2010 NCAA Football Preview: Nevada
Mention college football and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) and just about every fan of college football will talk about the Broncos of Boise State. What most do not realize is that another WAC school has been quietly having very good seasons, and last year even had the most dominant running game in the nation, the Nevada Wolf Pack.
The Wolf Pack has quite a history when it comes to winning. In their final season as a Division I-AA team in 1991 the team made a historic comeback against Weber State, scoring 41 points in the second half to win 55-49. In 1992, their first season as a division I school, they won the Big West Conference over Utah State, becoming the first team to win a conference championship in their first season.
Since then, their winning ways really have not stopped. Their first season in the WAC (2004; 5-7) was a down year, but long time head coach Chris Ault was able to refocus the team in 2005. They rebounded by going 9-3 and tying for first in the conference. With the team likely to feature one of, if not the best running game in the nation, the Wolf Pack will look to give the Broncos a run for the title yet again.
Offence
What the Wolf Pack will do on offence should come as no surprise; they will run and run often. Last season, as the best rushing team in the nation, they averaged almost 350 yards a game. Two of three 1000+ yard rushers from last season return in quarterback Colin Kaepernick (1183 yards on 161 carries) and running back Vai Taua (1345 yards on 172 carries). Sophomore Mike Ball showed he has the potential to be the third one this season after running for close to 200 yards against UNLV last season.
With such a powerful running game you would think the passing game would be horrible, but it is actually not bad. Kaepernick is a capable enough passer to keep teams from keying on the run too much. Last season, he completed nearly 60 percent of his passes for more than 2000 yards, 20 touchdowns, and just six interceptions. The team has a couple of pretty good pass catchers in sophomore wide receiver Brandon Wimbley (53 receptions for 733 yards and six touchdowns as a freshman) and tight end Virgil Green, who had five touchdown catches last season.
Defence
The Wolf Pack will be breaking in a new defensive coordinator this season in Andy Buh. He will need to find a way to improve the WAC’s worst pass defence if Nevada is going to have a chance of threatening Boise State and Utah for the conference title.
Not only were they the worst in the WAC, they were one of the worst in the nation last year as well, ranking 119th with almost 300 yards a game given up. A former Utah quarterback, Corbin Louks, will likely lock down the strong safety position. Louks transfers in after it became apparent that he was not going to fit into Utah’s plans as a quarterback. He will be athletic enough to play the position, and his experience as a quarterback should help.
In order to help the secondary out, it would help if the front four could put a little more pressure on opposing quarterbacks. End Dontay Moch returns to lead the line; he has been a steady producer over the last couple seasons. The team would love to see him harass quarterbacks as well as he did in 2008. That year, he had 11 sacks while he only had six in 2009.
Nevada had all their weaknesses exposed in the bowl game loss to SMU. Freshman Kyle Padron ripped up the secondary for 460 yards. With two of their three headed running back monsters not playing, the Wolf Pack could not muster the offence to compete. If they are going to challenge in the WAC they will have to do much better.
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