Passing coordinator Craig Stutzmann reviewed video and answered questions at the Coach’s Lunch.  He showed and broke down 15 offensive plays including plays that worked and others that didn’t.

For each play, he explained the concepts, pre-snap read, route adjustments based on coverage and how we executed them.

During the first and third quarters when we were going into a strong wind (20 – 25 mph) coming from the closed end of the stadium which affected passes and kicks.  It was much easier in the second and fourth quarters going toward the open end.

On our first offensive play we were going into the wind and took a shot.  Dru Brown got the look we were looking for and threw a deep switch seam to Keelan Ewaliko who had step on the defender.  Unfortunately, the wind blew the pass over the wrong shoulder of Ewaliko and he couldn’t come down with it.

On the 20 yard TD pass to Dylan Collie, Stutzmann showed that Dru Brown identified his key on his pre-snap read, held the safety in the middle of the field and drove the ball perfectly between 3 defenders in the back of the end zone on a seam route which Collie had adjusted to.

The third and five run in the red zone was an RPO play.  UNLV double covered the receivers which gave us numbers in the box.  Brown made the right read and handed the ball to Diocemy St. Juste.  Unfortunately, we didn’t block the play well enough.

Dru Brown has improved in a lot of ways.  His mechanics, in particular his hips and footwork are better and he is throwing tighter spirals with more velocity.  He has improved his ball security in the pocket and has learned how to shuffle in the pocket buying time rather than leaving the pocket prematurely.  He is making good decisions and has thrown no interceptions in three games and only one in the last five.

We ask our QBS to do a lot since we do run and shoot, RPO and read option plays.  We also check into and out of plays at the line of scrimmage.  Brown has been doing a good job with all he is given to do.

Regarding YAC, Stutzmann said it comes being able to recognize coverage, accuracy of the pass and athleticism of the receiver.  John Ursua was very good with this.  Others are coming along.

Moku Noa is smart and found the hole in the zone, then took it up the field for 38 yard gain.

Solomon Matautia really improved from last year and is playing as well as anyone on defense.

Stutzmann said local recruiting is getting better and discussed how he approaches discussions he has with prospects, their parents and coaches.

Fresno defensive front seven is good and physical.  They play well together as a unit.  They have a good secondary and #9 is a good CB.

Written by Mike Lum