Santoro: Pack shows faith in QB Lewis, but the next step is getting some wins

Sports Fodder:

All Brendon Lewis needed, it turns out, was a little faith and trust from his coaches.

"His confidence has increased," Wolf Pack coach Jeff Choate said during his Monday press conference on nevadawolfpack.com. "The looking over (his) shoulder is not happening as much. This is more and more becoming like, 'Hey, I've got confidence I'm the guy. I'm not worrying about somebody yelling at me.'"

Lewis' confidence this year likely stems from the confidence and faith in his abilities shown him by Choate, offensive coordinator Matt Lubick, quarterbacks coach David Gilbertson and his teammates. "B-Lew," as everybody connected with the program affectionately calls him, has finally emerged as a legitimate, productive FBS quarterback.

Lewis has completed 107-of-155 passes this year for 1,081 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions. His 69.03 percent completion percentage leads the Mountain West and is 21st in the nation. He's also run the ball 79 times for 362 yards and three scores. In short, he is the best, most important, most consistent and most influential player the Wolf Pack has had since the roster was sprinkled with stars in 2021.

Lewis was highly productive in Saturday's 35-31 loss at San Jose State, completing 22-of-30 for 213 yards, two touchdowns and a last-play Hail Mary interception. He also ran for 90 yards on 13 carries and scored two touchdowns. That performance clearly solidifies Lewis as one of the top quarterbacks and overall offensive forces in the Mountain West.

"That was a pretty important game for him," Choate said. "He performed at a pretty high level. Even his critics now have to say, 'I'll ride with that guy.'"

Choate is Lewis' fifth head coach since he left Melissa (Texas) High after the 2019 season. He signed with Colorado head coach Mel Tucker in the spring of 2019, but Tucker left to become Michigan State's head coach the following February. Lewis then spent two-plus (2020-22) seasons at Colorado under coach Karl Dorrell and the second half of his final year at Colorado (Lewis was mainly in the transfer portal at that time) under interim coach DeWayne Walker. His coach last year at Nevada was Ken Wilson before Choate was hired after the season ended. Lewis also played for two head coaches (Seth Stinton, Matt Nally) in high school.

It's no wonder Lewis struggled to gain much confidence spinning around a coaching carousel his entire career. That carousel, though, seems to have stopped under Choate. For now.

"He was cramping and throwing up," said Choate of Saturday's game at San Jose State. "But he just said, 'I'm not coming out. I'm not going to give up the ship. Let's go.' I was impressed by that."

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Lewis has clearly stabilized the Wolf Pack quarterback situation. But there are concerns that he can only take the program so far. Choate and the Pack likely had the same concerns last offseason when they brought in former Nebraska quarterback Chubba Purdy to compete for the job.

Lewis, after all, played in 12 games last year, started 10 and won just two of them. He also completed 55.5 percent of his passes and threw just two touchdowns all year against six interceptions. But that all changed when Choate came aboard. Lewis impressed his new head coach with his work ethic and his leadership last spring and summer and won the starting job. It must be noted that the decision was made easy because Purdy was never truly healthy and couldn't compete with Lewis.

But Choate also never hesitated to put his trust in Lewis right from the start and has been nothing but supportive of his quarterback. Purdy is now healthy (he threw a pass against San Jose State), but Lewis isn't exactly looking over his shoulder. Then again, maybe the presence of a healthy Purdy alone is why Lewis didn't dare leave the San Jose State game when he was battling the Northern California heat.

We'll see how much trust and faith Choate actually has in Lewis now that Purdy is apparently available. Let's not forget that Lewis has a record of just 4-12 at Nevada after going 4-9 in 13 starts at Colorado. The first goal of every quarterback, after all, is to win the game.

Let's also not forget that the Pack offense remains ultra conservative with Lewis and has repeatedly bogged down in the fourth quarter this year with games on the line. Lewis might have confidence in his ability but the Pack's confidence in Lewis seems to have a clear ceiling.

"Matt (Lubick) has done a great job of game planning the things that (Lewis) does well, not asking him to do what is not in his wheelhouse," Choate said.

It might be time for the 2-4 Pack, which has lost three games already this year by five points or less, to toss a few more things in Lewis' wheelhouse.

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The skill that is clearly in Lewis' wheelhouse is his wheels.

"He just makes you miss," San Jose State coach Ken Niumatalolo said on sjsuspartans.com after Saturday's game. "He was definitely an issue."

It was a 44-yard run in his first college game (the 2020 Alamo Bowl for Colorado against Texas) that convinced Lewis he could play in Division I. "That long run was crazy," Lewis told the Denver Post in 2021. "It really sunk in. I was like, 'Yeah, I can be really good at this level."

Lewis, though, only ran the ball 119 times in 15 games at Colorado in three seasons for 304 yards and three touchdowns. It's one thing to run against the San Jose States and Eastern Washingtons of the world. But Colorado plays against quarterback-eaters. Against top level competition at Nevada in three games the last two years (against USC and Kansas last year and Minnesota this year) Lewis has run the ball 29 times for 42 yards. But that likely has more to do with the performance of the Nevada offensive line rather than Lewis' running ability.

Lewis has run often and effectively the past two years at Nevada (199 times in 18 games for 857 yards and seven touchdowns) but, it seems, he might be better served running more. The passing plays the Pack calls for him are clearly on the conservative side — you know, as if they don't trust the offensive line, the quarterback's arm and the receivers' speed.

Conservative pass plays, after all, is how you complete 69 percent of your passes.

Lewis, though, is still a work in progress as is this first-year Nevada coaching staff. Despite being in college since 2020, Lewis is still figuring out what to do and when to do things on the field. Odds are, though, he will continue to evolve mentally, according to his high school coach his senior season (Matt Nally).

"Brendon is extremely intelligent," Nally told the Denver Post in 2021. "When he sees or hears something he just absorbs it. He got me out of so many bad calls just because he's so smart."

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Don't be shocked if the Wolf Pack starts to slip Purdy more often into games and in more important situations, especially if the losses continue to double the victories.

Purdy completed his first and only pass of the season to Marcus Bellon for 13 yards on the Pack's fourth play from scrimmage on Saturday and then disappeared for the rest of the game. There was a time the last two years when a 13-yard completion would have earned a quarterback a start in the next game.

Lewis has clearly earned the Pack's trust and should remain the unquestioned starter. But the Pack is still 2-4 and every possibility must be explored. Purdy, after all, might be what is needed to lift the Pack passing game to new heights, even if it is only in short, brief spurts. A more lively passing game can come in handy, especially late in the game when a score is needed to steal a victory. Wolf Pack fans of a certain age will surely remember the way Chris Vargas relieved Fred Gatlin at, seemingly, all the right times.

Does Purdy warrant such lofty expectations? Who knows. He's barely played in five college seasons at Florida State, Nebraska and Nevada. But he's certainly been surrounded by hype in his career and has shown flashes of electric ability. Why keep him buried on the bench when the Pack offense starts to become lifeless? Imagine opposing coaches trying to prepare for both Lewis and Purdy. Talk about issues.

The time has come to dig a bit deeper into the playbook and maybe even add a dozen or so new pages. What has the Pack to lose?  Some more close games?

San Jose State, after all, lifted its starting quarterback (Emmett Brown) on Saturday, a guy that had given them a 3-1 record and was among the Mountain West passing leaders. All backup Walker Eget did was go 10-for-13 for 141 yards and lead the comeback. The Spartans also went for broke and had a wide receiver throw a pass for a touchdown to win the game.

That's the type of creativity and daring the Wolf Pack needs. Playing it safe has only gotten them to 2-4.

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The UNLV Rebels, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end last week with a 44-41 overtime loss to Syracuse, seem to switch quarterbacks every year without missing a beat.

The Rebels last year lost starter Jacob Brumfield to an injury and all freshman backup Jayden Maiava did was throw for 3,085 yards and 17 touchdowns and lead his team to nine wins and a spot in the Mountain West title game (a 44-20 loss to Boise State). Maiava left for USC after the year and UNLV then lost new starter Matthew Sluka because of a dispute over NIL money two weeks ago. The Rebels then handed the job to backup Hajj Malik-Williams and, well, the Campbell transfer might be even better than Sluka.

Malik-Williams has completed 34-of-41 passes (83 percent) for 409 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 260 yards and two scores over the past two games (a win over Fresno State and the loss to Syracuse). UNLV has scored exactly 100 points in the two games with Malik-Williams.

Sluka, by comparison, was just 21-of-48 for 318 yards and six touchdowns through the air and ran for 253 yards and a touchdown in three games. Opposing Mountain West coaches now might be better off taking up a collection and giving it to Sluka so he comes back.

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The Mountain West, as things stand now, looks like a two-horse race between Boise State and UNLV (both 4-1, 1-0).

San Jose State (4-1, 2-0), Fresno State (3-2, 1-1), Nevada (2-4, 0-1), San Diego State (2-3, 1-0) and Colorado State (2-3, 0-0) aren't pushovers but there is a considerable distance between Boise State and UNLV and everybody else as we seriously head into league play.

The league's regular-season title, therefore, might come down to three weeks from now when Boise State travels to Las Vegas to meet the Rebels at Allegiant Stadium on Oct. 25. That day might be the only league loss either one of them suffers all season.

It's difficult to envision anyone in the Mountain West beating Boise State this year. The Broncos' offense is led by running back Ashton Jeanty, who just so happens to be among the favorites for the Heisman Trophy. Jeanty has rushed for a NCAA-best 1,031 yards and 16 touchdowns already this year on just 95 carries. Jeanty also ran for 153 yards and a touchdown last year against UNLV in the Mountain West title game when he was hardly known outside the conference.

The Rebels and Broncos, though, have rarely met in recent years despite being in the Mountain West together since 2011. The two schools, despite travelling in similar college football circles, have met just 12 times in their history, with Boise winning nine. The schools split six games from 1972-77 but then didn't face off until 2011 when the Broncos joined the Rebels in the Mountain West. The two schools met four times from 2011-16 but have met just twice starting in 2017. Boise is 6-0 against UNLV since the two were in the Mountain West.

The two might see each other twice this year and are scheduled to meet next year in Boise State (and in the league title game for maybe the third year in a row). But the rivalry might hit another dry spell starting in 2026 when Boise State joins the Pac-12.