蜜柚直播

By Fisch鈥檚 estimate, 蜜柚直播鈥檚 passing offense left 150 yards on the field during the Wildcats鈥� season-opening loss to BYU on Saturday. Starting quarterback Gunner Cruz still passed for 336 yards. If he had connected on the ones he missed, he would have approached 500.

After most games, quarterbacks will point out a handful of plays they wish they could have back. The question with Cruz is how quickly he can reduce that number. Fisch believes Cruz 鈥� and the offense as a whole 鈥� will get better as the season progresses. Everything is still relatively new.

鈥淚 would think that we would improve from this week to next week, next week to the following week,鈥� Fisch said Monday. 鈥淕unner鈥檚 started one game in his life. If he can maintain that (statistical pace), he鈥檚 gonna have a heck of a career. We鈥檙e gonna do everything we can to help him get to that point.

鈥淓ach opportunity he has, hopefully he鈥檒l be smarter with the ball, we鈥檒l get the ball out faster and we鈥檒l know what to call better.鈥�

Fisch conceded that early in the game 鈥渨e were just trying to get a feel for our team.鈥� 蜜柚直播 had three points and 172 yards in the first half, 13 and 254 in the second. Cruz passed for 123 yards in the first half, 213 in the second.

Cruz鈥檚 starting debut came with his second school under his third coach. He began his college career at Washington State under Mike Leach. Cruz played last season under Nick Rolovich. Now Cruz is at 蜜柚直播 under Fisch, whose system is nothing like what Cruz operated at WSU.

Neither Leach鈥檚 offense nor Rolovich鈥檚 makes much use of the tight end. So maybe it isn鈥檛 surprising that Cruz failed to locate Bryce Wolma on two or three occasions. No. 2 quarterback Will Plummer also missed Wolma for a possible third-down conversion.

鈥淲e had the tight ends open many different times in the game,鈥� said Fisch, whose team opens its home schedule Saturday against San Diego State. 鈥淲e have to convert on those. We have to hit those. ... We gotta make those plays.鈥�

Fisch has toggled between optimism and disappointment regarding the opener, which ended with 蜜柚直播 on the wrong end of the scoreboard for the 13th straight time. He was most disappointed in the Wildcats鈥� red-zone output. They penetrated the 20-yard line four times and didn鈥檛 score a single touchdown. Lucas Havrisik also missed two field goal attempts.

蜜柚直播鈥檚 red-zone scoring rate was only 50%. Fisch would like to see its touchdown rate approach 70%.

鈥淲e have to get better in the red area,鈥� Fisch said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l practice the red area tonight and every day this week to make sure that we continue to improve there, so those things hopefully don鈥檛 happen again.鈥�

Morgan, Joiner back?

蜜柚直播 could get two of its key players back for Saturday鈥檚 home opener.

Fisch said left tackle Jordan Morgan, who missed the season opener because of a lower-leg injury, will be a game-time decision against SDSU.

Morgan traveled with the team but didn鈥檛 suit up. Fisch said Morgan 鈥渨asn鈥檛 healthy enough to play the amount of snaps we were going to play (83 vs. BYU).鈥� Whether he can do it vs. the Aztecs will be determined in practice this week.

Receiver Jamarye Joiner has been working on the side for most of the offseason after having foot surgery in the spring. He dressed for warmups before the BYU game and participated in drills.

Joiner had projected a return in Week 3 or 4 but could make his 2021 debut this Saturday, Fisch said.

鈥淗e鈥檚 doing great,鈥� Fisch said. 鈥淒r. Joiner wasn鈥檛 exactly sure how he was going to recover.鈥�

Fisch expects Joiner to practice to some extent this week.

Donovan Laie slid from guard to tackle in place of Morgan but got banged up in the second half. Laie鈥檚 mother said via Twitter that her son rolled his ankle and is 鈥渄oing well.鈥� He never left the game but was limping noticeably.

Fourth-and-go

Fisch faced fourth-and-1 decisions twice in the first half of his UA debut. Both times, the Wildcats were inside their 35-yard line.

Fisch went for it both times, calling upon Cruz 鈥� who鈥檚 listed at 6-5, 227 pounds 鈥� to execute quarterback sneaks. He converted on both occasions.

Fisch didn鈥檛 rely on any statistical data to make those calls.

鈥淣one of it鈥檚 really analytics; it鈥檚 just kind of how the game goes, how do you feel about your team,鈥� Fisch said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 have a chart or a sheet or a research study regarding what we should do and how we should do it when it comes to that type of deal, other than a 2-point chart and the end-of-the-game time-management chart. The rest of it just comes down to what you think and what you feel.

鈥淚n that case, I felt really good about us being able to convert.鈥�

The Wildcats were 3 of 3 in fourth-down situations. They were 5 of 17 (29.4%) on third down.

Sellout sought

It鈥檚 no secret by now: Fisch wants a sellout Saturday, or something close to it.

Fisch has been pining for a crowd of 50,000-plus for weeks. 蜜柚直播 played in front of 54,541 fans at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in the opener, although most of them were rooting for BYU.

鈥淵ou could hear the 蜜柚直播 crowd when we got that safety, that (kick) return, that touchdown, that 2-point play,鈥� Fisch said, referring to the Wildcats鈥� rally in the third quarter. 鈥淵ou could feel that shift in momentum.

鈥淣ow it鈥檚 up to us to take that thing on Saturday night and make it absolutely an intimidating environment, an incredible environment. We need to match the intensity of some of the other stadiums and programs across the country when it comes to the homefield advantage.鈥�

The UA last drew a home crowd of greater than 50,000 in the 2018 Territorial Cup game. The average attendance in 2019 was 39,532. The latest ticket-sales update was unavailable Monday.

Extra points

Fisch expressed relief that BYU cornerback Keenan Ellis seems to be OK after suffering an apparent neck injury and losing consciousness in the first quarter of last week鈥檚 game. Ellis had to be taken out on a stretcher. He was walking by Sunday morning without pain, . 鈥淭hat was a scary time on the field,鈥� Fisch said.

The SDSU game is the first of two in a row on Pac-12 Networks. Roxy Bernstein and Yogi Roth will have the call.