The “Mike” and the “Backer” are the two players on the team that should be counted on to make the most plays –more specifically the Mick. The defense is schemed around the Mick linebacker. He has the most opportunities to blitz and also has D-linemen in front of him so he is free to make plays in the running game.

In recent years that Mick spot has been filled with an experienced player with proven play making abilities. This year Bauman has been shouldering the responsibility of replacing two very visible past players –Cameron Jensen and Kelly Poppinga. All three players played different and where good for different reasons. Matt Bauman hasn’t developed his own identity quite yet. Matt plays exceptionally hard and puts himself in good positions to make plays, but he hasn’t proven himself as someone who is going to make the “big play.”

Matt Ahyou and Doman are in the same boat. They are learning and developing, but we are all becoming impatient.

Hooks was the most physical out of the bunch and I have high hopes for Pritchard. The simple fact is our defense is still inexperienced. They aren’t paying attention to the finer points of the game. They haven’t developed into the players they can be. It’s a problem of understanding the X’s and O’x well enough so they can than focus on formations, personal and tendency. Carmeron, Kelly, Markell and Wagner all had a deep enough understand of the defense, which freed their mind up to concentrate of other aspects of playing their postion. In short they mastered their positions, but it didn’t happen over night. They had time.

For me the jury is still out. I have seem both Matt Bauman, Shawn Doman, Matt Ahyou and Hooks play well. But when was the last time you saw a huge hit or a crucial sack from these guys? I can’t remember. Are they turning into solid players that can stop the run and be counted on in coverage? Or should we abandon players that are in their first real year as starters and need more chances to prove themselves?

This group has only lost one game. That means they are doing something right. I would say we need to trust the coaching staff that they are going to put the best players on the field.

Matt Bauman is #35 and we sometimes called him “Little General”. Let’s hope he can continue to develop into another good BYU linebacker.

The defensive back post is coming next, I am putting the final touches on it!!!

In comparing last weeks loss and this weeks win their are a few things that stick out in my mind.

BYU made plays early, which gave the Cougars the emotional edge throughout the game. We also involved more people and forced the UNLV defense to play an “honest” game. On the defensive side of the ball we made crucial plays in order to escape with a win. I say “escape” because for some reason we tried as hard as we could to give UNLV every opportunity to win the game.

Offense

The offense was at times very efficient. What I didn’t like was the fact that we didn’t throw the haymaker left hook to knock the head off the Running Rebels. Instead we let them hang around and believe they could beat us. In all, the statistical data was fairly even. UNLV even out passed us.

UNLV Rushing – 31 attempts for 112 yards
BYU Rushing – 34 attempts for 209 yards

UNLV Passing – 351
BYU Passing – 245

UNLV Total Yardage – 75 plays 463 yards
BYU Total Yardage – 66 plays 454 yards

That’s enough statistical crap. Lets get to how each position group played.

Offensive line

Looking at the statistics you can see that our line performed very well. They exploded off the line and provided our backs with gaping holes to run through. The big nasties did a great job of sealing off the linebackers and getting to the second level of the defense. This allowed our running backs gains of 6-10 yards instead of three yards and a cloud of dust. They also gave Max ample time in the pocket and when the receivers were covered, Max was able to find running lanes for positive yardage.

This was the first game I noticed how good Matt Reynolds really is. He has great feet and body position and when he gets in the open field against line backers and defensive backs he munches them up like Pac-man. He also continues to protect Max’s blind side in passing situations, which means he is matched up against the defense’s best pass rusher. Well done middle Reynolds, well done.

As a side note – This game was the first time where physically our offensive line’s bellies were matched in diameter and volume. There were some seriously voluptuous figures on the field yesterday.

Running Backs

I thought Harvey would have a big day and he did. Coach Anae came into this game wanting to establish a running game and he made a statement. Harvey had 19 rushes for 84 yards and Fu-Manchu had a great day with 72 yards on 9 carries. I hope this is a turning point for the BYU offense to consistantly churn out great performances from these two Tongans.

It was especially satisfying to see Fui in good form. He looks like he has regained his speed from 2006 and is finally back to full strength. Our backs are better than the statistics show. Our running backs haven’t been given the chances they need to make a defense shutter in fear. Today they did and CSU didn’t like what they saw.

I would also like to see these two get more involved in the passing game. Fui had a TD catch and Harvey had a couple of catches out of the backfield, but we need them to turn  into the players Manase and Curtis were. If we can establish this part of our offense as well as the down field passing scheme, it will add a much needed dimension that can alleviate some of the pressure on Max.

Receivers (Tight Ends included)

Austin continues to prove that he is the go-to-guy for our offense. He ended his day with 7 receptions and 113 yards. He also provided a needed boost on special teams; nearly returning UNLV’s initial kick-off for a TD.

In the first couple of possessions Max used Dennis Pitta and Andrew George, but as the game wore on he threw less and less their way. Mike Reed had a decent day, but he isn’t playing as well as he did in the first 4 games of this season. His routes look sloppy and he isn’t making sharp cuts to create space so he can catch the ball.

I also had to do a double take when I saw Mr. Chambers catch his first BYU touchdown. I thought it was Mike for a second. Let’s hope it’s the first of many to come.

Quarterback

Max was 24-31 with zero interceptions. He came close to being picked a couple of times, but UNLV couldn’t come up with the ball. By the way – i-backs play action with Austin on a deep route doesn’t work anymore. Let’s retire that play for a few weeks.

Max showed improvement in the way he got rid of the ball quickly and threw the ball on time to his receivers. He also did a good job of tucking the ball and running when nothing was open. I even think I saw a flash of an athleticism from Max today. Although he did get out run by a linemen on that end around to Collie.

It was good to see Max take what the defense gave him. Coach Anae also concentrated on the running game, which took a little pressure off of Max’s shoulders. He threw accurate balls and didn’t throw interceptions. In a game where BYU rushed for over 200 yards we couldn’t have asked for a better quarterback performance.

Defense

Teams have found our soft spots and they are now working those spots to their benefit. Gone are the days of power football with a hat on a hat. From Saturday on the Cougars will be playing against four and five receiver formations. Our coverages and our defensive pressure needs to improve if we are going to make stops on third down.

I am honestly looking for positive things to say. Our defense just didn’t make enough plays to separate themselves as the better team. Teams know who they need to attack and are executing plays that match up their offensive speed against our smarts and the speed has been making more plays.

I also questioned some of the defensive calls. I didn’t want to, but I just missed the point of bringing certain blitzes in third and short situations. It gave UNLV the chance to get the ball off quick with our DB’s aligned too deep.

Defensive Line

This group did the job, holding the Rebel Tank to 33 yards. Despite being somewhat banged up they preformed well. It was particularly satisfying to hear a few other names over the load speaker as Matt Putnam and Mosesa Foketi made some good plays. Since Jan’s break-out season teams have taken notice and they have devoted more people to making sure that Jan does not single handedly control the line of scrimmage.

We needed our DE’s to play the run well and they did. For the most part they kept the quarterback contained and they stayed in their rush lanes.

Where could this group improve? They need to find ways to win their one on one match-ups when our defensive backs are in man coverage. Our Corners and safeties need the D-linemen to get pressure on the quarterback and disrupt the quarterbacks timing. We didn’t get enough consistent pressure to say that these big fellas dominated. Let’s just say the played the run well…. and stop there.

It was a solid performance that will have to improve if we are going to limit offenses passing efficiency and yardage.

Linebackers

Shawn Doman and Colby Clawson played well. Nixon needs to heal-up so he can again put pressure on the quarterback. That is what we are missing this year. Our defense is missing a middle backer that rushes the quarterback like a bat out of hell. Matt Bauman is a solid defender, but he hasn’t controlled the middle like our defense needs.

I wouldn’t say that this group shined, but they kept the ball in front of them and fought throughout the game.

Where this group needs to improve is in their coverage of the third receiver to the strong side and the second receiver to the weak side. UNLV used this match-up to move the ball down the middle of the field. Also in short yardage situations they need to expand their zones, pushing outward to cover the receiver who is “banging” away from them. This is a tough concept, but if we are going to stop teams in third down situations we will need to be better.

Defensive Backs

First and foremost I would like to comment on Andrew Rich’s toughness. He knocked out a UNLV’s receiver and himself, stumbled off the field. On his way to the sideline he found his wits and came back in when his team needed him. He’s going to be a good player.

I also thought Brandon Bradley played well. He is still a situation corner, but after his performance it is going to be hard to keep him off the field.

We installed a man coverage scheme this week. It is a good start. Our corners and safeties need to get used to playing more man to man. I think as we use this coverage more our timing and understanding will get better and we will see more and more balls being knocked down.

There were a few things that concerned me.

1. The amount of times our coverage broke down late and gave up long passes. Our DB’s didn’t plaster to the receivers running through their zones and they couldn’t close out the space while the ball was in the air. This is in part due to their position behind the receiver, so lets work on getting on the receivers hip so we won’t have to close out as much space. ah.
2. When our corners and safeties get a chance to make a play. MAKE IT! Don’t squander your opportunities for interceptions or big hits. They don’t come to often.
3. With David Tafuna getting hurt and Rich knocking himself out on receivers it leaves more responsibility on Kellen Fowler and Co. It is time to see who is going to step up and take charge when the chips are down. Kellen has done an adequate job, but with more teams testing our secondary, we need players that are going to make plays -alla Brandon Bradely.
4. We need more turnovers. Fumbles, interceptions etc. We need them big time bad.

We continued to show sign of struggling with speed. Teams are spreading us out and forcing our perimeter players to make plays one on one. Our edge players need to be better at beating a block and making a tackle. Tafuna did a good job early, but as the game got closer their experienced receivers started getting the best of our edge defenders. STOP GETTING CUT. You will never make a play on the ground. There isn’t away to teach speed, but BYU defenders can speed themselves up with early recognition of formations. Making quick and decisive decisions, playing with crazy effort and most of all preparation. Our defense needs to get in with the Coaches watch film, especially paying attention to the small details.

Special Teams

It would have been a prefect special teams preformance, but Sorenson kicked the ball out of bounds twice. This put the UNLV offense in great position to drive the ball down the field and score points. We can’t expect to kick the ball out of bounds each week and not continue to get burned. Let’s forget about deep left and just let Sorenson kick the crap out of the ball.

It was awesome to see Bryan Karyia hurling himself at the the personal punting shield. That job isn’t for the faint of heart. It was an exciting play and set us up with great field position. Bryan also came down the field on the kick-off cover team and made a huge hit. Mark my words this kid is going to make a lot of plays as a Cougar.

Austin and O’neal also did a great job returning kick-offs. Austin had one huge return and was one step away from a couple of others. Chambers showed some athleticism, jumping over a defender. But he got stuck by the next defender – so it was bitter sweet.

A few good things to remember:

• Our team is developing the identity of a team that wins the close games. A few years ago this wasn’t the case. We have turned the corner and no longer miss opportunities when the game is on the line. Block a field goal, intercept a ball, get a sack or drive the ball down the field and punch in the go ahead TD and two point coversion. Our Cougars have turned into a team that can preform under pressure. This “cool” will be needed because the rest of the season is going to be close.
• The team has changed their practice habits and are working with a more focused determination. This means that BYU will be better prepared for the tough road games coming up.
• Winning is never easy especailly when one side of the ball plays mediocre. Improvements can be made and confidence can be built, but making enough plays to win games isn’t easy.
• I hope the Cougars rung the victory bell a few extra times, took a deep breath. Monday and Tuesday is going to be important as we prepare for a CSU team that needs to win.

Today was a great day for the Cougars. Was it a blowout -like we are used to against UNLV? No, but it was the win we needed at home to maintain our dominance at LES and to get us back on track and re-focused on our goals, 1) Go undefeated at home and 2) win the MWC. There were a number of things that gave me some encouragement today, and still some things we need to work on. More than that, this is the second time this season that we have finished the game and out executed our opponent when the game was close. The sign of a good team is one that finds a way to win the close ones.

Here is what I saw from the Cougars today:

OFFENSIVE POSITIVES

* Play Calling: I really liked the way Coach Anae and the offense came out today and did some new things, while staying true to who we are. We stuck with the run game this week which paid dividends on the final drive of the game. Although some may disagree with me- I like Coach Anae’s pass plays. He stuck to his guns -managed the sticks- and didn’t try to get too much at once. I liked how we attempted to keep the UNLV D on its toes with some “trick” plays. Max on the speed option did a great job with the reads and Austin threw a great pass on the WR pass.
* The Play of Max Hall: There were 3 things today that really impressed me with Max. First and foremost, Max spread the ball around. Off the top of my head I can count 9 players who caught passes today (Unga, Collie, Pitta, George, Reed, DiLuigi, Vakapuna, White, Chambers) and three cougars caught TDs. When Max takes advantage of all the threats we have offensively, defenses will no longer be able to roll coverages to take away Austin or Dennis.

Second, Max tucked the ball and ran for good yardage. One was a long run for a first down, another got about 4 yards to set up a 2nd and manageable. The great thing about him tucking and running is that it shows LBs he is multi-dimensional. The LB’s will eventually have to step and pressure Max. He can then hit the short routes when the LB’s vacate their zones.

Finally, Max made good decisions. For the first part of the season Max had been throwing about 4-6 passes/game that were ill-advised. Today he cut that number to two.

I was impressed that Coach Doman and Max adjusted some things this week, and it showed in the game. This is the most growth I’ve seen from Max in a while.
* Run Offense and Fui: We got back to running the ball today and when it mattered we got it done. Most of all I was happy to see Big #1 have the drive of his season, thus far. Fui ran hard and made good cuts and capped it off with a TD reception. Fui has been through a lot of challenges in the last two years and has sacrificed a lot for the team. I was happy to see him get back in the EZ.

OFFENSIVE NEGATIVES

* No Big Plays: Although we threw in some different plays, they did not change the game or give our offense an extra boost. Basically, they didn’t win the game for us or change the momentum of the game. This is good and bad. We were fundamentally sound with our “vanilla” offense, and would have been just as successful sticking to our normal stuff. I would have liked to see the “trick” plays go for big yardage, not just 5-6 yards.
* Offensive Line on the Run: We were strong on two drives, but for the most part the UNLV front 7 out toughed our OLine. Some may not agree, because on paper we were successful running, but I have really high expectations for our front 5. They are monsters, and should dominate opposing fronts. Playing good does not cut it for me from them.

DEFENSIVE POSITIVES

* Stopped the Running QB: The wildcat formation and Omar Clayton’s feet did not beat us. The reason why? I will discuss in the negatives.
* Containing the Tank: Frank the Tank did not beat us between the 20’s. He had a couple big runs, but we also did a great job of penetrating the Line of Scrimmage and hitting Summers in the backfield. This was big because I feel that Frank has improved since last year. He was a little more nimble and had decent acceleration.
* NIXON and Pritchard: First Pritchard on the Personal Foul. I know it sounds weird that a PF would be a positive, but I think that Pritchard getting that lick on Clayton sparked something in the team. I don’t think it was a cheap shot or late hit. He got called because of the helmet to helmet contact. We needed someone on D to step up and be physical, and Pritchard set the tone. Feeding of that the most was David Nixon. Although he did not get a sack, Clayton will be icing a lot of bruises tomorrow for the licks he took from Dave in the second half. I was just happy to see someone trying to make the big play.
* Matt Putnam: This is not the first time Matt Putnam has come up with a great play this year. At the end of the game I was thinking to myself…”Who is going to make the big play? Nobody on D has made “THE PLAY” yet today. Then Matt Putnam got the big sack. Matt is having a great year when you take into consideration the number of snaps he plays.
* Scott Johnson: Still the best open field tackler on the team and the one voted “Most Likely to Challenge Summers to a Head on Collision.” I don’t know where everyone else was, but I was pumped when Scotty was the first one to hit Summers at the Goal line on the inside run.

DEFENSIVE NEGATIVES

* Pass Defense/Sacks: (They go hand in hand.) We are not getting any pressure on the QB and we are not getting coverage sacks either. This is the second game in row where I have witnessed our DL not put any pressure on the QB. This has to change in order for our team to be successful. I am not sure how much I am liking the Nickel and Dime packages right now. I am not going to second guess Coach Hill though, I am sure he is seeing something that I am not. We failed on 3rd down all day long by not being aggressive in our coverage (players, not scheme). There were also too many times today where we were in a good position coverage wise and just let the UNLV receivers make the plays. Right now I think the mentality is, “Don’t let him catch it.” When the ball is in the air for an hour and we have position I want our guys to say, “That’s MY ball!” and take it away.
* Run Defense: We are not consistent enough here. They came out and ran the wildcat for big yardage again. I think the only reason why we did not see more, was because they didn’t need it to move the ball. Their pass game was too effective between the 20’s and then inside the 20 it was all Tank and we could not stop him. I was least impressed with the fact that (as mentioned before) that a corner was sticking his nose in there before a DL or LB got to the RB at the goal line!

SPECIAL TEAMS POSTIVES

* Austin had a great return on the opening kickoff, but I was most impressed with Brett Denney leading the way down the sideline and throwing a great block to give Austin 10 more yards.
* CJ Santiago had a couple of really nice punts! And we had guys getting down the field and downing the ball inside the 5
* A Blocked Punt! Any time you can block a kick Kudos to you! Great job to all those hitting the wall on Punt Block. That was a big time play!

SPECIAL TEAMS NEGATIVES

* We lack the explosive player. Aside from the Nate Meikle return two years ago, which really was a TD (we didn’t challenge because it was 1st/goal on the inch line) we have not returned a KO in forever. Austin did a great job of hitting the hole and just running. Too many guys are interested in dancing on KOR. I am glad Austin just ran north and south. Eventually we need to get someone back there that has the speed to put those KORs away for TDs. Chambers may get there.

I was not going to give grades, but I will limit it to, Offense, Defense and Special Teams. They look like this:

Offense: A-

Better play, but still have a lot of room to grow. These guys are very talented, all 11 players on the field. They need to regain dominance. On the plus side they were not stopped today.

Defense: C

They weren’t physical enough on the field. The front 7 have to stop the run and the secondary needs to become ball hawks. We also let the opponent score over 24 which is not acceptable.

Special Teams: A+

Every Special Teams Coach came out looking good today. We had great coverage on KO. Big Returns on KOR. A blocked Punt! A couple punts downed inside the 10 and were sound in the FG/PAT game.”

Both offenses played at a high level and the our defense when faced with adversity came through and won the game. Both sides of the ball had some ugly moments, but in the end the offense drove down the field, scored and added the two point conversion. It was left up to our defense to make a play to win the game for us.

I was encouraged because we didn’t rely on our big name defensive players to make the needed plays. In the end Matt Putnam, Andrew Rich and Colby Clawson made the plays we needed in order to pull off the win.

Like I thought Harvey had a solid day with 19 rushes for 84 yards, and Fui added to the rushing total with 72 yards on 9 carries.

Let’s all be honest UNLV is a good team. If they can get their defense to consistently play as well as they did today they will end up winning some of these close games.

In all, it was a well deserved, tough victory. I would of liked to see our offense drive the nail in the coffin after the big fourth down stop by Colby Clawson, but we sputtered and only got a field goal.

I do think our team took a half step forward today. Different guys are starting to step up and make plays and we are beginning to develop the character and identity that we will need down the stretch. What is our identity?

We are a team that can take a teams best shot and still come up with the plays necessary to win the game. I am excited to see our team win on the last play of the game. Our offense needed to go what they needed to do and our defense came up with the plays to win. No matter how hard everyone is on our defense they still made the plays in the crucial situations to win the game.

Our league is tough and it will take another good week of practice to get another road victory.

-Look for the Post Game Wrap-up after the jump and this week Staff will also be adding his thoughts to the blog with his own post game insights.

UNLV’s Defensive Scheme:

The Running Rebels play a basic 4-3. Their defensive linemen are big space eaters, which frees up their linebacker to flow to the ball. They have some good zone blitzes and occasionally bring pressure up the middle. Their man coverages normally have a safety over top and their zone package is predominately cover 2.

Their defense does a decent job of matching up with receivers when they come into their zone. The linebackers do a good job of switching off underneath routes and cutting receivers off.

But as a whole, the defense is extremely lazy. They don’t pursue to the ball and they hardly ever gang tackle. Individual players within the defensive scheme -not as a team unit- make a lot of their plays. After a shoe string tackle or big hit the individual defender will often pound his chest while his teammates mosey back to the line of scrimmage. As you can tell I wasn’t impressed by Rebel’s defense.

The Defensive Line

The Rebel defensive linemen haven’t ever meet a buffet table they didn’t like. The casinos on the strip cringe when they see this group coming their way. The only two I noticed doing anything good were #99 Isaako Aaitui and #93 Malo Taumua. These two tackles can do a good job of controlling from offensive guard to offensive guard, but they tire quickly and often take plays off.

Within the scheme they do what their Coaches ask them to do – they take up space and keep the linemen off of the linebackers.

Linebackers

Because Bo Bell made every play on the field for this defense the past two years this group of linebacker are still growing into their roles. #33 Jason Beauchamp is the old timer of the bunch, but he is still a junior. #56 Ronnie Paulo is a sophomore and #55 Nate Carter is a freshman who the Rebels are hoping will become the next Bo Bell. All three linebackers look good in their jerseys but they don’t play particularly well. They let the ball carriers come to them and they are at their best when they are running from sideline to sideline.

This group makes a lot of plays, but they also give up a lot of yardage. The difference between this years defense and last years defense is that this year the linebackers let the action come to them. Last year they brought the action to the offensive players, physically forcing contact on the offense.

They are also susceptible to play action and often don’t match-up well against tight ends. This group will have to play very well in order to give their team a good opportunity to win.

Defensive Backs

These guys are the best ankle bitting tacklers I have ever seen. They don’t like to come up and tackle the running back. They will instead come up hard and fast and dive at the ball carriers legs. It’s not something I like to see, but it gets the job done.

Their corners are good athletes, but have numerous technical flaws. They often let the receivers run free down the field and rely on their speed to make up the difference – which hasn’t worked that well so far this season. The corners do a good job in their zones, but they often play high and uninspired. I think Austin and Mike match up very well against their corners.

Safeties – honestly I don’t remember much about their safeties because they didn’t stand out as big hitters or exceptional cover guys. They come up fast and hard, but they just dive at the ground. They often allow receivers to get behind them and they lack the recovery speed to chase down the streaking receiver.

The defense as a unit doesn’t play that well together. As individuals they will make some plays and maybe knock a guy down. I wasn’t blown away by their execution or their effort and in order to compete against our offense they will need one of those two characteristics. As always their defense has a punchers chance. If we allow their offense to move the ball and their defense get some emotion early it could be a long day. That is where ASU screwed the pooch. They didn’t throw the knockout punch when they were up 20-10 and instead they let the defense believe they could play. Before ASU knew it the clock had expired and they were left wanting.

Keys to the Game:

Score first, we need to jump on these young Rebels quick. We can’t allow for a first quarter shut out. If we allow them to build up their emotions we could find ourselves in a dog fight.

Work the match ups against their linebackers. Dennis and Andrew along with Fui create a huge mismatch against the Rebel linebackers. It will be tempting to throw the ball down field and get the crowd excited. By exploiting these match ups early we will force their safeties to become more and more involved close to the line of scrimmage. We will then find that our receivers will have more space and they can than create good throwing lanes for Max.

As the statistics show we have to run the ball for 100+ yards. This is priority one going into this week. We need a combination of off tackle runs as well as inside power runs. This will get those big Rebel D-linemen huffing and puffing, which will slow the rush and aid our passing game.

Control the clock. UNLV’s offense is far better then their defense so we need to keep the “Running Gunning” Rebel offense off the field. Move the ball in chunks and make the drives long and methodical.

Last of all we have to play harder and faster. Our efforts needs to be unmatchable. That means pressing a fast tempo on the Rebel defense and swarming the Rebel ball carriers on defense.

BYU definitely out matches the Rebels, because last weeks game was so lopsided it leaves us fans with uneasiness in our stomachs. What if something goes wrong early? What if we have a turnover? What if they score on a big play? What if, what if, what if.

Everyone needs to remember that this is the same team that outlasted Washington. The same team that pounded Wyoming and the same team that won 16 games in a row. We are a good football team, that still has great potential. The game is four quarters for a reason.

Saturday will be filled with ups and downs. The team that grabs the emotion early and than outlast the other team is going to win.

Cougars over power the Rebels at home 42-24 and Harvey has a big day.

AP Photo Ross D. Franklin

UNLV is a much-improved team under the 4th year of Coach Sanford. Their execution has improved year to year and they are playing a lot harder.  Just a couple of years ago this team lacked the heart necessary to win close games. This year they have demonstrated both the play making ability and the desire needed to improve upon their previous years records.

Coach Sanford’s team does a lot of things that could potentially give our Cougars some problems.

The Scheme:

The UNLV offense is the spread in its purest form. They mix in some power elements in short yardage situations, but not enough to distract from their true identity. The spread revolves around the quarterback being able to make sound decisions in the running game and keep the defense off balance in passing situations. Omar Clayton is the quarterback that Coach Sanford has lacked since the early departure of Shane Steichen (Sorry about the ankle Shane). As opposed to last year, Omar is making good decisions with the ball, limiting turnovers. This gives his team and scheme the chance to be successful.

UNLV will be predominately in 11 and 10 personal –one RB one TE/ one RB zero TE.  Against BYU I would expect lots of four and five wide looks. Their running game is the ride option, with #4 Frank “The Tank” Summers banging through anyone standing in his way. Most of their ride option plays are meant to hit off tackle or cut back inside against the grain of the defense. If Summers is forced outside than their offense will have problems and our safeties will escape without shrinking in stature. If The Tank can get North and South it will be a long day for Fowler and Tafuna.

Their passing attack revolves around the third receiver to the passing strength and the second receiver on the two man side. Often the two inside receivers to the passing strength will cross. When that happens the primary receiver is the player that ends up being the #3. The route combinations present challenges in coverage because they will pick on the linebackers. Our LB’s will have to make deep enough drops in order to force the quarterback to throw the ball to the check down receiver. UNLV often runs a receiver shallow in front of the linebackers in hopes of the ILB not completing his drop. If he doesn’t complete his drop the quarterback will hit receiver who is also running a route over the middle, but 5-7 yards deeper then the shallow route.

UNLV also depends on their receivers to make a lot of plays for them. They take numerous shots down field and because their receivers have good size they often out jump defensive backs for completions.

O-Line

Their line is the weak part of their offense. They often cave under pressure and haven’t shown the ability to pick-up the blitz. Their tackles seem to always be one step behind, but it hasn’t hurt them a ton due to their quarterbacks athletic abilities. When run blocking they use a zone blocking scheme and they aren’t afraid to cut linebackers and defensive tackles.

Quarterback

As I mentioned above, Omar Clayton has done a far better job than quarterbacks UNLV had had for the past two years. He makes good decisions with the ball and has a tremendous ability to escape the rush and get positive yards. Clayton will be a great test to see how our defense has improved since last Thursday.

He is at his best when running the option, or rolling out to his right. He doesn’t have the strongest arm, but he is accurate and can fit the ball into tight places. He also has a good receiving core, which often bails him out when he floats a ball down field. What worries me is his running ability. Once again our defense will be forced to play honest, team defense. BYU will need to be assignment sound in order to take away the RB first, the quarterback second, and the pitchman third. Defensive players have to understand their option assignment in order to have success against UNLV’s spread attack.

Omar Clayton is a good player.

Wide Receiver

The Running Rebels are deep at this position. They have four quality receivers on the field at all times. Their go-to guy this season is #80, Casey Flair. Next in the pecking order is #88, Ryan Wolfe. It seems like this kid has been around forever and he continues to be very consistent and productive for the Rebel offense. After those two is #84, Rodelin Anthony, and #18, Phillip Payne. All receivers have good hands, size and speed. It will be a good test for our defensive backs because at some point in the game someone will have to make a play to get us out of a jam. It will be a good measuring test to see if we are going to bounce back or fall flat.

One thing these receivers have struggled with has been physical defensive backs. They don’t respond well after being jammed or re-routed. Something everyone should be watching is how physical our LB’s and DB’s are when a receiver is running through their zone. We need to be pushing these receivers around and messing with the offensive timing. This will be a good match-up to watch.

Running Backs

#4 Frank “The Tank” Summers is one of the best backs in our league. He reminds me of Quinton Ganther with his ability to pound the ball inside and get stronger as the game progresses. Also, for a big fella he is surprisingly nimble. He shows flashes of athleticism as he side steps tackles and high steps ankle biting defensive backs. As I watched the tape I started to keep track of the Tanks body count. He has left a good handful of guys rolling around on the ground. His best quality is he doesn’t lose yards after contact. He is constantly churning his feet and falling forward for extra yardage. Even when he is stacked up in the backfield he doesn’t lose yards. That’s a great quality to have in a hard nosed running back.

#3, CJ Cox, spells the Tank every once and a while, but he is second fiddle to Frank. He’ll get a handful of carries on Saturday. Cox is the fastball to Summers inside brush off pitch –that reference was for all you World Series guys. He has the speed to bounce outside and hit a crease for a big gain. BYU shouldn’t sleep when he is in the game, especially when he is in an option heavy formation.

Keys to the game:

• First and foremost we are going to have to stop the option running game and force the ball to bounce outside to our pursuing defensive players. We cannot let Frank Summers get North and South. Through assignment sound football we can force UNLV to be one dimensional, which will decrease their chances of scoring. They aren’t the best when teams have forced them to throw the ball without the threat of the running game.
• Keep Omar Clayton in the pocket. He isn’t comfortable in the pocket and often throws off his back foot. If we are able to play zone behind a four-man rush and still get some pressure on him we will be successful. If we have to zone blitz and take risks in order to get pressure we will put unnecessary pressure on our defensive secondary and possible give up points.
• Gang tackle and play with unmatchable effort. UNLV is playing harder this year than they ever have. Their guys work harder and scrap for every last yard. Our pursuit needs to be ferocious, which could cause a much need turnover.
• Our defensive ends and outside linebackers need to have one of their best games of the season. If our ends can play the ride option play well and our outside and wrapping linebacker can keep the quarterback from getting loose, UNLV will have to alter their game play. (The wrapping linebacker is the backer that has to overlap and play the quarterback.)
• The BYU defensive backs need to disguise and mask coverages. UNLV will come to the line and Clayton will survey the field. Their team will get ready and than everyone will look to the sideline for a new play. We can’t give up our coverages by aligning in them to soon. We need to give one coverage look and then play another. Our defensive backs need to start having confidence in there understanding of the defense and start playing around with both the quarterback and the O-coordinator.
• Play with passion. The pressure is off, go out and make a statement to the rest of the league that you’re still a force within the MWC. Be a dangerous defense!!

Do you all remember your favorite character from Nacho Libre? He was round and lent Nacho his stretchy pants. Yes, our good friend Cancho. Well he has grown up, grew a mustache and is now a bowling ball of a running back.

For more Frank Summers check out his video blog on the MTN website

I also dug around and found Coach Sanford’s long lost twin. He’s a whacky Britt that stars in slap-stick comedies. Mr. Bean!!

http://deepshadesofblue.com/?p=1741 Let’s look at the spread formation with an athletic player taking a direct snap. Something tells me BYU fans will be seeing this in the future.