Aztecs QB a primary concern for UNLV secondary

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2003 | 9:53 a.m.

San Diego State quarterback Adam Hall and his arsenal flummoxed UNLV's secondary last season with a variety of sets that the Rebels had not previously seen.

"They didn't run many 'five wides' (five-wide receiver alignments) in the film that we watched of them," said Rebels strong safety Jamaal Brimmer. "Then, they came and ran it."

UNLV, according to Brimmer, mostly remained in a reactionary base defense that the Aztecs exploited in a 31-21 victory at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

Trying to decipher what SDSU was doing translated into a lack of pressure on the Rebels' defensive line, and it failed to record more than one quarterback sack for the first time in a 10-game stretch.

Thanks to that game last year and the wild one that UNLV played against New Mexico in Albuquerque last weekend, Brimmer and cornerback Ruschard Dodd-Masters believe the Rebels' secondary will be ready for Hall this time.

That's the key matchup for Saturday's game.

"New Mexico showed us that we have to be ready for anything," Brimmer said.

"Last year, (Hall) ran his offense very well," Dodd-Masters said. "He was very efficient in his passing, and he was a competitor. They do a lot of different things, like opening up their sets, so we'll have to keep our assignments."

Hall, who first went to the University of Texas out of high school, completed 28 of 46 passes, for 319 yards and two touchdowns, against the Rebels last year.

There were some bad calls by officials, Dodd-Masters said. But there were also enough breakdowns, by the secondary in particular, to raise some UNLV eyebrows.

Mainly, those of Rebels coach John Robinson.

"This weekend, we're going to work to eliminate all our errors," said Dodd-Masters, "and I think we should be able to stabilize them."

J.R. Tolver (151 yards on nine receptions) and Kassim Osgood formed one of the nation's best receiver duos for SDSU in '02. They, and Hall, required attention, if not too much respect from the UNLV secondary.

"(Hall) controlled the game," Brimmer said. "He made efficient passes, throwing the ball to the right spots. It's kind of hard to make plays when (they) take care of the ball."

Hall missed about a month of the season with an ankle sprain, then he threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns in a loss to Brigham Young.

Before playing Utah, he strained his throwing shoulder in practice. Since then, Hall has not thrown for 300 yards in any of three games, and he has one touchdown pass to six interceptions.

Of those four, the Aztecs only won their last one, at home against Wyoming. Come Saturday, they will have had two weeks to prepare for the Rebels and for Hall to get healthier.

"He was poised last year," Brimmer said. "This year, he looks even better, and he's coming off an injury. I think he'll be poised."

Brimmer and the rest of the Rebels' defensive backs will try to keep acting, instead of reacting, against SDSU's receivers, to give the line and linebackers time to get to Hall.

By yielding 429 yards through the air last week to the Lobos, though, Brimmer & Co. showed that they're still learning.

"Hopefully, we'll re-route them and get in their faces a little more, maybe do more blitzing," Brimmer said of the Aztecs. "We'll show different looks ... we have to change things up to give us a chance, and put pressure on the quarterback.

"We didn't do that much last year."

Nantkes left Saturday's game at New Mexico with a groin injury, and Scott Turner was unspectacular-but-adequate in relief.

"We're starting to be somewhat optimistic," Robinson said of Nantkes starting Saturday. "We'll probably give it a test Thursday to see what he can do."

Pieffer, 15-for-19 in field goals this season, leads Mountain West Conference kickers with 66 points. He hit a 50-yarder, his career best, last week in New Mexico.

Three finalists will be named Nov. 17. The winner will be announced Dec. 9.

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