Scouting the Nevada Offense

Quarterback Cody Fajarado leads the pistol offense against the Bulls.

The Nevada offense is a very unique challenge with its pistol formation.  While the pistol if the basic formation for them, the Wolfpack can throw down the field and will use their skill players to attack the perimeter of the Bulls defense.  The Wolfpack rolled 230 yards passing and 220 yards rushing in their opening win against Cal.  Let’s take a look at what challenge the Bulls will be facing in Reno.

At the left tackle position is senior Jeff Nady (6-7 310-pounds) with sophomore Kyle Roberts (6-6 305-pounds) behind him.  This will be a key match-up for the Bulls defensive line not only to get pressure but to also deal with linemen pulling, moving, and getting out to block on the running plays of the pistol offense.  At left guard is senior Chris Baker (6-4 305-pounds) and behind him is sophomore Kyle Papendorf (6-4 285-pounds).  At the center position is sophomore Matt Galas (6-1 275-pounds) who is a little bit undersized, so the defensive tackles (Sager, Grissom, Watson) should be able to get some pressure on him (redshirt freshman Conner Talbott (6-3 285-pounds) is his back-up).  Senior Alex Pinto (6-3 300-pounds) is the starter at the right guard position with redshirt freshman Sebastian Tretola (6-5 305-pounds as his reserve.  At the right tackle position is junior Joel Bitonio (6-4 300-pounds) with sophomore Mike Mitchell (6-4 290-pounds) who is behind him.  The line is the strength of the Nevada offense and so important for them to hit their gaps and make their assignments to spring the rushing attack for the offense.  The Bulls have to stay disciplined in their attack, not get out of position, and stay in their gaps to make the tackles and not got blown off the line in this game.

At the running back position (probably one of the most vital parts of their offense) is junior running back Stefphon Jefferson (5-11 200-pounds) who is the leading returning rusher from last season after carrying the ball 69 times for 436 yards and 5 touchdowns (was the number two RB on the depth chart last season behind Lumpford Mark and Mike Ball).  He had 34 carries for 145 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win for Cal, taking over the running game. Behind him is senior Nick Hale (5-10 210-pounds) who carried the ball 24 times for 107 yards last year and caught 2 passes for 18 yards total.  Behind him (see there is a lot of active depth to watch here) is redshirt freshman Tony Knight (6-1 225-pounds) who has a lot more power than most of the other backs.  Also on depth chart is sophomore Kendall Brock (5-9 195-pounds) who carried the ball 13 times for 103 yards last season, so look for him to even get into the mix as the Wolfpack like to rotate in fresh  legs for their offense, giving the defense a lot of different running styles to contend with.

At the quarterback position, the trigger man for the pistol offense, is sophomore Cody Fajardo (6-2 205-pounds).  Last season, Fajardo completed 142 passes out of 199 attempts for 1647 yards (71% completion percentage) including 6 touchdowns and also 5 interceptions.  He carried the ball for 119 times for a total of 765 yards and 11 touchdowns.  In the first game, Fajardo was 25 for 32 with 230 yards passing and rushed 21 times for 97 yards and one touchdown, picking up right where he left off from last season. With Nick Rolovich, the new offensive coordinator, it will be interesting to see how they develop his short passing game that became a major weapon at Hawaii.  Behind him is redshirt freshman Tanner Roderick (6-2 190-pounds) and sophomore Devin Combs (6-2 215-pounds) who both saw zero playing time last season.

At the tight end position, senior Zach Sudfeld gets the start (6-7 255-pounds) who caught just 1 pass for 3 yards last season.  He caught 4 passes for 41 yards. He will split duties with junior Kolby Arendse (6-3 245-pounds) who caught 26 passes for 340 yards (13.1 per reception) and scored 2 touchdowns. He caught 3 passes for 44 yards.  At the Z wide receiver position, junior Joe Huber (5-9 180-pounds) and sophomore Parker Vail (6-2 200-pounds) will split duties, neither recorded a stat last season.  At the X position, senior Brandon Wimberly (6-3 210-pounds) who caught 7 passes for 83 yards and will split duties with sophomore Kendall Brock who is also a reserve running back.  At the F receiver position is Aaron Bradley (6-1 272 yards) who caught 21 passes for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns and sophomore Neco Beard (6-0 205-pounds) who caught 1 pass for 4 yards.  What is easy to see is the lack of production for this group that shows they are a little inexperienced and are not the primary targets of the offense.  The receivers are primary blockers for the pistol offense and not primary targets in the passing game.  However, with Rolovich now at the helm of the offense, we could see a lot more quick screens, receivers in motion, trying to create space and attack the edges.

Overall, Nevada’s offense is one of the best in the nation, especially in the run game.  With a new coordinator calling the shots and adding his knowledge of the passing game, the Wolfpack are going to be a real challenge for the Bulls.  USF will have to play in their assignments, swarm to the ball carrier and not get caught out of position or it could lead to a long afternoon.