Editor's note: The key matchup of each UNLV football game will be previewed in the Las Vegas Sun this season and followed up after the game by an examination of how it turned out.
It's a rush to start your first game as a college quarterback -- at least until you begin being pressured by one.
That's what Toledo's Bruce Gradkowski has to look forward to Friday, when the Rockets of the Mid-American Conference open the season against UNLV in a nationally televised game (ESPN) at Sam Boyd Stadium.
Gradkowski is a 6-foot-2, 204-pound junior who appeared in 13 games last year, mostly as a holder. He had a great high school career in Pittsburgh, passing for 2,978 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior, the most in the 87-year history of the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League that lists Joe Namath, Joe Montana, Dan Marino and Terry Hanratty among its alumni.
Gradkowski was the named the Toledo starter on Monday of this week, edging junior Cedric Stevens (6-4, 217), who played only sparingly last year. Toledo coach Tom Amstutz has said both quarterbacks will play a lot against the Rebels.
"We have a couple of guys here who can both play the position for us but they bring different elements to the table," Amstutz told the Toledo Blade after naming Gradkowski, the more proficient passer of two, as his starter.
"As a former defensive coach I can tell you it is definitely tougher to prepare for two guys than it is for one. By planning to play them both, it gives us more options offensively."
At some point, expect the Toledo quarterbacks to feel some heat from a Rebels blitz keyed by active safeties Jamaal Brimmer, last year's Mountain West defensive player of the year, and Joe Miklos, a first-year starter who spent last year as a linebacker.
But UNLV coach John Robinson said just because the Toledo quarterbacks are untested doesn't mean the Rebels will bring the kitchen sink in an attempt to unnerve them.
"I don't know that you necessarily do more (blitzing)," said Robinson, whose Rebels last year were 38-21 victims of Toledo and its veteran quarterback Brian Jones, who completed 10 of his first 11 passes to help the Rockets take control. "You do what you do (normally)."
Robinson said it's hard to create a game plan for a specific opponent when you've never seen it play, which is the case in season openers.
"You hope that because it's their first game, it gets them a little rattled," he said of Toledo's unproven quarterbacks. "But you just don't know what they're going to do.
"Teams with great defenses -- they just do what they do. Like Tampa Bay (in the NFL). The guys on TV always say how they make great adjustments. There's no adjustments. They just do what they do."
That said, it's doubtful the Toledo coaches showed the film of last year's UNLV-BYU game to Gradkowski and Stevens. That was the game Brimmer made a vicious blind-side hit on Cougars quarterback Matt Berry, sending his mouthpiece flying one way and the football the other.
Brimmer scooped up the fumble and returned it 27 yards for the clinching touchdown as UNLV beat BYU for the first time since 1981.
Asked if the Rebels planned to get to the young Toledo quarterbacks early, Brimmer said "it sure wouldn't hurt."
"Last year, the quarterback they had had a lot more experience and completed 70 percent of his passes," Brimmer said of Jones, who led the nation with a 70.2 completion percentage. "They were kind of a nit-picking team. They'd drive down the field and look for one big play."
Brimmer said the Rebels' goal was to take the Rockets out of their game plan by putting them into third-and-long situations and making their young quarterbacks produce a big play.
At the same time, the Rebels will have to be careful that they don't get burned. During Monday's luncheon, Robinson showed a clip from a scrimmage where the aggressive Miklos came storming up to the line on third-and-inches, only to be victimized by a long touchdown pass to the tight end directly over his head.
"You have to be a little subtle about it," Robinson said about showing blitz with safeties. "You can't let the quarterback see you or he'll change the play."
Miklos, whose high school team, De La Salle in Concord, Calif., went 25-0 during his two years as a starter, said the biggest adjustment he has had to make at safety is resisting the urge to attack the ball on every play.
"That's what I've got to work on," he said as the Rebels got ready to take the practice field under threatening skies Tuesday. "I feel comfortable playing close to the line with my linebacker experience. Playing back is a different concept but I think I've been picking it up all right."
Miklos said a best-case scenario Friday would have the defense forcing an early turnover to give the Rebels some momentum.
"That's huge, that's one of our biggest things," Miklos said. "When we make a big play out here, that does not go unnoticed by the coaches.
"Hopefully, getting stuff in practice will transfer to the game."
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