Rebels QB Stanton comes back to Earth

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. — UNLV quarterback Johnny Stanton was flying high after his near-flawless first career Division I start, but the former Nebraska player has since crash-landed in lopsided losses to UCLA and Central Michigan.

After completing 10 of 12 passes for 217 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions against Jackson State, a Football Championship Subdivision team, in the season opener, Stanton has since completed only 26 of 69 passes (37.7 percent) for 284 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions.

Stanton was 15 for 41 for a seasonlow 131 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in Saturday’s 44-21 loss to the Chippewas at Kelly/Shorts Stadium. Rebels receivers dropped several passes but Stanton also missed several open wideouts.

“The thing that stinks is when you have a quarterback that’s trying to find himself and you have that many dropped balls, it sets him off,” UNLV coach Tony Sanchez said. “Having said that, he wasn’t real accurate. A lot of those balls could’ve been caught but they were behind receivers. It’s a lack of focus and we’ve got to get better at it.”

Stanton was at a loss to explain his struggles.

“I don’t know exactly what was wrong. All I know is I was missing passes and I’ll get that fixed,” he said. “I’m disappointed in myself. It starts and ends with me on the offensive side and we didn’t help the defense out at all.”