Thomas-Turner right connection

CHRIS GIVENS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

LAS VEGAS -- They have known each other since Pop Warner days, but never has the "Compton Connection" been more evident than Thursday night.
In the biggest game in either player's career, UNLV quarterback Jason Thomas and wide receiver Nate Turner had career games, leading the Rebels to a 31-14 victory over Arkansas in the Las Vegas Bowl.
The two grew up together in Compton, Calif., and Thursday night accounted for three touchdowns. Thomas passed for three scores, two to Turner.
"We told each other all week that we had to be there for each other," Turner said. "We've led this team all year, and we had to come up big tonight. We did."
Turner, a senior, didn't catch a pass in the second half, but he didn't have to. His 8 catches, 126 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half kept UNLV in the game.
Thomas then provided the winning margin with a 54-yard touchdown pass to Troy Mason in the third quarter. Thomas finished 12 for 17 for 217 yards and was named the game's MVP.
"I felt great out there, and me and Nate had it working," he said.
All of Turner's work came after dropping the first pass thrown to him.
"I had a chance to make a big-time play on my first pass and I dropped it," Turner said. "I had to come back and prove that I'm a big-time player."
Turner also proved he's a clutch player -- six of his eight catches were for UNLV first downs, including three on third down.
"If it's third-and-8, it's third and Nate," Thomas said. "I'm going to throw him the ball when it's on the line. I was looking for him in the clutch, and he made clutch catches."
Thomas entered this season with more pressure on him than any Rebel. It was supposed to be up to Thomas, a sophomore transfer from Southern California, to turn around a program that had won three games in two years.
Normally a mobile, scrambling quarterback but noticeably hampered by a sprained foot, Thomas showed he's a very capable drop-back passer. Staying in the pocket, Thomas' left-handed delivery and accuracy gave Arkansas fits.
It also gave UNLV its first bowl victory in six years.
"We have a saying, 'Big-time players make big-time plays,' " Thomas said. "I want to be a big-time player.
"This is the start of something here, something that I want to be a part of."

This article was published on Friday, December 22, 2000

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