NEVADA WOLF PACK (2-3, 1-0 WAC)
vs.
UTAH STATE AGGIES (1-4, 0-1 WAC)
Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009 - 12:07 p.m. PT
Romney Stadium (25,513) - Logan, Utah
TV: KAME in Northern Nevada; Comcast Sports Net Calif.
RADIO: University of Nevada Sports Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 630 AM, Reno) with Ryan Radtke (PxP) and Chris Vargas (analyst). Pre-game at 11 a.m.
SERIES HISTORY: Nevada leads 15-4
LAST MEETING: Nevada won the last meeting 44-17 in Reno last season and has won four straight in the series.
THE SKINNY
Coming off a strong performance in its WAC opener - a 37-13 win over visiting Louisiana Tech on Friday night, the Nevada Wolf Pack heads back on the road, with the nation's top rushing offense in tow, to face Utah State on Saturday in Logan, Utah ... Chris Ault will be gunning for win No. 201 after hitting the milestone 200 last week against the Bulldogs ... Utah State enters the game 1-4 overall and 0-1 in WAC after falling in the waning moments at New Mexico State last week ... The series between these teams dates back to 1904 and Nevada holds a 15-4 all-time lead in the series ... Ault has never lost to the Aggies in seven games ... Nevada has won four straight since Utah State joined the WAC in 2005 ... The Pack is 8-2 in Logan with the lone losses comes in 1915 and 1950 ... The last two games in Logan, however, have been close ones with Nevada winning by a total of nine points ... in 2007, Colin Kaepernick threw for 170 yards and two scores while Luke Lippincott rushed for a career-high 241 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-28 win ... Utah State is one of just five opponents on Nevada's schedule that did not go to a bowl game in 2008 ... This game features two of the top offensive threats in the conference and the nation in the form of Nevada junior Colin Kaepernick and Utah State quarterback Diondre Borel. Borel is 25th and Kaepernick, the WAC Player of the Week from last week, is 27th nationally in total offense.
THE LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET (Oct. 18, 2008)
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Colin Kaepernick rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another as Nevada beat Utah State 44-17 on Saturday.
Vai Taua rushed for 122 and a touchdown for the Wolf Pack (4-3 overall, 2-1 WAC).
Kaepernick came off the bench after sitting out the first quarter and scored on a 19-yard run on his first touch of the game. He also scored on a 1-yard run and threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Marko Mitchell.
He completed 10 of 20 passes for 197 yards and threw one interception.
Diondre Borel was 19 of 38 for 262 yards and two touchdowns for Utah State (1-6, 0-3 WAC).
His first of two touchdown passes to Otis Nelson pulled the Aggies to within six points of the Wolf Pack, 13-6 with 2:27 left in the first half.
Nevada answered with 6-play, 68-yard drive capped by a 10-yard touchdown run by Mike McCoy to lead 20-7 at halftime.
The Wolf Pack stretched the lead to 30-7 on a 26-yard field goal by Brett Jaekle and Kaepernick's 75-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell with 5:54 left in the third quarter. Mitchell had 4 catches for 122 yards.
After a Utah State field goal made it 30-10, Kaepernick scored on a one-yard run to make it 37-10.
The Aggies cut it to 37-17 on a 52-yard strike from Borel to Nelson with 9:48 left in the first.
Nevada's Jared Silva-Purcell picked off Borel and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown for the game's final score.
LAST TIME OUT
RENO, Nev. (AP) - Colin Kaepernick passed for three touchdowns and ran for two more, including a 67-yarder, to help Nevada beat Louisiana Tech 37-14 on Friday night for coach Chris Ault's 200th career victory.
Kaepernick finished with 166 yards passing and 89 yards rushing, and Vai Taua added 107 yards on the ground for Nevada (2-3, 1-0 Western Athletic Conference) in its fifth straight victory over the Bulldogs (2-3, 1-1).
Daniel Porter ran for 99 yards and two touchdowns, including one for 64 yards for Louisiana Tech, which ran for only 15 yards in the first half and was held to 256 yards total offense for the game to Nevada's 511.
Kaepernick, a junior who is one of only 13 players in NCAA history to rush for 2,000 yards and pass for 4,000 yards in his career, completed 15-of-21 passes including a 24-yard TD throw to Brandon Wimberly and a pair of 3-yard scoring tosses to tight ends Talaiasi Puloka and Virgil Green.
NOTABLE FROM LAST WEEK'S GAME
With the win, Nevada improved to 2-3 on the season, 104-92 as an FBS school and 484-432-33 in its history (103rd season) ... Coach Chris Ault improved to 200-94-1 in his 25-year career and became the 54th coach in the history of college football (all divisions) to win 200 games in a career (more on the 200 wins later) ... Nevada improved 6-4 all-time in WAC openers ... The Wolf Pack now leads the all-time series with Tech, 6-4 ... Nevada did not commit a turnover and finished on the plus side in turnover margin for the first time this season ... Isaiah Frey grabbed the first interception of the year for the Nevada defense. It was also the first pick of his career ... The defense set season-bests in allowing fewest points (13), first downs (10), passing yards (129) and total yards (256) ... The 129 passing yards are the fewest yielded by Nevada under second-year defensive coordinator Nigel Burton ... Senior tight end Talaiasi Puloka Jr caught his first touchdown pass since 2007 and his second career TD on a 3-yard pass from Colin Kaepernick ... Sophomore Kaelin Burnett blocked a punt - the second game in a row that Nevada has blocked a punt ... Vai Taua rushed for 107 yards, topping the century mark for the 10th time in his career.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Nevada's coaching staff names a Player of the Week on each side of the ball after each victory during the season. The winners:
UNLV: Virgil Green (offense) and Dontay Moch (defense).
Louisiana Tech: Colin Kaepernick (offense) and Kevin Basped and Jonathon Amaya (defense).
BIG BLOCKER
In every game that Nevada wins, the Basalite Big Blocker is awarded to the offensive lineman
who grades out the best. The honorees:
UNLV: Mike Gallett, junior tackle.
Louisiana Tech: Kenneth Ackerman, senior center.
BLACKSHIRTS
Each week, the Wolf Pack coaching staff awards a black jersey to those excelled on special teams during the previous game. The winners:
Notre Dame: Brad Langley.
Colorado State: Mike Ball, Brad Langley, Ahmad Wood.
Missouri: Mike Ball.
UNLV: Ricky Drake, Albert Rosette, Brett Roy, Duke Williams.
Louisiana Tech: Kaelin Burnett, Joe Easter.
WIN NO. 200 FOR CHRIS AULT
With a 37-13 victory over Louisiana Tech at Mackay Stadium on Oct. 9, Nevada coach Chris Ault won his 200th career game. He became:
o The 54th coach in NCAA history (all divisions) to win 200 games in a career.
o The sixth active coach in FBS with 200 wins. The other five are: Penn State's Joe Paterno, Florida State's, Bobby Bowden, Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer, Ohio State's Jim Tressel, and Texas's Mack Brown.
o The 30th coach in history to win 200 games at one school.
Ault notched his 200th victory in the 11th-fewest amount of games (294), behind, Joe Paterno, Tom Osborne, Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes, Jim Tressel, Pop Warner, LaVell Edwards, Bobby Bowden, Bear Bryant and Vince Dooley and tied with Amos Alonzo Stagg.
In terms of major college coaches, only 10 coaches have coached at one school for longer than Ault's 25 years at Nevada. And when you whittle that list down to active coaches, only Paterno and Bowden have been coaching at their schools for longer than Ault.
2000K CLUB
Against Colorado State, senior running back Luke Lippincott passed the 2,000-yard mark in rushing for his career. Against UNLV, junior quarterback did the same. And in the near future, junior running back Vai Taua (1,949 yards), will likely join them.
When that happens, the Nevada trio will become just the second group of three rushers to reach the 2,000-yard mark in the same season. It was done only once before, by Nebraska's Correll Buckhalter, Dan Alexander and Eric Crouch.
ON THE HORIZON FOR KAEPERNICK
Last year, Colin Kaepernick became just the fifth player in history to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season. Earlier this year, he became just the 13th player in history to rush for 2,000 yards and throw for 4,000 yards in a career. And now the junior is on pace for more achievements in the near future.
With 36 points scored (rushing or receiving), Kaepernick will become just the sixth player in history to score 200 points and passing for 200 points a career.
With 328 yards rushing, Kaepernick will enter the top 20 all-time in career rushing yards by a quarterback.
TIGHT END PRODUCTION
In the early years of the Pistol offense, Nevada received great contribution from the tight end position. That production tailed off last year but is coming back strong in 2009.
With junior Virgil Green and seniors Talaiasi Puloka Jr. and Kevin Bohr, the tight end spot is producing yet again for the Wolf Pack this year.
Green is fourth on the team in receiving with 12 catches for 102 yards and he is second on the team with two touchdowns. While Bohr has yet to catch a pass, Puloka hauled in his first TD of the year last week against Louisiana Tech.
The group is on pace to exceed last year's totals from the TE spot in receptions, yards and TDs.
BLOCK PARTY
It had been five years since Nevada had blocked a punt. Now, the Wolf Pack has blocked punts in back-to-back games
Redshirt freshman Albert Rosette blocked a punt in the first quarter against UNLV on Oct. 3 at Mackay Stadium. That was the first blocked punt by Nevada since Roderick Stallings blocked a punt against Sacramento State in 2004.
On Oct. 9 against Louisiana Tech, sophomore Kaelin Burnett blocked a Bulldog punt, which set up Nevada on the Tech 3-yard line and led to a touchdown.
KAEPERNICK MAKES ANOTHER MARK
During Nevada's 63-28 victory over UNLV, junior quarterback Colin Kaepernick rushed for 173 yards and quietly etched his name into the NCAA Record Book again. With the rushing total, Kaepernick moved past the 2,000-yard mark in rushing and became just the 13th player in NCAA history to rush for 2,000 yards and throw for 4,000 yards in a career.
The others on the list: Prince McJunkins, Wichita St., 1979-82;John Bond, Mississippi St., 1980-83; Rickey Foggie, Minnesota, 1984-87; Brian Mitchell, La.-Lafayette, 1986-89; Major Harris, West Virginia, 1987-89; Antwaan Randle El, Indiana, 1998-01; Woodrow Dantzler, Clemson, 1998-01; Joshua Cribbs, Kent St., 2001-04; Vince Young, Texas, 2003-05; Brad Smith, Missouri, 2002-05; Patrick White, West Virginia, 2005-08; Dan LeFevour, Central Mich., 2006-active.
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