Sept. 26, 2016
Nevada Game Notes 
Week #5 - Nevada (2-2) at Hawai'i (1-3)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 1
Kickoff: 9 p.m. PT
Stadium: Aloha Stadium
Location: Honolulu, Hawai'i
Television: No broadcast on the mainland United States
Radio: Wolf Pack Radio Network (Flagship: ESPN Radio 94.5 FM/630 AM)
Series: Nevada leads 12-8
Last Meeting: W, 30-20 - Oct. 24, 2015
LAST TIME OUT
Senior QB Tyler Stewart threw touchdown passes of 15 yards to senior WR Hasaan Henderson and six yards to junior RB James Butler but a missed field goal and late score by Purdue pushed the Boilermakers passed the Wolf Pack, 24-14, last Saturday.
The Pack scored all of its 14 points off of turnovers and all 14 in the first half. Nevada led 14-10 at the half. After a touchdown put Purdue ahead, Pack senior PK Brent Zuzo missed a 27-yard field goal that would have tied the game at 17 with just over four minutes remaining. On Purdue's next possession the Boilermakers marched down the field and scored a touchdown to put the game out of reach for the Wolf Pack.
Purdue turned the ball over four times in the game via three lost fumbles and an interception. Junior LB Jaden Sawyer picked off Purdue's David Blough on the Boilermakers' first drive of the game. Sophomore FS Asauni Rufus caused two of the three fumbles and senior LB Alex Bertrando caused the third. The fumbles were recovered by sophomore DE Jordan Silva and sophomore SS Dameon Baber, who fell on two of them.
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's game will be the 21st meeting between Nevada and Hawai'i. The Wolf Pack leads the competitive all-time series, 12-8, and has won five straight against the Rainbow Warriors. Hawai'i's last victory came on Oct. 16, 2010, a 27-21 win in Honolulu. The series dates all the way back to the 1920 season.
NEVADA IN MOUNTAIN WEST OPENERS
• Nevada is 3-1 all-time in its first MW game of the season and is 2-1 in MW openers under head
coach Brian Polian.
• Since joining the FBS prior to the 1992 season, the Wolf Pack is 17-7 (.708) in conference openers and is 10-5 (.667) in conference-opening road games.
A THOUSAND MILES (AND THEN SOME)
There are still a lot of miles to travel for the Nevada football team this week. The Wolf Pack just completed a trip in which it travelled 3,490 total miles to West Lafayette, Ind. and back. This week Nevada will go 5,134 total miles to Honolulu and back. Combined those two trips add up to 8,624 miles travelled in a nine-day span. Not to mention that Purdue was coming off a bye to play Nevada last week and Hawai'i will be coming off a bye to play the Wolf Pack.
HAWAI'I NATIVES ON ROSTER
Nevada has two natives of the state of Hawai'i on its roster this season: sophomore LB Jake Lacaden (Kapolei, Hawai'i) and sophomore DT Kalei Meyer (Waipahu, Hawai'i). Lacaden earned a spot on the depth chart at linebacker following the loss of Lucas Weber for the season and will play on Saturday, while Meyer has been bumped up to start at nose tackle.
GET IT TO JERICO
It has been quite sometime since senior WR Jerico Richardson did not catch a pass in a game. To be exact it was Oct. 18, 2014 at BYU when Richardson did not register a reception. That is a string of 23 consecutive games with at least one reception, which is tied for 25th-longest in the nation. Excluding his freshman season there have only been two games where Richardson did not record a reception (Oct. 18, 2014 at BYU and Sept. 5, 2014 vs. Washington State). Richardson is currently third on the team with 12 receptions on the year and is second with 132 receiving yards.
BALL SECURITY
A hallmark in the Polian era has been ball security and the same has been true so far in 2016. Entering this week, Nevada is 15th in the nation in turnover margin at +1.25 per game. The Pack is second in the conference, trailing only San Diego State (+1.33). The Pack is one of just nine teams nationally that has yet to lose a fumble and it ranks third nationally in turnovers lost with just one. Last year, Nevada was 15th in the nation in turnover margin (21-12, +0.69). In 2014, Nevada was 11th in that category (27-16, +0.85) and also led the conference. In Polian's first season in 2013, Nevada was 23rd nationally in turnover margin (18-11, +0,58).
BUTLER KEEPS CLIMBING
During the team's last outing at Purdue, junior RB James Butler passed Stefphon Jefferson for 13th on Nevada's career rushing leaders list. It wasn't Butler's best performance on the ground, finishing the game with 38 yards but that was enough to pass Jefferson. With 10 yards against Hawai'i he will pass his old counterpart Don Jackson for 12th. If he puts together a Buffalo-like performance on Saturday he will have a shot at breaking into the top 10, needing 178 yards to do so.
BYE, BYE, BYE
For the span of three straight weeks the Nevada football team will play teams coming off of its bye week. Two weeks ago the Wolf Pack played Buffalo, who had its bye in week two. Last Saturday the Wolf Pack faced Purdue, coming off a bye from week three. This Saturday the Wolf Pack will play Hawai'i, which enjoyed its bye last week, all while traveling 8,624 miles in just over a two week time frame. Nevada's bye will be week nine (Oct. 29).
THE RUFUS ON FIRE
Sophomore FS Asauni Rufus may not have the flashy interception stats to his credit thus far, but he has been quietly wreaking havoc on opposing offenses. Rufus was the cause of two fumbles by the Purdue offense last weekend and was second on the Pack defense with nine tackles, including eight solo. He now ranks in the top 20 in the nation in solo tackles, averaging 6.0 per game, which is sixth in the conference. More impressive are his three forced fumbles this season, second-most in the country.
LINEBACKING CORE
The linebacking core for Nevada went through many changes in the offseason with the departure of Jordan Dobrich, Matthew Lyons and Bryan Lane Jr. It seems like the new crop of starters at linebacker haven't missed a beat however. Senior LB Alex Bertrando currently leads the team and ranks 25th in the nation with 9.8 total tackles per game. He made 11 tackles at Purdue, establishing a career-high. Additionally Bertrando's 6.5 solo tackles per game is seventh-best in the nation and ranks third in the Mountain West.
RUNNING IT WORKS
Nevada has defeated Hawai'i in five consecutive games and in those five games it has done it on the ground. The Wolf Pack rushed for over 200 yards in four of the five, including a 355-yard performance in 2012, and is averaging 251 rushing yards per game in those five contests. In addition to racking up yards on the ground, Nevada has scored in all of its 26 trips to the red zone in the last five years vs. the Rainbow Warriors. The Pack has outscored Hawai'i by nearly 100 points, 198-99.
MITCHELL BACK AT IT
Senior CB Elijah Mitchell did not play in week one but with starts in three straight games, he is back in the mix. Not only is he back in the defensive backfield, but he's back as the team's top kickoff returner. Against Buffalo he passed Alex Van Dyke for sixth on Nevada's all-time kickoff return yards list.
OH BABER!
When you rank first in the nation in anything, that's pretty good. Nevada's starting sophomore SS Dameon Baber is at the top of the list in fumbles recovered, scooping up three. He shot to the top following the Purdue weekend after recovering two fumbles during that game. He has also forced a fumble this year in the season opener against Cal Poly. Baber is the team's fourth-best tackler, averaging 5.5 tackles per game.
PACK'S TOP FIVE MARKS IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST
Nevada ranks in the top five in the Mountain West in the following statistical categories; completion percentage (1st, 63.9), turnovers lost (1st, 1), third down conversions (2nd, 52.7), first down offense (2nd, 84), fumbles recovered (2nd, 4), passed had intercepted (2nd, 1), passing yards allowed (2nd, 174.3), turnover margin (2nd, 1.25), fewest penalties per game (3rd, 5.25), fewest penalty yards per game (3rd, 43.2), net punting (4th, 37.9), turnovers gained (4th, 6), scoring defense (5th, 26.0), team passing efficiency (5th, 135.1).
SPREAD THE WEALTH
When you have a receiving corps as deep as Nevada's, why not get everyone involved. That's what Nevada quarterbacks have done through nonconference games this season. In the opener against Cal Poly senior QB Tyler Stewart found the hands of nine different receivers, which was the most receivers to catch a pass in a game in the Brian Polian era and the most since Sept. 8, 2012 versus South Florida. Following that up at Notre Dame there were six players who hauled in a pass against the Irish, including a career-long reception by sophomore WR Andrew Celis (68 yards). In the win over Buffalo there were eight receivers who caught passes, continuing the trend. Purdue saw six receivers haul in a pass. All together 10 players have caught at least one pass this season.
YOUTHFUL DEFENSE
At the heart of the Wolf Pack defense is a fairly young lineup. Between the front seven lie two seniors and the other four consist of one junior, three sophomores and one redshirt freshman. The defensive backfield projected starters include one senior, two sophomores and one redshirt freshman. Aside from Alex Bertrando, the team's leading tackler and a senior, the following three leading tacklers on the team are Gabe Sewell, a redshirt freshman, Dameon Baber and Asauni Rufus, both sophomores.
HENDERSON APPROACHING 2,000 CAREER YARDS RECEIVING
Senior WR Hasaan Henderson is closing in on eclipsing 2,000 receiving yards for his career. With a 15-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter at Purdue, he went over 1,700 yards for his career and passed Michael Stephens for 19th in career receiving yards at Nevada. He needs just 272 receiving yards, which he has gotten in each of the past two seasons, to reach 2,000 for his Wolf Pack career. In addition, he needs 22 yards receiving to pass Tim Fleming for 18th all-time.
ZUZO AMONG NEVADA'S BEST
Senior PK Brent Zuzo's career at Nevada has been one of the best. He is ranked in the top five in a couple of all-time categories and continues to climb the list.
• Zuzo's 48 made field goals rank fifth in Pack history. Zuzo is two made FGs away from matching Damon Fine (2001-04) for fourth in program history.
• Zuzo also ranks fifth in program history in career kicker scoring with 269 total points. Zuzo is five points away from matching Damon Shea (1995-97) for fourth in Pack history with 274 career points.
BOY OH BOY
Senior punter Alex Boy launched a career-long punt during the Cal Poly game, a 71-yard punt in the third quarter that started the next Cal Poly drive from the 20. For the year he has punted 20 times and is averaging 45.8 yards per punt, which ranks 10th in the nation and is first in the Mountain West.
• Boy's 2, 732 punting yards last season is the third-most in a single season in Nevada program history. The all-time best single season mark for punting yards is 3,331, captured by Tom Kolesar in 1974.
• For his career, Boy now has 6,263 career punting yards, passing Tom Kolesar (6,032) for fourth all-time. He trails David Heppe for third by 386 yards. The all-time mark in career punting yards is 10,652 set by Derek Jones (2000-03).
