in the first half.”
WATCH: @unlvfootball held its 2nd scrimmage of fall camp Friday. Hear from @UNLVSanchez on QB1 & team's progress.https://t.co/eJMHZtLLO4
— The Rebel Report (@RebelReportUNLV) August 20, 2016