University of Nevada Athletics

TV: ESPN

RADIO:  University of Nevada Sports Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 630 AM, Reno) with Ryan Radtke (PxP) and Chris Vargas (analyst). Pre-game at 5 p.m.

SERIES HISTORY: Nevada leads 5-4

LAST MEETING: Nevada won the last meeting 35-31 in Ruston, La., last season

 

THE SKINNY
Coming off a dominating 63-28 win over in-state rival UNLV, the Nevada Wolf Pack completes its three-game homestand with a nationally televised Friday night tilt against Louisiana Tech ... Louisiana Tech enters the game with a 2-2 record on the year, which includes a 1-0 mark in Western Athletic Conference play after a 27-6 victory over Hawai`i last Wednesday ... This is the WAC opener for Nevada ... The Wolf Pack has won four straight games in the series with the Bulldogs, including last year’s 35-31 come-from-behind win in Ruston, La. ... Nevada trailed 31-14 in the third quarter last year but scored the final 21 points of the game to score the victory and claim a tie for second place in the league ... The series has traditionally been a high-scoring affair as the lowest score by a winning team is 37 points (2005) ... Nevada has the WAC Offensive Player of the Week in tow in the form of redshirt freshman running back Mike Ball, who ran for 184 yards and five TDs against UNLV ... Nevada head coach Chris Ault is one win away from 200 in his career ... Tech is one of seven opponents on Nevada’s schedule that went to a bowl game in 2008 ... Nevada is 5-4 all-time in WAC openers since joining the league in 2000.

THE LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET (Nov. 29, 2008)
RUSTON, La. (AP) – Vai Taua ran for a 22-yard touchdown with 3:15 left to cap Nevada's 35-31 comeback victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday.
Taua's rush capped a 21-0 run that washed away Louisiana Tech's 31-14 lead with 4:48 left in the third. Nevada's three-touchdown turnaround started late in the third with Colin Kaepernick's 18-yard touchdown connection with Marko Mitchell, continued with Kaepernick's 27-yard toss to Mike McCoy to start the fourth and ended with Taua's game-winner.
Kaepernick completed 24 of 42 passes for 397 yards with four touchdowns and one interception for the Wolf Pack (7-5, 5-3 Western Athletic Conference). Taua finished with 61 yards on the ground. Marko Mitchell had 153 yards and two touchdowns on six catches, and Mike McCoy had 109 yards and a score on six receptions.
Ross Jenkins was 16-for-30 with 259 yards and two touchdowns for the Bulldogs (7-5, 5-3).
Jenkins' 26-yard pass to Shane Womack and Daniel Porter's 20-yard touchdown run helped give Louisiana Tech a 17-7 lead at halftime. After Kaepernick hit Mitchell on a 62-yard score, Jenkins hit Phillip Livas on a 44-yard score and Patrick Johnson's 4-yard run made it 31-14. The Bulldogs didn't score again.
Nevada rallied back from the 31-14 deficit with 21 unanswered points as Kaepernick threw for 291 yards and three scores in the second half.
The Wolf Pack is headed to a bowl-game for a school-record four straight years. No bowl announcement is expected until late in the week.

LAST TIME OUT
RENO, Nev. (AP) – Freshman Mike Ball ran for 184 yards and five touchdowns, Colin Kaepernick rushed for 173 yards and Luke Lippincott 170 to lead Nevada to its first win of the season and fifth in a row over rival UNLV 63-28 on Saturday.
Ball, who prepped in Las Vegas, scored on runs of 10, 1, 32, 4 and 89 yards and Kaepernick added 200 yards passing for the Wolf Pack (1-3), who never punted in the game that was 21-21 at the half. As a team, they had 559 yards rushing and 773 yards total offense to help overcome four fumbles.
Mike Clausen, filling in for injured quarterback Omar Clayton, completed 26-of-50 passes for 276 yards and a touchdown for the Rebels (2-3).
Nevada went 80 yards on the opening series of the second half and Ball ran 32 yards up the middle for his third score of the day to put the Wolf Pack ahead 28-21. But on their next series, Ball gave up Nevada's fourth fumble of the game and UNLV linebacker Beau Orth fell on it at midfield.
C.J. Cox ran 23 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-28 after the officials reversed a first-down call on fourth down to keep the Rebels' drive alive.
The next series, on third-and-10 and with a UNLV blitz in his face, Kaepernick dumped off a screen to Lippincott who went 43 yards to UNLV's 4-yard line before Ball went up the middle untouched for another score and a 35-28 lead with :50 left in the third quarter.
UNLV moved as far as Nevada's 43 with 13:24 left in the game, but linebacker Mike Bethea tipped away a pass intended for Ryan Wolfe on third down and safety Jonathan Amaya did the same on one intended for Phillip Payne on fourth down. Five plays later, Kaepernick threw a 17-yard TD pass to Virgil Green to make it 42-28 with 11:21 left in the game.
Nevada scored again when Kaepernick took the snap, pitched it behind his back to Lippincott then slipped off to the end zone to catch Lippincott's 6-yard scoring toss for a 49-28 lead with 6:59 left. Then came Ball's 89-yard touchdown to make it 56-28 and finally Courtney Randall's 26-yard score with 3:04 on the clock for the final margin.
RECORD-BREAKING PERFORMANCES
The Wolf Pack offensive attack against UNLV was relevant, both in terms of the Nevada record books, but also in relation to the national scene. Consider:
o The Pack rushed for a school-record 559 rushing yards as a team. That eclipsed the previous mark of 545, set against Sacramento State in 1977. The 559 yards is the most by an FBS team this year (Previous: 474 yards by Air Force against Nicholls State on Sept. 5)
o The Pack rolled up 773 yards of total offense (10.4 yards per play) in the game, the most since 791 yards of total offense against San Jose State in 2001. The school record is 793 yards against UNLV in 1993. The 773 yards of total offense is the most by an FBS team this year (Previous: Florida, 663 yards vs. Troy on Sept. 12).
o Another school record was set as Mike Ball, Colin Kaepernick and Luke Lippincott each rushed for 100 yards in more, the first time in school history that three backs topped the 100-yard mark in the same game. The NCAA record for most players on the same team rushing for 100 yards or more is four, held by four teams. Research is still being done to see if this is the first time three players on the same team eclipsed the 150-yard mark in the same game. This is the first time since 1996 that Nevada has had three different players rush for 100 yards in a game during the course of a season.

NOTABLE FROM LAST WEEK’S GAME
With the win, Nevada improved to 1-3 on the season, 103-92 as an FBS school and 483-432-33 in its history (103rd season) ... Coach Chris Ault improved to 199-94-1 in his 25-year career ... Nevada won its fifth-straight game in the rivalry and improved to 20-15 overall in the series and 12-6 all-time at Mackay Stadium in the rivalry ... Nevada’s five-game winning streak matches three other five-game streaks in the rivalry (Nevada, 1989-93; Nevada 1995-99; UNLV 2000-04) ... Coach Chris Ault improved to 12-7 overall in the series and 7-2 all-time at Mackay Stadium in the rivalry ... Since 1987, Ault has only lost twice to the Rebels and he hasn’t lost to the Rebels at Mackay Stadium since 1979 ... With the victory, Nevada will retain possession of the Fremont Cannon for another year. Nevada’s seniors will conclude their careers having never lost to UNLV.

THE FREMONT CANNON
The Fremont Cannon will stay at "home" in Cashell Fieldhouse after Nevada's dominating 63-28 win over in-state rival UNLV on Oct. 3 at Mackay Stadium. Nevada has now won five straight against the Rebels and holds a 20-15 leads in the series.
The cannon is billed as one of the largest and most expensive trophies
in collegiate athletics. It is a replica of the howitzer that was abandoned in a Sierra snowdrift by Gen. John C. Fremont during his expedition of Nevada, Oregon and California in 1843-44. Nevada reclaimed the cannon in 2005 with a 22-14 victory in Reno and has retained possession with four consecutive victories.

BLOCKED PUNT
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.

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).

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.

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

HAVING A BALL
Through the first three games this season, Mike Ball established himself as an electric kick returner, perhaps one of the nation’s best.
Against UNLV in the Battle for the Fremont Cannon, Ball had a coming out party as a running back. The redshirt freshman earned the WAC Offensive Player of the Week award – the first of the season for a Nevada player – by rushing for 184 yards and five touchdowns. The rushing total is a season-high for a Nevada player this season and the five touchdowns are the most by a Wolf Pack player since Chance Kretschmer scored six at UTEP in 2001 and is tied for second in the record books with Johnny Gordon, who also had five rushing TDs vs. Texas A&M Kingsville in 1984.
His touchdowns came on runs of 10, 1, 32, 4 and 89 yards. The 89-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter ranks as the fourth-longest touchdown run by an FBS back this season.
Ball’s Player of the Week award from the WAC was the first such honor of the season for a Nevada player. It marked the 42nd time since Nevada joined the league that a player received a POW award.

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.

MOCH MOVES INTO THE LEAD
With another stellar performance, this one against UNLV, junior Dontay Moch became the NCAA leader in tackles for loss per game this season. The defensive end recorded 4.5 TFLs against the Rebels and that moved his total to 11 on the year. The average of 2.75 per game is the best in the nation. Moch entered the game tied for fourth in the category. He was 30th in the country last year with 17.5 tackles for loss.

KAEPERNICK VS. UNLV
In two career games against UNLV, junior quarterback Colin Kaepernick has accounted for 797 yards of total offense and seven touchdowns.
In 2008, Kaepernick rushed for 240 yards and three scores while throwing for two more touchdowns. He totaled 416 yards of offense in that 49-27 victory.
This year, Kaepernick ran for 173 yards and completed 15-of-18 for 208 yards and a touchdown. He also caught a 6-yard touchdown pass in the game.
In those two games, UNLV has tallied 727 yards and seven TDs as a team.

WIMBERLY ARRIVES
Prior to this season, Brandon Wimberly last played in a competitive football game in 2006 while in high school in Gardena, Calif. He grayshirted the 2007 season and redshirted the 2008 year. After catching two passes for 36 yards in his collegiate debut at Notre Dame, Wimberly has emerged the last few weeks at Colorado State and at home against Missouri and UNLV
At CSU, Wimberly caught seven passes for 104 yards – the first 100-yard game of the season by a Pack receiver. He also hauled in his first collegiate touchdown – a 13-yard strike from Colin Kaepernick – in the fourth quarter.
Against Missouri, Wimberly led the Pack in receiving, catching six passes for 76 yards and another touchdown – this one a 6-yard pass from Kaepernick.
Last week against UNLV, Wimberly led the Wolf Pack in receiving yet again. The redshirt freshman caught five passes for a team-high 71 yards against the Rebels.

For the complete notes package, click on the PDF link.