Nevada vs. SMU
Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl
Dec. 24, 2009
Nevada Post-Game Notes
With this loss, Nevada...
- - Finished the 2009 season with an 8-5 record (7-1 in WAC play) and fell to 110-94 as an FBS school and 490-434-33 in its history (103rd season)
- - Coach Chris Ault fell to 206-96-1 in his 25-year career.
- - Saw the all-time series between the teams even at three wins each.
- - Saw its all-time bowl record fall to 3-7 with its fourth-straight loss in a bowl game.
KAEPERNICK OVER 2000 YARD PASSING, 1000 YARDS RUSHING FOR SECOND YEAR IN A ROW: Quarterback Colin Kaepernick's 177 yard passing moved him past 2,000 for the season. It is only the eighth time in NCAA history that a player has rushed for 1,000 yards and passed for 2,000 yards in a season and Kaepernick became the FIRST player in NCAA history to do so in back-to-back seasons. Brad Smith (Missouri) is the only player to have ever done it twice (2002, 2004).
BASPED AND MOCH MOVE UP: Nevada's fearsome defensive ends moved up on a handful of historical charts on Thursday.
With an assisted tackle for loss in the first quarter, junior Dontay Moch extended his school record to 20.0 on the season and moved into a tie for third on the WAC single-season list with Fresno State's Alan Harper (2001) and Rice's Brandon Green (2001).
With two second-quarter sacks, junior Kevin Basped moved into a tie for fifth on Nevada's single-season list with J.J. Milan (2006) with 9.5 on the year.
RUSHING LEADERS: With its two top running backs out, Nevada struggled on the ground against SMU. But Nevada will most likely finish the season as the nation's top rushing attack.
BALL MOVES UP: With 119 yards in kick returns, redshirt freshman Mike Ball moved into third place all-time in single-season kick return yardage at Nevada. Ball now has 761 yards this season and in his career (8th in career yards).
ET CETERA: SMU won the opening coin toss and elected to receive as Nevada kicked off for the 13th time in 13 games this year ... Jonathon Amaya's team-best consecutive starts streak was extended to 30 ... Sophomore Lampford Mark made his first career start ... Redshirt freshman Khalid Wooten made his kick-returning debut and had one return for 23 yards ... Colin Kaepernick finished the season 12th in single-season rushing yards ... The bowl game marked the final game for 15 Nevada seniors.
