UNLV’s Tony Sanchez Talks San Diego State

In his weekly press conference, UNLV coach Tony Sanchez started off by talking about quarterback Dalton Sneed’s performance against Fresno State. Sneed, who is starting in place of Johnny Stanton, had a 91-yard touchdown run after escaping from a would-be safety.

Aside from the highlight play, Sneed only threw the ball sixteen times as the Rebels offense relied on Lexington Thomas and the run game. When asked about the young quarterback’s performance, Sanchez stated that he did fine, but was being protective with the ball, saying that “that would be something to change slowly as he gets more comfortable.”

When asked about this week’s opponent, coach Sanchez categorized this game as a “measuring stick game”. As for the game plan going in, the Rebels will look to lean on Lexington Thomas and their 9th ranked rushing game to lead them to victory. Coach Sanchez also implied that the team will look to attack the Aztec secondary by going deep.

On the injury front, wide receiver Darren Woods Jr. has been ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing knee surgery. Woods Jr. suffered the injury against Fresno State after taking a helmet to the knee in the second quarter. The redshirt freshman was second on the team with 13 receptions and 189 receiving yards. Coach Sanchez’s response to the injury news was that of the next man up mentality, saying that the younger guys are gonna need to “grow up quickly”.

You can watch the full press conference below: