Key Players
The star of this young season so far for the Aggies has been QB Caden Pinnick, a 6-0, 190 pound redshirt freshman. He’s not the biggest, but he’s an athletic player with escapability and elusiveness in the pocket. In the first start of his career, replacing arguably the best QB in UC Davis history, he was electric. He completed his first nine passes in the first half, and finished the game with 141 yards and a touchdown, in addition to 62 rush yards on 15 carries and a score.
The game was ultimately cancelled and declared a “no contest” due to nearby lightening, so the stats don’t count and aren’t listed on any player pages. But, Mercer was the eleventh ranked FCS team and UC Davis was leading late in the game, so that’s a good sign. In their last game against Utah Tech, Pinnick engineered a second half comeback when the Aggies were down by 17 points, ultimately scoring 24 straight to win the game. He finished the day 21/31 for 252 yards, 3 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Removing sack yards, he also rushed 14 times for 41 yards.
At running back, they prefer Jordan Fisher. Against Utah Tech he was effective, with 16 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown. At 5-8 and 180 pounds, he’s an elusive running back capable of breaking away for a big gain. At receiver, they are a small unit. The main trio of Zach Jones, Sam Gbatu Jr., and Stacy Dobbins stand at 5-9, 5-10, and 5-7. Gbatu is speedy and leads the team in yards (93) and touchdowns (2), while Dobbins leads in receptions (6). These are all single game stats since the Mercer game officially ended as a “no contest.”
Pre season All-American tight end Winston Williams is expected to have a big season, but has just one catch so far. At offensive line, they have an experienced group, but struggled in the first half against Utah Tech, allowing five sacks. Some of them were Pinnick’s fault for holding the ball too long or not navigating the pocket correctly, but it wasn’t a great showing overall. They did however rally and allowed no sacks in the second half.
The Scheme
This is an RPO heavy scheme that puts a lot on the shoulders of their young QB. He isn’t afraid to throw it over the middle or downfield, and he’s certainly not afraid to take off and run if things break down. One of their key plays is a swing route from the running back, with a receiver as the lead blocker. The other two receivers on that side of the formation run a scissors concept. It’s a stressful concept for the defense to cover and creates some “eye candy” they need to avoid, and instead just focus on their keys. This offense has already created multiple 50 or more yard touchdowns, so they are capable of scoring at any time.
Final Thoughts
This should be a good challenge for Washington’s edge players against an elusive signal caller. The overall talent disparity is such that UW shouldn’t struggle too much to generate a lead and put UC Davis away early, unlike what they were able to do last week against Colorado State. Pinnick can certainly keep them in the game if Washington isn’t able to disrupt the flow of their offense or if the secondary gets caught by some of the window dressing in this offense. The UC Davis offensive line was supposed to be a strength, but has gotten off to a rocky start (a couple sacks against Mercer and five last week against Utah Tech). This will hopefully be an opportunity for the UW defensive front to dominate.