Nevada Post-Game Notes
vs. Nicholls State
- Senior tight end Adam Bishop caught three touchdown passes in the game for the first multi-touchdown game of his career. He hauled in TD passes for 25, 17 and 4 yards in the game. It also marked the first time in his career that Bishop caught touchdown passes in back-to-back games. He had a 24-yard TD catch last week at Northwestern.
- Sophomore quarterback Nick Graziano threw a career-high five touchdown passes, marking the first time a Nevada quarterback has thrown 5 TD passes in a game since David Neill against Cal Poly in 1998.
- Junior running back Luke Lippincott rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. This is the fourth 100-yard rushing game of his career and his second of the season.
- Arthur King Jr.’s 52-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter was the first touchdown of his career. His 82 receiving yards on the night are a career high.
- Nick Graziano’s 52-yard scoring strike to Arthur King Jr. in the second quarter is the longest completion of the sophomore’s career, eclipsing a 49-yard pass to Marko Mitchell earlier in the quarter, which was also a scoring play.
- Junior kicker Brett Jaekle booted a 45-yard field goal in the second quarter, a career-long. His previous career long was a 44-yarder against Miami in the MPC Computers Bowl game last year. Jaekle has now made seven of his last eight attempts dating back to last season.
- The 31 points scored by Nevada in the second quarter are the most scored by the Pack in one quarter since at least 1996. Press box records before the 1996 were not immediately available.
- Nevada scored 38 consecutive points starting with 12:05 left in the second quarter until Nicholls State ended the string with 8:24 left in the third quarter. That is the most unanswered points scored by Nevada since scored 42 straight in a 42-0 win over La. Tech on Nov. 18, 2006.
- Nevada is now 16-3 at home since Hall of Fame coach Chris Ault returned to the sidelines prior to the 2004 season. Ault is now 20-3 in his career in home openers.
- Nevada’s final three scoring drives of the first half were all under a minute (47 seconds, 16 second and 12 seconds).
- Nicholls State attempted just one pass in the first half and did not complete it. The Colonels did not attempt a pass in the second half.
- Nevada has never been shut out as a member of Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A) and has not been shut out since Sept. 27, 1980, a streak of 320 games that is the longest in the nation. The last time Nevada was blanked was at Weber State, a 10-0 loss. That is the only shutout loss ever suffered by Hall of Fame coach Chris Ault. During the streak, Nevada has shut out eight opponents, the last being a 42-0 win over Louisiana Tech last year in Ruston, La.
- Sophomore kick returner/running back Dwayne Sanders made his first appearance of the season after missing the first two games of the season due to injury. He has one kickoff return for 13 yards.
- Sophomore Chris Slack started at defensive end instead of senior Erics Clark, and senior Nick Fuhr started at outside linebacker instead of Ezra Butler. Senior Devon Walker started at cornerback instead of Jonathon Amaya.
- Nevada opened in a two-tight end set with Junior Puloka getting his first career start and senior wide receiver Kyle Sammons not making the start.
- Nicholls State won the toss and deferred to the second half. Nevada elected to receive the opening kickoff and defend the south goal.
Nevada Head Coach Chris Ault
On the game:
“I’m pleased. We played well enough to learn a lot. We played well but we have a way to go. Nicholls State is a sound football team.”
On the difference in Nevada’s play between the first and second quarters:
“The difference between the two quarters was big plays. Our offense made plays. Luke (Lippincott) ran well and our offensive front did a great job.”
On picking up a win going into a bye week:
“It was critical to get a win. Last week was a tough loss. This was important for us to be able to establish something.”
On stopping Nicholls State’s fake punt:
“They tried to fake two punts and we were ready for it. Defensively, that punt team did a great job.”
On tight end Adam Bishop:
“We need Adam to do great and I am really pleased for him.”
On running back Luke Lippincott:
“He practices like he plays. This guy wants to win. He is an inspirational guy who is tough and I’m really pleased with him.”
Nevada quarterback Nick Graziano
On the difference between the first and second quarters:
“The first quarter was pretty bad getting shut out like that, but in the second quarter, the rushing game picked up with the guys up front doing a great job.”
On the Importance of first win:
“It’s always good getting a win even though we didn’t start well. We were able to finish well and that always helps.”
On his first win as a starter:
“It’s like a sigh of relief and it’s about time as it’s the third game.”
Nevada tight end Adam Bishop
On his personal performance:
“Personally it may look like I did well, but I need to improve on little things like blocking.”
Nevada running back Luke Lippincott
On comparing the first week to now:
“After the first game, I was never able to get into a good groove. I wasn’t helping the team out. Now, though, the whole teaming is improving and really gelling together.”
On the mistakes early in the game:
“First quarter, we had a couple critical errors. but we are seeing more and more progress in practice. This game you could see it in the second quarter that we are getting better.”
Nevada defensive back Jonathon Amaya
On the team’s performance:
“We played well even though we had a couple little breakdowns, so we got some little things that we need to work on.”
Nevada defensive lineman Matt Hines
On the game:
“We played a good game; it’s a good first win even though we didn’t start well. Mentally, we started executing better after the first quarter.”
On the team’s progress this season:
“We’re very inconsistent right now, you can see that from the start of the game. We got a bye next week to regroup and get things back together again and prepare for UNLV.”
Nicholls State Head Coach Jay Thomas
“Our team came out and we were prepared to play the game. The first quarter, we competed well. Obviously the wind had a lot to do with the game. When we switched quarters and the wind went other way, we couldn’t get the field position back.” Re: Injuries “I’m very proud of the team for competing. It was an opportunity to see the young players play, especially in the second half.” Re: Fake punt “We didn’t execute it. It was set up for us to make the big play. When you play these games you come here to win.” Re: 2-1 record after the loss “There are a lot of positives there. We made history, opening the first game and defeating Rice.” Re: Elevation playing conditions “It was a huge challenge for our team to make the flight (to Reno). We didn’t really get into the elevation. Obviously it did affect us. We tried to do our research as much as we could and try to prepare our team. I thought our staff did a tremendous job.” Broderick Cole, Nichols State fullback “We came in as a group, a team, this year to hold everybody accountable. No matter what the score is, we want to get better as a team.” Re: Nevada’s defense “It was one of the faster-moving defenses. They basically played a 4-3. We just felt we could play with them as long as we get them on the ground.”
