Tigers prepare for Nevada defense
Nevada's last opponent has an offense similar to Missouri's.
Published Sept. 11, 2008
Although the scoreboard showed a lopsided 35-19 Texas Tech victory over Nevada last week, the Wolf Pack proved that their defense was capable of slowing down one of the best offenses in the country.
"They did a lot of good things," coach Gary Pinkel said. "They brought a lot of pressure packages against them. They just have some really good packages. Their new defensive coordinator (Nigel Burton) is really doing a great job."
Last season, the Wolf Pack allowed a dreadful 415 yards per game while giving up 32.2 points on average.
Their matchup against Texas Tech and senior quarterback Graham Harrell, who led the nation with 5,705 passing yards last season and had a completion percentage of 71.8, didn't forecast to be a bright one.
But Nevada's defense pressured Harrell into a 19 of 46 performance with 297 yards, his lowest passing total since 2006. His 41.3 completion percentage was his lowest ever as a starter.
"What they did with Tech was, they tried to jam their receivers a lot off the line," quarterback Chase Daniel said. "That really threw off the timing with Graham and all of his receivers."
This is one technique that the Tigers can take advantage of, senior tight end Chase Coffman said.
"If we can get a good release on them, it's one of the better things for our offense," Coffman said. "It puts us at an advantage. I think it favors me a little bit just because of my size."
Another defensive strategy Nevada implemented to slow down Tech's explosive attack was bringing lots of pressure.
"They blitzed a lot," Daniel said. "They gave them a lot of different looks. At some points they had seven at the line and they brought all seven, but at other points they only brought three. We have to really get that figured out this week, and I'll be working hard with the offensive line to get that done."
Although Missouri and Texas Tech both run a version of the spread offense, Pinkel said he doesn't want to read too far into Tech's sub-par performance last week.
"Certainly, we do a lot of the things the same, but also a lot of things different," Pinkel said. "Anytime we can see somebody that does things we do against their (Nevada's) defense, that's a plus for us. That just helps us plan a little bit better and make adjustments. But, it was impressive."
In its first two games so far this season, the Tiger offense has been tough to stop. Missouri has the No. 4 ranked offense nationally by averaging 570.5 yards per game and scoring 52 points in back-to-back weeks.
Junior wide receiver Danario Alexander will be available to the Tiger offense for the first time this season because he is ready to return from an offseason knee injury.