Scouting UNLV

I DVR'd the UNLV vs Wisconsin game last Saturday and had a chance to sit down and "break down" some of the things I think the Utes will be up against this week.

I already posted this at another Ute fan site, so if you've already seen it...well...read it again I guess.

I will remind you that I am a football nut, and do not make an guarantees about the quality of my report...

UNLV Offense:

Clausen started and seemed to have the confidence of the coaching staff until the second series of the second half (after about the 5th 3 and out of the game for UNLV). When he was in, passing plays were designed around a lot roll outs to move the pocket and running plays were basically the inside or outside zone read. Wisconsin did a good job of blowing these up, as it seemed Clausen made the right reads.

Clayton seemed to have been put into the dog house at some point during fall camp as Hauck was very critical of his play from the get go. ("You don't call the timeouts, I call the @#$%ing timeouts!!" - anyone else see that?). Clayton missed some reads and missed some throws (badly), but was more effective at running the offense as a whole. Perhaps this is because the OC was able to get a fix on Wisconsin's D scheme and pick it apart.

UNLV's O-line was 'turrrr-ible'. I believe their one stand out is their left tackle #75, who has been in a boot for a lot of the fall but is able to play now. Their starting right tackle, #73, was bad...and when I say bad I mean BAAAADDD...like abyssmal. The kid was trying, but just kept missing blocks or getting beat around the edge, or just failing hard. In two consecutive plays, his guy was the one to shed him and make the tackle on the ball carrier. The line also seemed to be confused early on with Wisconsin's blitz packages, as they gave up 2 sacks in the first half and Clausen was hurried relentlessly when he would drop back. Later on, they seemed to get a bead on where the blitzes were coming from and locked down the pass rush.

The offense utilized several looks, including a double TE-shotgun formation where they ran their zone read and a couple play action plays from. Hauck's Offensive scheme is more a smash-mouth power run game with some play action mixed in...the problem is he is dealing with the Sanford-leftovers that were brought in to run a more psuedo-spread offense. The current UNLV offense is somewhere in between. There are vestiges of the spread with some hard power runs mixed in, but they don't do either very well yet. I expect some improvement in Week 2 as they are able to analyze film and gel a bit more.

Early in the game, Wisc got a lot of pressure with their 4 down linemen who, while good, were not world beaters. I expect a HEAVY rush with our blitzing ability coupled with our stacked D-line...Tui'one is going to have a field day if #73 starts again.

One thing UNLV was able to use against Wisconsin early on was the play action. Clausen and the RBs have a very good mesh that lets the play action freeze the LBs for a second or two. Our young studs are gonna need to watch out for this and be able to read the UNLV guards to determine if its a pass or a run.

Their WR #4 Phillip Payne is a stud, but I fully expect Burton to put the clamps on him.  Lets just say that he is no John Baldwin.

UNLV used, I believe, 4 different running backs during the game, as well as both of their quarterbacks.  None of them got a lot of running room, thus resulting in a very inefficient run game.  Cox was the RB that got the most success, but I think we will see Channing Trotter start initially with Cox backing him up.

UNLV Defense:

A caveat before we start, Wisconsin's offense is ENORMOUS - they average 6'6" and 320+. They utilize a lot of lead blocks with two pulling lineman or TEs. Their star back, Clay, is a glorified fullback (think Jerome Bettis-lite). Basically WIsconsin's O-Line would do well against a lot of NFL teams' front seven.

UNLV's Defense is a base 4-3, and they started out in an Over package (with their OLB over the strong TE). Their pass coverage seemed to be predominantly cover 2, with zone under and man under from mixed. When running the zone under, their OLBs got sucked in and were hardly ever wide enough to cut off the quick, short out routes that we favor. I don't expect that to be the case on Saturday, because if it is we will be gaining yards in huge chunks. In one instance, 3rd and long, UNLV switched to a 3-3-5 Man-Under Cover 2 Spy with the MLB just making sure the QB didn't break contain. I believe they only ran this once.

With the above mentioned in mind, UNLV's D-line was blown off the ball consistently. Usually the back was +3 yards beyond the line of scrimmage before he reached his own lineman. #65 for UNLV, their starting DT, was a cream puff...and I mean that in the nicest way. #99, Aaiotu (sp?) was a playmaker, but he was the one designated for the double team most of the time and so he became a none factor. The DEs were nothing special, especially compared to what our guys faced last week. It seemed that the basic D-line philosophy was to tie up the blockers so that their LBs could make the plays. But the problem is that only #55 (Nate Carter I believe) was the only true run stopper in their LB corp. Their OLB did a good job stepping up into the hole and cutting the pulling guards to plug the gap...problem is that the hole was HUGE. Other than cutting the lineman, the OLBs seemed quite ineffective at shedding blocks or even making tackles.

DiGiacomo (SS #22) is the guy to watch out for in the run game. He has the quickness to play coverage and the ability to hit enough to play linebacker. He will be a factor for UNLV this year simply because of the amount of tackles he will be forced to make due to RBs getting to the 2nd level.

#1 Will Chandler was UNLV's true sensation on Saturday, as he returned a pick 6 and recovered a fumble for an 82 yard return setting up a touchdown. He also will lay the wood on outside run plays. Reminds me of a skinnier RJ Stanford. He was in the right place at the right to make the plays, and I don't mean to take anything away from him, but the pass he picked off should not have been thrown. It was an out route that was thrown 2 full seconds too late with no zip. The fumble recovery was on the 2 yard line from a WR that was carrying it like a loaf of bread. If we are able to practice sound fundamental ball control (But see Shaky's 2 fumbles last week) we will be able to limit the swing factor that Chandler can bring.

If our WRs block like they always do, I expect us to break some big runs down the sideline, as Wisconsin's WRs are pansies compared to ours. Most of UNLV's success pressuring the QB was from miscommunications on Wisconsin's O-line early in the game. Beside that play, UNLV was unable to get pressure unless 6+ defenders were brought on the rush. And the only time the power running of Wisconsin was truly contained was when 9+ lined up in the box before the snap.

UNLV did not substitute on the line very much. I noticed 1 other DT (#68) and I don't know about the DEs (they did nothing spectacular or horrible, so I didn't notice them).