From the infirmary: Alvarez said Monday he doubts free safety Kevin Huntley will be able to play Saturday at Nevada-Las Vegas due to a sprained left ankle sustained in the season opener.
If Huntley, officially listed as questionable, cannot go against the Rebels, redshirt freshman Bobby Myers is expected to start and should get some extended work.
Meanwhile, linebacker Donny Eicher and offensive tackle Aaron Gibson have been cleared for practice. Eicher tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the spring game and underwent surgery May 23. Gibson strained the ACL in his left knee during preseason camp.
Alvarez said a realistic target for Eicher returning to action is the Big Ten Conference opener with Penn State Sept. 28. Gibson, meanwhile, is a day-to-day situation.
Using your connections: Turns out there are a lot of ties that bind UNLV coaches and players to football entities in Wisconsin.
For starters, UW running backs coach Brian White had two different coaching stints with the Rebels, the latest ending in 1994 when he came to Madison. Not only are some of his recruits on board, so are seven coaches with whom he shared a common goal, including head coach Jeff Horton.
Then there is Wisconsin linebackers coach Jay Hayes, who coached at California the same time as current Rebels assistant Mike Bredeson.
As far as players go, Badgers defensive end Dave Cruickshank played last season at Saddleback (Calif.) Community College along with current UNLV center Bubba Gonzalez and linebacker Scott Patton; Rebels long snapper Darin Lovat is the nephew of Green Bay Packers offensive line coach Tom Lovat; UNLV kicker Gabe Zendejas is the nephew of former Packers kicker Max Zendejas; UW true freshman defensive back Sam Elmore and Rebels linebacker Steve Newton hail from the same Banning (Calif.) High School program; and, last but not least, Wisconsin freshman linebacker Eddie Hartwell was a standout at Cheyenne High School in Las Vegas.
Oddly enough: As of Monday, there was no betting line available on the Badgers-Rebels game.
