The Bruins open the 2013 season on Saturday at the Rose Bowl with their first-ever meeting with the University of Nevada Wolf Pack, a team that runs shades of the pistol offense, and whose modern interpretation was reinstituted by former Nevada coach Chris Ault back in 2005.
That familiarity with the pistol, however, is complicated by the change in Nevada’s coaching personnel. Now entering his second season as the team’s offensive coordinator is Nick Rolovich, who conducted a pass-heavy offense while at the University of Hawai’i the past few years, but now operates the run-heavy pistol, a contradiction which makes the Wolf Pack a difficult team to prepare for.
“They’re doing some pistol, they’re doing some spread stuff, but it’s going to be hard for us to get a beat on exactly what they’re going to be. They’ve had some change and they have some varied backgrounds,” said UCLA coach Jim Mora. “We have to be prepared for the pistol; we have to be prepared for some spread stuff.”
Mora also said the Bruins will be faced with a “run and shoot” scheme, one that Nevada quarterback Cody Fajardo, who enters his junior season after a sophomore campaign in which he threw for 2,786 yards and 20 touchdowns, ran with some effectiveness last season. He also added 1,121 yards and 12 scores on the ground, making him a dual-threat player similar to one the Bruins faced last year in Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez.
“Obviously we have to keep him in the pocket because, yes, he can move,” said senior defensive tackle Seali’i Epenesa on Friday. “We’ve played quarterbacks that can move. Martinez is one last year. Next week we’ll have a better feel for it, but that’s a big thing.”
But regardless of the Wolfpack’s 2012 performance, which resulted in a 7-6 season that ended in a heartbreaking loss to Arizona in the New Mexico Bowl, teams tend to change things up from season to season. Nevada is a likely candidate for an altered playbook once again, with the hire of Texas A&M special teams coordinator and tight ends coach Brian Polian as head coach in January.
The Bruins have been preparing for Nevada since last Wednesday, but are still slightly in the dark, even with the Wolfpack’s full set of game film from 2012.
“I think the important thing with that first game is that you anticipate that there’s going to be some unscouted looks or things you just can’t prepare for,” Mora said. “That’s OK because it really boils down to fundamentals and technique and effort and doing your job.”
As for direct comparisons, the Bruins and Wolf Pack can look on two opponents last season, Arizona and Cal. While the Bruins fared better against Arizona, Cal had a tougher time with Nevada. In the Wolf Pack’s 2012 opener in Berkeley, the Golden Bears were upset 31-24, while the Bruins experienced a 43-17 letdown at California Memorial Stadium on Oct 6.
A stronger, faster, more talented UCLA team, now in its second year with redshirt sophomore Brett Hundley as its starting quarterback, looks to begin the 2013 season confident, focused and ready to disprove the transitive property with respect to Cal.
“They’re going to be looking at this as the first game, making sure to set their season off with a win,” said redshirt sophomore center Jacob Brendel about Nevada. “We’re going to have to go in there with all that we’ve got, with the right mindset and hopefully win.”