Nevada vs. New Mexico State
Nov. 21, 2009
Nevada Post-Game Notes
With this win, Nevada…
- Won its seventh straight game and improved to 8-3 this season (7-0 in WAC play), 110-92 as an FBS school and 490-432-33 in its history (103rd season)
- Coach Chris Ault improved to 206-94-1 in his 25-year career.
- Won its 11th game in the series against NMSU as Nevada improved its series lead to 11-2 all-time. Nevada has never lost in Las Cruces (6-0) and Coach Ault is 7-1 all-time against the Aggies.
- Is now guaranteed a bowl spot as the Wolf Pack will finish no worse than second place in the WAC.
THREE FOR A GRAND: With 162 yards on the ground, Luke Lippincott topped the 1,000-yard mark in rushing this season. He joins teammates Colin Kaepernick and Luke Lippincott as 1,000-yard rushers this season. This is the first time in NCAA history that one team has had three players rush for 1,000 yards or more in a season. Nevada had two 1,000-yard rushers last year in Kaepernick and Taua.
Lippincott now has 1,028 yards on the season while Kaepernick has 1,129 yards and Taua leads the way with 1,185 yards. This is the 24th time in Nevada history (and second time for Lippincott) that a player has rushed for 1,000 yards or more in a season.
LUKE OVER 3,000: With a 32-yard touchdown run in the third quarter – the same run that pushed him over 1,000 yards for the season – Luke Lippincott went over the 3,000-yard mark in rushing for his career. He is just the fifth player in Nevada history to top 3,000 rushing yards in a career.
SINGLE-GAME RUSHING RECORD: With 574 yards, Nevada broke the school record for rushing yards in a game. The previous record was 559 yards, set earlier this season against UNLV.
WIN STREAK: Nevada has now won eight games in a row, which is the school’s longest win streak as an FBS school (since 1992). Nevada’s longest win streak in its history is 12 games, which has been done twice: 1989-90 and 1991.
MORE PICKS: The Nevada defense has come alive with takeaways as of late. James-Michael Johnson and Jonathon Amaya each recorded their first interceptions of the season on Saturday. That makes it five straight games with an interception (seven total in that stretch) after going the first six games with just one interceptions.
AULT PASSES BOWDEN: Saturday’s victory was win No. 206 in the career of Chris Ault, who is in his 25th season. He moved past Bobby Bowden into fifth place all-time 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.
40-40 CLUB: With a pair of first-half rushing TDs, junior quarterback joined another exclusive club. He became just the fifth player in NCAA history to throw for at least 40 TDs and rush for at least 40 TDs as he entered the game with 38 rushing touchdowns. The other four players in history to do that: Antwaan Randle El (Indiana), Josh Harris (Bowling Green), Brad Smith (Missouri) and Pat White (West Virginia).
SINGLE-SEASON RUSH RECORD: Entering the game, Nevada needed just 81 yards to break the school record for rushing yards in a season. The Wolf Pack got it done early as Nevada rolled up 290 yards rushing in the first half. Nevada broke the record last year with 3,611 rushing yards in 13 games. The record fell this year in just 11 games as Nevada now has 4,105 yards on the season.
SINGLE-SEASON FIRST DOWN RECORD: Nevada also broke the school record for first downs by rushing in a season. The Pack came into the game with 155 first downs by rushing and the school record, set last year, was 174. Nevada had 26 rushing first downs on Saturday to set the mark at 181
MOVING UP: Nevada players moved up on a handful of career and single-season lists on Saturday. Here is the breakdown:
- With two rushing TDs, Colin Kaepernick tied Frank Hawkins for third place on the list for Nevada’s career rushing TDs at 39.
- Vai Taua moved a tie for seventh (with Earnie O’Leary and B.J. Mitchell) in career rushing TDs at 25.
- Kaepernick moved into fifth place in single-season scoring with 104 points. He passed Alex Van Dyke (1995), Bryan Reeves (1993) and himself (2008).
- Kaepernick moved into a tie for fifth place in single-season touchdowns with 17. He passed Alex Van Dyke (1995) and moved into a tie with Bryan Reeves (1993) and himself (2008).
- Taua is now 10th in single-season rushing with 1,185 yards.
- Kaepernick is now 15th in single-season rushing with 1,129 yards.
- Lippincott is 24th in single-season rushing with 1,028 yards.
-
UP NEXT: Nevada will have another short week – the fourth time this season that Nevada has had less than a full week between games – before traveling to Boise State to face the unbeaten Broncos. Kickoff is slated for 7:08 (PT) on Friday on ESPN2. The winner will lay claim to the WAC Championship.
ET CETERA: Nevada won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half … The Wolf Pack kicked off for the 11th time in 11 games this year and defended the north end zone … Jonathon Amaya’s team-best consecutive starts streak was extended to 28 … Tyler Lantrip scored his first collegiate touchdown with a 4-yard run in the third quarter … Nevada did not allow a 100-yard rusher for the 11th-straight game … Colin Kaepernick is now 13th all-time in NCAA history in rushing yards by a quarterback.
