UCLA Football: Comprehensive Preview of the Nevada Wolf Pack

The Offense

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Last season, Nevada scored less than 30 points just once all year: a 27-21 loss to Boise State at the tail end of the season. Against FBS teams, Nevada averaged 37.2 points per game, good for 14th-best in the country. Along with that, Nevada put up yards: 503.2 per game, to be precise, and that was good enough to get them into the top-10 in that category.

How’d they do it? On the ground.

This team, in fact, ran the ball disproportionately, handing off the ball over 50 times per game for an efficient five yards per carry. Not bad.

But note this: Running back Stefphon Jefferson accounted for over 55 percent of those carries, earning 375 in 2012. And consider that he scored 25 times for the Wolf Pack, and accumulated 2053 yards of total offense. And he’s no longer a member of the team.

And the backup running back, Nick Hale, who only carried the ball 54 times (albeit for 5.6 yards a carry)? He’s gone, too. Meaning the Wolf Pack are pretty much in UCLA’s boat: Without any legitimate, clear running back options to follow-up a very run-heavy season in 2012.

Nevada QB Cody Fajardo is good, though. Possibly really good. Maybe even damn good.

The junior quarterback was aided by a solid backfield and a reliable offensive line, sure, but throwing with a completion rate of 67 percent ain’t bad. Nor is throwing for 20 touchdowns to just nine picks. And it ain’t bad that he ran for 1121 yards in 2012 off of just 190 carries—that’s 5.9 yards per carry—to go along with 12 touchdowns on the ground.

Yes, that’s 32 touchdowns from a sophomore quarterback. Like I said, the kid isn’t terrible.

And let’s consider that Nevada’s offensive coordinator is still with the Wolf Pack in the same role, meaning there should be a seamless transition from the Ault era to the Polian era, at least offensively. Even with the loss of Stefphon Jefferson, Nevada should be OK here, meaning UCLA will need to watch out.

Could Fajardo tear up a very young, very inexperienced UCLA secondary? Yes. Thus, containing Fajardo will be key for the Bruins. With Nevada spreading the ball through the air the way it did, and with the pistol forcing UCLA into some hapless guesswork, the Bruins need to be extra-vigilant in the defensive backfield.

Check the third page for a preview of the Nevada defense, as well as a prediction.