NEVADA WOLF PACK (7-3, 6-0 WAC)vs. NEW MEXICO ST. (3-7, 1-4 WAC) Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009 – 7:30 p.m. PTAggie Memorial Stadium (30,343) – Las Cruces, N.M. TV: ESPNU (Mike Morgan and JC Pearson)
RADIO: University of Nevada Sports Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 630 AM, Reno) with Ryan Radtke (PxP) and Chris Vargas (analyst). Pre-game at 6:30 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY: Nevada leads, 10-2
LAST MEETING: Nevada dropped a 48-45 decision in Reno on Oct. 11, 2008.
THE SKINNY
Coming off its seventh-straight victory, the WAC-leading Nevada football team hits the road for the first of two road games to conclude the 2009 regular season ... First up is Saturday’s nationally televised (ESPNU) game at New Mexico State on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (Pacific) ... Nevada will take the nation’s ninth-best winning streak (seven games) and the nation’s top rushing offense into Las Cruces ... The Wolf Pack is looking to make history as Luke Lippincott needs 134 rushing yards to hit 1,000 for the season, which would make Nevada the first team in NCAA history to have three 1,000-yard rushers in the same season ... The Wolf Pack is receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches’ Top 25 ... Nevada’s 6-0 start to WAC play is the Wolf Pack’s best ever since joining the league in 2000 ... Nevada is bowl eligible for the fifth straight season ... The Wolf Pack continues to lead the nation in rushing at 353.1 yards per game ... Nevada is second nationally in total offense (520.6 ypg) and fifth in scoring offense (39.1 ppg) ... Nevada has two players in the top 25 in rushing in Vai Taua (10th, 117.6 ypg) and Colin Kaepernick (24th, 101.5 ypg) ... Dontay Moch is tied for the lead nationally in tackles for loss per game at 1.95 ... Nevada coach Chris Ault is 6-1 all-time against New Mexico State with a 3-0 mark against the Aggies in Las Cruces ... Colin Kaepernick enters the game 15th in NCAA history in rushing yards by a quarterback ... Nevada is 2-2 in road games this year ... The Wolf Pack has the reigning Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week in senior safety Jonathon Amaya.
THE LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET (Oct. 11, 2008)
RENO, Nev. (AP) – Chase Holbrook passed for 409 yards and 3 touchdowns and New Mexico State won a shootout over Nevada 48-45 on Saturday.
Holbrook also rushed for a touchdown for the Aggies (3-2 overall, 1-0 WAC), who controlled the ball for the final 3:51 to run out the clock in a game that saw the two teams combine for more than 1,000 yards in total offense.
New Mexico State had 513 in total offense, while the Wolf Pack (3-3, 1-1 WAC) had 507 in a see-saw game that had nine lead changes and three ties.
Nevada’s Vai Taua rushed for 188 yards and scored a career-best four touchdowns. He took a 16-yard screen pass from Colin Kaepernick in from 14 yards to tie the score at 38 with 51 seconds left in the third quarter.
LAST TIME OUT
RENO, Nev. (AP) -Luke Lippincott rushed for 149 yards and three touchdowns to lead Nevada over Fresno State 52-14 on Saturday.
Vai Taua rushed for 179 yards and two touchdowns for the Wolf Pack (7-3, 6-0 Western Athletic).
Colin Kaepernick added 95 yards rushing and two touchdowns for Nevada, the nation's No. 1 rushing offense, which rolled up 461 yards Saturday.
Ryan Colburn passed for 362 yards and two touchdowns for the Bulldogs (6-4, 5-2). He had a 57-yard strike to Jamel Hamler on the opening drive to give Fresno State a 7-0 lead and hit Seyi Ajirotutu from 3 yards out to make it 14-7.
Fresno State had five turnovers, including four fumbles in the second half. The Bulldogs also lost running back Ryan Mathews, the nation's leading rusher with 165.1 yards per game entering Saturday, to an injury in the second quarter. He carried eight times for 35 yards.
The game was career game No. 300 for Nevada coach Chris Ault, who won the 205th game of his career.
NOTABLE FROM LAST WEEK’S GAME
With the win, Nevada won its seventh straight game and improved to 7-3 this season, 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 ... Nevada 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 ...Nevada has now won seven games in a row, which ties the longest streak Nevada has had as an FBS school (1994 and 1995) ... 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 ... 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 ... 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 ... 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 ... 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 ... 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 ... Khalid Wooten picked off Ryan Colburn in the first half, the second pick in Wooten’s career and second in as many games ... 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 ... 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.
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