University of Nevada Athletics

By Brady Johnson
Assistant Director, Athletic Communications

NEW ORLEANS - A concerted sentiment was echoed from the University of Nevada football team after its first full day in New Orleans - the sightseeing is over.

Exploring the city and getting accustomed to the immensity of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome was one of the team's top priorities in its first 24 hours in the Crescent City. Now, it's game time.

Nevada meets Louisiana in the 14th annual R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on Saturday at 8 a.m. (PT), and the Wolf Pack has officially entered game mode in its game-week preparations. Head coach Brian Polian told his team that it's time to enter the game time mindset and prepare to win following the team's first practice this morning in the Superdome.

"I think everybody got the familiarization and sightseeing aspect out of their system last night," said Polian to members of the media following practice. "Now, it's time to get ready for the game. We had an up-tempo walkthrough today and accomplished what we needed to, and we'll put together a really good practice tomorrow."

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl - Countdown - 3 days

Nevada's players walked through the tunnel of the Superdome for the first time in their lives this morning for Nevada's 10 a.m. (CT) practice. Before diving into work, Polian let his players walk around for 10 minutes and get used to the bright lights and playing surface.

Senior quarterback Cody Fajardo, who is one of two players in FBS history to pass for 9,000 yards and rush for 3,000 yards in a career, was pleased with the conditions in the dome.

"The ball comes out of your hands nice in here," said Fajardo, who received many questions from Louisiana media about his and Colin Kaepernick's similar accolades at Nevada. "There's no wind or weather to worry about. It spins off your hand pretty nice and the ball is a little sticky, which helps the receivers."

In addition to preparing to play in the largest stadium its been in all season, Nevada is prepared to play in road-game conditions on Saturday morning. With the Ragin' Cajuns located about 160 miles away in Lafayette, there will mostly be red in the stands - as it has been the past three years Louisiana played in the bowl game.

The Wolf Pack won't be overly concerned. In addition to playing at two big stadiums in Florida State and UCLA last year, Nevada posted a 4-2 record on the road this season.

"From the moment we started talking about this bowl, we just said that it's a road game," said Polian. "It's not a big deal to us."

After a little sightseeing in the dome, Nevada's first practice in New Orleans was an up-tempo walkthrough. The Pack opened with conditioning and position drills before both the offense and defense underwent its walkthrough against the scout team.

Freshman QB and Sparks native Hunter Fralick commandeered Nevada's scout-team offense, as the Wolf Pack defense is prepared to face a Louisiana side that looks a lot like its own. The Ragin Cajun's average nearly 230 yards on the ground per game, boasted by two running backs with over 700 rushing yards on the season. Polian admitted that the two offenses look similar and that Nevada's focus will be set on stopping the run.

"Coach Paterno had a saying - "make them play left-handed" - and if we're looking at this opponent and trying to make them play left-handed, we have to stop the run," said Polian.

On Offense, Nevada enters the bowl game with confidence after a season-high 408 rushing yards in its finale with five-straight 200-yard rushing games. The Wolf Pack ranked third in the Mountain West and averaged 31.3 points per game - just .7 more than the Cajuns.

One of Wolf Pack's main hurdles with the Louisiana defense will be in the trenches. The Cajun boast a talented defensive line, featuring two all-conference defensive tackles in Christian Ringo and Justin Hamilton.

"They run around and get 11 guys on the ball," said Fajardo, who is three rushing yards away from becoming the first QB in FBS this season to pass for over 2,000 and rush for over 1,000 yards. "They have a good defensive front with two big tackle that can cause problems."

Wolf Pack in The Big Easy

Following Nevada's practice, players and staff were welcomed to a gift suite to pick bowl gifts from the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The bowl suite consisted of a variety of gifts including televisions, reclining chairs, a mountain bike, electronics and much more.

Each gift was assigned a numerical value and the players were given nine points to spend. Junior academic All-American Jordan Dobrich chose the reclining chair due to the "comfortability-factor", while junior Lenny Jones picked wireless headphones.

Following a treatment session with trainers, Nevada went to a local eatery and arcade for their official team party and dinner. After being treated to a good southern meal, the players had a wide array of games to choose from, including pool, ping pong, bowling, darts and arcade games.

Nevada returned to its team hotel around 8 p.m. local time, where the Pack will get to rest for Thursday's 10 a.m. (PT) practice, which will be one of the most important practices in New Orleans according to Polian.

Viewing Party

The Little Wal' will host a viewing party for the 2014 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. The Nevada Alumni Association will host the Wolf Pack viewing part at 8 a.m. (PT) Saturday and will deliver free Big Easy breakfast burritos to the first 100 fans.

Additional Links

Coach Polian Interview
Player Interviews
RGJ: Wolf Pack's must-stop players against Louisiana