Nevada vs. Fresno State
Nov. 14, 2009
Nevada Post-Game Notes
With this win, Nevada…
- Won its seventh straight game and improved to 7-3 this season (6-0 in WAC play), 109-92 as an FBS school and 489-432-33 in its history (103rd season)
- Coach Chris Ault improved to 205-94-1 in his 25-year career.
- Won its second straight game against Fresno State and closed the gap in the all-time series to 25-16-1 (Fresno State leads). Coach Ault is 5-4 overall and 3-1 at Mackay Stadium all-time against Fresno State.
WIN STREAK: Nevada has now won seven games in a row, which ties the longest streak Nevada has had as an FBS school (1994 and 1995). Nevada’s longest win streak in its history is 12 games, which has been done twice: 1989-90 and 1991.
DEFENSE ARRIVES: The Wolf Pack defense forced five turnovers in the game and held Fresno State to 112 rushing yards for the game. The nation’s leading rusher, Ryan Mathews, had just 32 yards on eight carries before leaving with injury.
The five turnovers forced is the most by a Nevada team since forcing five against New Mexico State in 2006.
SCHOOL RECORD: Nevada broke the school record for rushing touchdowns in a season as the seven touchdowns on the day gave the Pack 40 rushing TDs on the year in just 10 games. Last year, the Pack broke the school record with 39 rushing TDs in 13 games.
The Pack is also closing in the school record for rushing yards in a season. Last year, the team set the record with 3,611 yards in 13 games. Through 10 games, Nevada has 3,531 so far this season.
AULT TIES BOWDEN: Saturday’s victory was win No. 205 in the career of Chris Ault, who is in his 25th season. He tied Bobby Bowden for most wins in the first 25 seasons of a career. Only Tom Osborne, Joe Paterno, LaVell Edwards and Bo Schembechler won more games in their first 25 seasons than Ault.
TAUA, LIPPINCOTT OVER 100: With 179 yards on the game, junior running back Vai Taua topped the 100-yard mark for the sixth consecutive game and seventh time this season. He now has 15 career 100-yard games.
With 149 yards on the game, senior running back Luke Lippincott also topped the 100-yard mark for the 15th time in his career and fifth time this season.
TAUA, KAEPERNICK OVER 1,000: Vai Taua also went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season for Nevada, as did junior quarterback Colin Kaepernick. This is the 22nd and 23rd time in Nevada history that a player went over 1,000 yards and the second consecutive year that Taua and Kaepernick have accomplished the feat.
Taua now has 1,059 yards and eight touchdowns on the season.
Kaepernick now has 1,015 and 14 touchdowns on the year. He is just the 10th quarterback in NCAA history to rush for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons.
TEARING UP THE BULLDOGS, AGAIN: In two career games against Fresno State, Vai Taua’s numbers are simply astounding. Last year, he carved up the Bulldogs to the tune of 28 carries for 263 yards and a touchdown. On Saturday, Taua carried the ball just 17 times for179 yards and two touchdowns. In two career games against Fresno State, Taua has averaged 9.8 yards per carry with 442 yards and three scores.
Overall, Nevada has put up 1,106 yards of total offense with 933 rushing yards in the past two games against Fresno State.
WOOTEN WITH ANOTHER PICK: Last week against San Jose State, redshirt freshman cornerback Khalid Wooten notched his first career interception. He backed that up on Saturday pick No.2 to thwart a Fresno State scoring effort near the end of the first half.
That marked the first time a Nevada player recorded interceptions in back-to-back games since Mo Harvey had picks against Fresno State and Idaho last year.
DUSTING THE LEG OFF: Brad Langley’s punt with 2:48 remaining in the third quarter was Nevada’s first punt since the 11:52 mark in the fourth quarter of the Hawaii game on Oct. 31. That’s a stretch of more than seven quarters of play.
UP NEXT: Nevada will hit the road for the first of a two-game road trip to conclude the regular season. First up is a Saturday night tilt at New Mexico State on Saturday, Nov. 21 that will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
ET CETERA: Nevada won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half … The Wolf Pack kicked off for the 10th time in 10 games this year and defended the north end zone … Jonathon Amaya’s team-best consecutive starts streak was extended to 27 … Senior Daniel Agaiava notched his first career sack in his final game at Mackay Stadium … James-Michael Johnson had a career-high 4.0 tackles for loss as Nevada had 11 TFLs on the day … Lippincott moved into fifth place all-time at Nevada in career scoring with 222 career points … Lippincott also moved into fifth place in career touchdowns with 37 … Lippincott, Kaepernick and Taua now rank fifth, sixth and seventh all-time at Nevada in career rushing with Kaepernick passing Anthony Corley and Taua passing John Vicari and Corley on the day … Taua is now ninth in career rushing TDs with 24.
Nevada vs. Fresno State
Nov. 14, 2009
Nevada Post-Game Quotes
NEVADA COACH CHRIS AULT
On the game…
“That was a hell of a win.”
“Defensively, just outstanding. We gave up two quick ones, very easy ones, and then we played some defense”.
“We played a game … in my opinion best game we played as one unit.”
“Fresno, that’s a good football team. It is always a physical game.”
On Luke Lippincott and the rushing game…
“Luke is special. Luke is Nevada football.”
“To rush the yards we have been rushing, it is special. It is something that you don’t just see with consistency.”
On the defense…
“I’m proud of the defense because I have been waiting. The past two years have been tough because we haven’t played at a level that gets you to that championship level, and today we did well.”
“We made some nice strides today. We are climbing. It’s been a grind, practices have been hard.”
On the seniors…
“You see what they have built themselves into.”
“Kenny Ackerman, he is as good as Dominic Green.”
“We haven’t played a football game that was as meaningful as this on a Senior Day.”
NEVADA LINEBACKER JAMES-MICHAEL JOHNSON
“We Knew that Fresno was a running team, and that they were going to pass but run first.”
“When the defense plays good and the offense plays good, we are a scary team. We just have to stay consistent.”
“I love to see our seniors go out like that. All the seniors are great leaders, so if we can come out with a win that’s always good.”
NEVADA QUARTERBACK COLIN KAEPERNICK
“Once again, our offensive line has just been dominating.”
“they are doing a great job up front and our defense stepped up.”
“It was great to see the smiles on (the seniors’) faces, their last game at Mackay stadium.”
“It was a great defensive effort.”
“It wasn’t so much that we thought we could blow them out. We just knew that if our offense executes like we are supposed to, we will put points on the board.”
NEVADA SAFETY JONATHON AMAYA
“I think it was a great team win, offensively and defensively. I saw a lot of trust in everyone’s eyes.”
“This is my last time at Mackay stadium and so I wanted to go out with a bang.”
NEVADA RUNNING BACK VAI TAUA
“I think we played great on both sides of the ball. Our line dominated once again.”
“We are definitely coming together.”
“The O-line was great. Some of those holes, a truck could get through. It is the best O-line in the country.”
NEVADA RUNNING BACK LUKE LIPPINCOTT
“It was really special, the whole team clicked.”
“It was a little different to me because I looked at all my teammates in the eyes. It was sad and emotional knowing this was my last home game, and I think we all took it to heart.”
“I like to live in the moment, and if I had to pick a moment it would be today, being Senior Day.”
FRESNO STATE COACH PAT HILL
On the key play:
“I thought we had a good gameplan going in but the interception before the half really killed us.”
On offense
“The bottom line is on the offensive side of the ball we never got our run game going”
On giving up rushing yards
“I thought Nevada played much better than us up front; the dive really hurt us”
“Today was the first game all season where I feel like we have been physically outplayed on both sides of the ball”
“This game was won by Nevada in the offensive and defensive line”
FRESNO STATE RB LONYAE MILLER
On rushing game:
“It was huge for us to make plays up front and we couldn’t do it on either side of the ball”
On mistakes
“Obviously mistakes killed us with five turnovers”
On Mathews’ injury
“We all needed to step up and we have a very talented backfield”
FRESNO STATE NT Cornell Banks
On giving up run yards
“I have to see film but there were just too many big holes in the middle”
On assignments defensively
“We just need to do our jobs individually in a game like that”
On preparation
“They did everything we were expecting, we had a great game plan coming in”
