Week 14 Ranking Implications

With the college football season coming to an end there’s very few ranked games coming up this weekend. Making a move up in the rankings this week will be difficult but I do see it happening. Here’s what I have going down:

#19 South Carolina losing to #1 Auburn

#13 Nebraska losing to #9 Oklahoma

#15 Virginia Tech losing to #21 Florida State

This will result in a 2 spot jump up to #15 in the BCS and #12 in the AP. Considering we won’t be getting a BCS game invite you might be asking why does any of this matter? It matters for bowl games. A higher viewed bowl game like the Las Vegas Bowl or the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl are more likely to give a spot to a higher ranked team in the hopes of creating a better match-up and maximizing profit.

With a win against La Tech and the Nebraska losing we could see an invite to the 2 aforementioned bowls. With Virginia Tech going down at the hands of Florida State, that will all but be a guarantee. Goodbye crappy Humanitarian Bowl, goodbye even worse New Mexico Bowl. With BYU already accepting an invite to the Las Vegas Bowl, it will be more likely that Nevada would take the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl in San Francisco and leave the other to once National Champion hopeful, Boise State.

Enough is Enough

“The Wolf Pack will finish AT BEST, 5-3 in the WAC”

These are the words of Juan Lopez, a student who writes for the school newspaper, The Sagebrush. The sad thing is that it’s Nevada’s school newspaper. And this single quote is all I need to remind myself of why I started this blog.

For far too long now I have heard students talking about how bad this Nevada team is, all the while knowing they have no idea what they are talking about. Now I realize that Nevada is not a football school by any means and most of the students who attend don’t really care, let alone know the rules. But you have to realize that those who get their information about this team read it in the school newspaper, at least that’s what I’ve noticed. And quite frankly, the writers of The Sagebrush haven’t known what they’ve been talking about for at least 8 years.

You, Juan Lopez, are part of this problem while you sit there laughing as your friends cheer on this team.

“Their optimistic cheers aimed at the 42-inch flat screen TV in front of them were funny to me. Regardless of what was happening on the field, they thought Nevada would snap out of it. But I knew there was no climbing out of that 17-point hole. Nevada wasn’t mentally tough enough. End result: A 27-21 season-shattering loss.”

You then went on to call this team mediocre for losing to Hawaii saying at best this is a 5-3 team in conference play. I really do enjoy how you didn’t say “if they don’t change fast” or “if they continue to play this way”, you just came out and said that 5-3 is the BEST this team can do as if you’re some expert on college football, or even Nevada football.

The rest of your article went on to criticize Colin Kaepernick (do yourselves a favor and click on the picture, it gets nice and big for you all to read for yourself). Saying the loss was 100% his fault. That he runs too flashy and loose with the ball. That this is the worst playing you have ever seen by Kaepernick and he “is getting progressively worse and it’s bringing down the entire team.”

You basically did everything but say that he needs to be benched.

My question is this, did you cry when you found out we beat Fresno and Boise State? I’m assuming those are the 2 other teams you expected us to lose to, are they not? Or did you act like you never made the statement that this is a 5-3 team at best? Luckily you’ve kept your mouth shut about football since your column after the Hawaii game…until yesterday.
In yesterday’s edition you made no acknowledgment that you were wrong in your prediction although we all know you were just hoping for a loss against Boise State so you could say that we would lose against La Tech as well and you could be right. Because that’s the type of person you are Juan Lopez, you think you know what you’re talking about but you know NOTHING.

What I want to know is why all of a sudden you sounded proud of this team, saying the game “almost brought tears to your eyes.” Or better yet how on October 19, 2010 you threw Colin Kaepernick under the bus, then on November 30, 2010 you called him “the best athlete in school history, hands down.” You then went on to say “This capped Kaep’s career as one of the best players in NCAA football history.”

Now I’m not saying he’s not amazing, in fact I’ve been saying that for at least 2 years now, but since when do you believe this? And do you honestly believe this or are you just writing what everyone else says? You have become the John Kerry of Nevada sports writing with your “flip-flopping” stances.

I’m disappointed in The Sagebrush for not checking individual’s credentials when hiring them. Students rely on you to get the facts straight and all you have done is confused them and filled their heads with nonsense. To be honest I don’t even know why they still publish The Sagebrush, nothing of any worth has been published in there for as long as I have picked it up.

Juan Lopez, thank you for giving me the motivation to continue my blog; I might not understand the game as much as a lot of people out there, but I sure understand it a million times more than you.

Boise St. vs. Nevada

So Nevada plays possibly the most complete game of the season and drops a spot in the BCS. Welcome to the BCS era ladies and gentlemen. Does this mean anything? Yes, it means if we lose to Boise St. we will be out of the ranking picture.

If there’s one thing different with this Nevada team this year than from years past its that they can step up to the big game. Look at Cal, BYU, and Fresno State. Sure BYU wasn’t as good as they were thought to be, but that’s a team that we easily would have lost to in the past. We also wouldn’t have beaten Cal in the past, and Fresno State would have been up for grabs. Nevada is not exactly a team that can win when they fall behind, so this year that was a positive, and we almost pulled it out against Hawaii as well. Boise State on the other hand is a completely different story, they might be the best team in the nation, definitely the most complete team if you ask me.

But Boise State has always brought out the best in us, we put up great numbers against them and they don’t seem to look so dominant. In years past we didn’t have the team that could beat them yet it was always close and a nailbiter. This year Nevada HAS the team capable of walking out of Mackay a winner and making talking about Boise State a thing of the past. The sad thing is if we win, we won’t get the recognition we deserve, and well Boise State will be talked about how they just were never a really good team. If we lose, I still don’t see Boise State moving up, even if Oregon and Auburn both lose, I can easily see a 1-loss team moving ahead of Boise State and TCU to play in the national championship game. (I’m working on a nice little piece on the BCS which I’ll post this week)

Judging by the spread for this game, the “experts” think it should be a pretty easy win for the Broncos. I beg to differ. I honestly believe that this game will be decided on the final possession of the game and the difference in score at the end will be 3 points or less.

The key to the game is to get the lead early and play mistake free. If Nevada’s defense can hold the Boise State offense on their first 2 possessions and score on their first 2 possessions, we could be looking at an upset. On the other hand if Boise state does the opposite and holds us on our first 2 possessions, we could be looking at a disappointing night. As far as mistakes, this will be a high intensity game and we could see some fights. Those could be a good thing, what’s a bad thing is Ricky Drake kicking another kickoff out of bounds, what is that? 4 times this year so far?

I don’t expect our defense to hold this team scoreless, but I do know that they are capable of forcing them to punt on 4-6 possessions. On the other hand, our offense, if it gets in rhythm can prove extremely difficult for the Broncos defense to contain. I’m expecting the Nevada secondary to back off a little and allow short passes but try everything to prevent the long ones. Maybe even some 3 deep coverage on 2^nd down?

If Nevada is behind by more than 10 at half it’s going to be a tough game to win. Anything closer than that and its anyone’s game. This might prove to be one of the best games of the year

Final Score Prediction

Someone 45 – Someone 48

New Mexico State vs. Nevada

I don’t have much to say about this game except for the fact that it probably shouldn’t be played. New Mexico State is one of the worst teams in all of college football. Their defense is horrible and their offense can hardly be called an offense. This will be a stat padding game for Tyler as I don’t expect to see Kaepernick play but maybe one possession in the second half. The running game will look like a beast as always, and our defense will look like one of the best in the country. I would not be surprised to see this end in a shutout or a killing, speaking of which someone should call 9-1-1 before the game even starts.

The big news about this game is Colin Kaepernick, that guy that I think is the real MVP of college football this year. He will accumulate more than 54 yards rushing and will most likely throw for a touchdown, hopefully to Brandon Wimberly. Why is this important? Well the latter will give him the school record for TD passes. The first however will make him the FIRST player in NCAA history to pass for 2000 yards and rush for 1000 in 3 seasons. If that doesn’t say something about this kid then I don’t know what does. It will be a night of history.

Final Score Prediction

New Mexico State 0-13 – Nevada 42-83

Colin Kaepernick

As the season slowly comes to an end we start seeing who the favorite is to win the Heisman. Now it’s no surprise that Auburn’s Cam Newton is the favorite to take home the trophy, but does he really deserve it? Sure he’s putting up great numbers and sure the quality of play is higher in Auburn’s conference but that shouldn’t matter.

The Heisman is essentially the MVP of all 120 D1 teams. If you ask me the MVP is an individual whom the team would not have been the same without, he is the Most Valuable Player, a game changer, the glue that holds the team together. If we look at the numbers Cam Newton does have better numbers, but they are only slightly better.

Here’s the thing, Cam has only been doing this this year and not without controversy. Whether it’s his fault or his fathers fault, his reputation has and will continue to remain scarred. He plays on a team that’s stacked with talent. Remember the Patriots that had that amazing season and ended up losing in the Superbowl? What happened the next year when Tom Brady went out? A now struggling quarterback looked like he should have been the #1 pick in the NFL draft. My point is with a team like Auburn, you could take 90% of the quarterbacks out there and put them in his place and they will have great numbers. And don’t take this the wrong way, I’m not saying Nevada’s team doesn’t have talent, because its got plenty of it, its just a different level of talent.

On the other hand there’s a kid who 119 D1 schools passed on. A kid that no one gave a shot and when he was finally given that shot he turned into one of the best quarterbacks college football has ever seen, yes I said it. If you want a most valuable player then you have to look at a kid who’s been doing this for 4 years, not just 1. A kid who has amassed 9,237 yards passing, 3,852 yards rushing, and 132 total TD’s; those numbers will grow as there’s 4 games left in his career. He’s also one of 2 quarterbacks to ever throw for 2,000 yards and run for 1,000 in back to back seasons, and he’ll make it 3 years in a row this Saturday. I know that the Heisman is not based off of previous year numbers but at some point you need to realize how consistent and how dominating an individual really has been. So he plays in the WAC, is that his fault? Remember nobody else gave him a shot; he didn’t have the option to go to any other conference.

When it comes down to it Cam/Cam’s family has clearly shown that he’s just in the game for the money (as sad as it is). Kaepernick on the other hand could be in the Major Leagues throwing fastballs and being worth a few million but instead he’s in college, getting an education and playing a game that he loves. He’s a kid that if was 18 again and graduating high school, I can almost guarantee 100+ schools would have offered him a full-ride to their institution. All he does is prove every critic wrong, yet when we discuss Heisman candidates his name is rarely mentioned.

Colin Kaepernick will not win the Heisman, he won’t win the Davey O'Brien, he probably won’t even win the WAC player of the year award. They’ll give the Heisman to Cam Newton and 4 years from now take it away due to some recruiting violation. Colin Kaepernick, one of the most dominating players in college football history will never be remembered as he should.

If you really know football and you don’t blind yourself with the politics of conferences then you know who the real Most Valuable Player is.

Nevada vs. Fresno State Recap

In a game that was more than a nail-biter, we saw a Nevada team that we needed to see. This team has not trailed much this season, in fact when we trail this season we usually lose, the only game we trailed was the game against Hawaii. Yes it would have been nice to go into Fresno and completely demolish them, but that’s not what happened. The team was forced to stay in the game which is what will happen come November 26^th (have you circled this date yet on your calendars?).

The defense looked sluggish at times but made plays when they needed to be made. Once again there was strong dominating performances from James-Michael Johnson, Brandon Marshall, and Dontay Moch. I hope you caught the beginning of this game because on Fresno’s first drive of the game Dontay leveled a receiver about 20 yards from the line of scrimmage. Just the fact that a lineman made the tackle that far down the field is impressive, but Dontay flat out laid some wood. The kid runs a 4.2 40-yard dash! More-so the only major problems with the defense were caused by play calling, not players. Sure there was a few missed tackles but other than that I felt like the defense played great.

Offensively it looked like we struggled at times but in the end we made the plays we needed to make. Now lets talk about how bad of a decision Kaepernick’s interception was! I mean he basically threw that into double coverage to a receiver that was blanketed! Yea, I’m sorry but that was a GREAT decision and its something that every Nevada fan should be happy with. Why? You’re either thinking I’m on crack right now or that I’m being sarcastic right?

Well I’m not. That decision shows confidence in Kaepernick that his receivers can make the catch and more importantly that he can put the ball where it needs to be! Now I’ve watched that play probably 10 times over and Malcolm Shepherd should have made that catch.

This game showed we can come from behind and that we don’t get rattled easily. Even the Hawaii game showed us this except we couldn’t come back and win that one. This team has learned what it needs to do to win and if I’m Boise St., I am definitely a little worried about November 26^th. I’m just wondering…will Brandon Wimberly, probably the best wide receiver on this team, get a touchdown this year?

I’m still predicting #18 in the BCS standings!

Week 11 Ranking Implications

Here’s what I have for rankings this week:

#19 Mississippi State losing to #12 Alabama

#24 Kansas State losing to #17Missouri

#23 South Carolina losing to #22 Florida

#25 Texas A&M losing to Baylor

And

#9 Ohio State POSSIBLY loosing to Penn State

So what does this mean? We move up 1 spot? Here’s the thing about this game, its on ESPN, not ESPN2, or ESPN38, just plain old ESPN and its got the 7:30 time slot which means its pretty much the only game on tv at that time. Expect people to be watching especially as the one Heisman hopeful Colin Kaepernick will be breaking two records.

We will move up at least 1 spot this week, with a big win we could move up more. The way I see it right now, Nevada is better than Virginia Tech, Mississippi State, Arizona, and Missouri, which is why I really believe we should be ranked #17 coming into this week. I think with a strong performance against Fresno we could finally get the recognition we deserve.

we could be ranked anywhere from #21-16 come Sunday evening when the BCS rankings are released. In all reality though I see us making a leap to the #18 spot. Now if there’s a crazy week in the top 25 like there was last week, and Nevada wins in commanding fashion, then we could see an even bigger jump, but what happened last week was rare, so lets not focus on that. With a loss this week, it will take nothing short of a win against Boise State to get back in the rankings.

Nevada vs. Fresno State

If you’ve been following my blog you know that I pointed out a few key games earlier in the season. Well this week is one of them as Nevada travels to Fresno. At the beginning of the season this Fresno team was ranked higher than us, then they hit a few speed bumps. I assure you however that they are still a good team and this will be a tough game.

Some good news is that Fresno is banged up at the offensive line position which could alter their play calls. This should also let our defensive line light up their quarterback. If they truly are dinged up and are using some reserves, I expect defensive coordinator Andy Buh to call more blitzes. Look for delayed blitzes coming from the linebacking core in this game; I would not be surprised to see us rack up 6-8 sacks in this one.

Offensively it will be interesting to see if Ault decides to showcase the passing game again or if we take it to the ground. Our rushing game is so good that I’m pretty sure we could win a game without throwing a single pass, but as we saw last week, the more Kaepernick throws the ball the more it opens up the running game, allowing us to get those 30, 40, and 50+ yard runs.

Regardless of how this game is turning out in the 4^th quarter, I expect Kaepernick to stay in for the entirety of the game as this is the best team we will face in the upcoming weeks before Boise St. It is imperative that Kaepernick gets as much practice against a good defense as possible. He will also set 2 records in this game as he only needs 1 rushing TD to become the Schools all time leader, and 1 passing TD to become the Schools all time leader.

I’m calling this a close and entertaining game. I mean ESPN has made it their Saturday night game after all! IF Nevada puts up a dominating performance under the biggest lights there is during the season, expect a big jump in the polls. Nevada is capable of completely manhandling this team but I honestly don’t see that happening, I hope I’m wrong.

Final Score Prediction

Nevada 52 – Fresno State 48

Idaho vs. Nevada

There used to be a time not too long ago when playing Idaho meant an easy W. It was a time to get your 2^nd and 3^rd strings some work. That has changed in the last 2 years and Idaho is now actually a decent team.

This game will come down to one thing. Our secondary. Idaho is a pass heavy team and their quarterback is putting up big numbers through the air. Defensively we are rather sound…with the exception of, well the secondary. Dontay Moch has held together that defensive line making it hard to run. The linebacking core is getting ever stronger. Brandon Marshall might have had a little slump at the beginning of the season but every week now he is making HUGE plays. A lot of credit has to go to him and to MLB James-Michael Johnson. They have anchored what used to be a bad part of our defense.

If the secondary can somehow play the whole game like the played the 1^st half of the game against Utah State, this one is in the bag. If they have trouble from the get-go its going to be a nail biter.

I don’t expect our offense to have any trouble putting up points, the only question is will they match us point for point. Nevada needs to get the ball to start the second half, they need to give Idaho the ball to start and the defense MUST force them to a 3-and-out to set the tempo early.

Idaho is no longer a guaranteed game.

Final Score Prediction:

Nevada 51 – Idaho 38

Utah State vs. Nevada recap

National Champs?

In the first half of last night’s game, I saw a team that could be BCS national champions. Ok maybe we shouldn’t take it that far, but I did see a team that could compete against an Auburn, Oregon, Alabama, TCU, or Boise State. It was an amazing display of power and dominance. The defense stood its ground shutting Utah State out. The offense was methodical as always, at times running a 2-quarterback system looking as if it was running drills in practice.

The second half on the other hand was a completely different story. I saw the reemergence of a team that struggled to pull away from San Jose State, unlv, and who eventually lost to Hawaii. That team wouldn’t stand a chance against any of the aforementioned national championship candidates. We hadn’t given up 42 points all season, and the fact that we gave up everyone of those points in the 2^nd half was flat out embarrassing.

I highly doubt any coach on our staff went into the locker room at halftime and used the word “content”, but that seemed to be the motto of the defense. The Aggies had 6 possessions and had 6 touchdowns. Our offense slowed as we were finally forced to punt in the game. Our special teams gave up a return for 6. I can go on and on about how poorly we played in the second half but I won’t.

I can only hope that the players realize that what they did in the 2^nd half was unacceptable. I am sure the coaches will preach it, but the players need to act on it. This was a game that should have ended 77-0, It’s a game that should have reestablished us as a threat to Boise St, but it didn’t.

The only thing more disgraceful than our second half was our fans. To say the stadium was empty was an understatement. I can understand that a lot of our fans have kids and last night was the night to take your kids trick-or-treating, but last I checked students don’t go trick-or-treating anymore. At the start of the game there might have been 100 students in the student section, and at half that number dropped to 45. Now this is a blog and I’m protected by the 1^st Amendment (I hope) so this goes to the students:

To the girls who would have rather gone out dressed like naughty schoolgirls and bad cops, And to the guys that decided it was more important to be Jack Sparrow or a giant penis…Please never show your face at another game. You are not a fan of football, you are a fan of social events. Burn your Nevada clothing because you don’t deserve to wear them. To the 3 girls sitting behind me who were chanting “Come on Collin!” when Tyler Lantrip was our quarterback, please attend your math 101 classes and learn the difference between the number 10, and the number 16. Furthermore the only thing that has continued to disappoint me about The University of Nevada is our sub-mediocre fan base, you say how horrible we are as a team, and then you say we’re great, then we lose a game and nobody comes to the games. How about you refrain from saying anything about the team, and how good or bad we are unless you actually come to the games and learn a thing or two.

Week 9 Ranking Implications

So after a week off in the ranking pictures, Nevada is ranked again coming in at #24. Just to put that into perspective, had Nevada have beaten Hawaii, most likely they would have been sitting at #15 this week. But what happened happened and it’s time to start moving up the ladder again. I see 2 teams ahead of us losing:

#18 Iowa losing to #5 Michigan Stat

#14 Nebraska losing to #6 Missouri

This means a jump of 2 spots to #22, but it could get better. The BCS rankings take into account the AP and the coaches’ polls and right now we sit at #26 in both of those. With a quality win this weekend we could be thrust up to #24 or 23 in those rankings which means we cold leapfrog #23 Virginia Tech who is idle this week. Depending on how well the team plays, meaning we have to show that we aren’t the same team that played the last 3 games, we could even sit as high as number #20.

Look for Nevada to be sitting at #23-20 come Sunday, realistically I’m predicting #21. Without the loss to Hawaii, maybe as high as #13.

Utah State vs. Nevada

Lets all hope that 2 weeks ago was a wake-up call for our team.

Utah State might not have the stats numbers we have but they are still a good team. A far cry from San Jose State.

In the past few weeks if you watched Nevada, you could see that they were tired. The emotion that they started the season with had dwindled away. This bye week that just past should have been a nice rest for the team and should allow them to come back out refreshed. I believe that this Nevada team will come out Saturday night and have shades of the Nevada of past, before our slump.

I expect our defense to step up their game, and the offense to go back to firing on all cylinders. Utah State's passing game might be the only question affecting the score. If it's hitting, they will keep up for a bit, if its not, it will be over soon.

Final Score Prediction:

Utah State 10 - Nevada 45

P.S. In a text sent to me by #4 Brandon Wimberly after the Hawaii game, he simply said "It won't happen again". Let's hope he's right.

Week 7 Ranking Implications

At the end of this weekend the only rankings that matter will be released, the BCS rankings. This might come as a shocker to all of you out there who aren’t familiar with the BCS, but don’t be surprised to see Nevada drop in the rankings. I have 3 teams ahead of us losing this week.

#12 Arkansas losing to #7 Auburn

#15 Iowa losing to Michigan

#18 Wisconsin losing to #1 Ohio State.

So looking at this you might think that those teams are all within our reach of ranking so we will move up 3 spots to #16 in the AP poll and #18 in the USA today poll. This matters a little bit as the BCS system takes this into account, but the other parts of the BCS don’t favor us too well.

Our strength of schedule might be one of the worst in college football this year. Although it did not look to be that way coming into the season, reality is that we are 6-0 against teams with a combined record of 10-23. And 4 of those wins are from D2 school Eastern Washington. Take them out of the picture and our opponents are only 6-21, that’s horrid.

Realistically I’m predicting the following rankings:

AP: 18

USA Today: 19

BCS: 22

I hope I'm wrong about the BCS, but just remember that being ranked at all is an accomplishment in itself. Also remember that this is a tough game and a must-win as is every game from here on out.

First and foremost, congratulations goes out to this Nevada team that has started the season 5-0. At the same time, I’m worried and torn about what to think. Coming into every season the Pack has two goals in mind:

1. Beat unlv
2. Beat Boise St. / Win the WAC (this is usually hand-in-hand)

But this year is different. Coming into this year, if you knew how good this team was, as I had been saying, there was a 3rd goal:

3. Get a BCS game (this is hand-in-hand with beating Boise St. this year, granted we are undefeated going into the game)

This team is more than capable of playing in a BCS game. If you really watched the last 2 games however you would have noticed that we’re not playing up to our full potential. The UNLV game should have never been close. The second half of the BYU game was average. The team needs to go back to playing how they played against Cal. That is Nevada football, and that is what this team needs to not only get that BCS game, but also to beat Boise St.

Remember a few blogs ago when I said we need to “blow out” teams? Well that’s not happening. When it comes down to the BCS computations, we are not going to rank as high as we should because of this. Cal being ranked #24 when we beat them has no relevance anymore as they are 2-2. Furthermore the combined records of the teams we have beaten so far is 8-16. The sad thing is that Division 2 opponent Eastern Washington is contributing 3 of those wins. The Division 1 opponents combined record is only 5-14.

As of now, there are only 4 games remaining against opponents with winning records (>.500), and one of these is Boise St. I can not stress how “perfect” we have to look against these teams. Playing like we have the last 6 quarters will not cut it anymore.

Now you might think I’m being pessimistic towards my team, but I’m not. I have high hopes and high expectations because I know that this is the best team we’ve had in the 8 years I’ve been following this team, and it will the best we have for a while. I am a Nevada fan through and through and have stood by this team through thick and thin. The team needs to stop being content with being ranked and move on to the bigger picture. We need to make this a year that people will talk about for years to come.

Tomorrow: SJSU game preview
Wednesday: Ranking Implications

Nevada vs. unlv Recap

Ok, so the cannon will stay blue, is that any surprise?

The only surprise that should come from this game is how poor we played. Yes we won, no we didn’t do it how we were supposed to. That’s not to say there weren’t any good things but the bad outweighed the good:

Need to improve on

1. I don’t know where these stupid turnovers are coming from, but they will kill us. Courtney Randall, hold on to the damn ball!

2. I know it’s a rivalry so there’s going to be penalties (in the stands too) but it needs to stop. 1 or 2 is ok, but 5+ in a game in unacceptable.

3. The secondary is starting to give up big plays again, this needs to stop immediately.

4. Our special teams looks horrible. We’re giving up huge return yardage; we got lucky that unlv did not return one on us. Drake, just when I was starting to be lenient on you, you go and kick another kickoff out of bounds? You have less responsibility than you had last year, stop f***ing up!

What I’m liking and you should too

1. Red zone defense. Our defense has a LOT of work to do to get to where we need to be, but our defense when backed up into the 20, is impressive.

2. Linebacker play. Brandon Marshall has stepped him game up! James-Michael Johnson has kept him game up! This is a good linebacking core and they are playing impressively.

3. Offensive production. This offense can NOT be stopped. I know it’s unlv but our average yards per play was 7.5. That’s retarded…in a good way. And aside from incompletions and the 1 interception, I don’t think there were more than 3 plays that we did not gain positive yardage.

The bottom line is we played horrible. We struggled to pull away from one of the worst teams in college football. This game should have been over after the 1st quarter, we let them hang around way to much. Nevada is ranked #21 in the AP Top 25 this week. We don’t deserve it. Rankings are supposed to tell you where you stand in a certain group. Being ranked #21 means that we should be able to beat everyone else from #22-120 right? Well I’m sorry but that’s not going to happen. USC, Texas, Penn State, Oklahoma State, Florida State, West Virginia, UCLA…yea, not going to happen. We have the talent and the personnel to beat them but we’re not playing like we should. Our last 6 quarters of play has not been Nevada football, that needs to change next week against SJSU and it needs to continue till after the bowl season otherwise this season can end up as a huge disappointment.

Moving On Up

This week’s schedule is perfect for a Pack move in the national rankings. After looking at the matchups, I have #’s 21-24 all loosing. Here’s how I see this week playing out:

#21 Texas losing to #8 Oklahoma
#22 Penn St. losing to #17 Iowa
#23 N Carolina St. losing to Virginia Tech
#24 Michigan St. losing to #11 Wisconsin

I also have #16 Miami loosing to Clemson on the road.

There’s also a good possibility that #20 Michigan will lose to Indiana, once again because they are on the road and this Indiana team is good.

What does all this mean? It means if these games go as I’ve predicted Nevada will move up a minimum of 5 spots to #20. With a manhandling of that community college down south, and a poor showing by Michigan, we could be #19. A simple win like last week against BYU will not be enough to take that extra spot. Southern Nevada Community College is a horrible team and anything short of an absolute blowout wouldn’t look good. Notice how there’s 6 1-loss teams ranked ahead of us in the top 25 right now? We don’t win big and moving up will get exponentially harder after this week.

Now #19 South Carolina has a bye week this week, but its still possible to leap frog them and sit at #19 going into the SJSU game on October 9th (now on ESPNU).

There’s also some good news for Boise St. (you should be cheering here), after last week’s Alabama showing, I think there’s a good possibility that #7 Florida can knock off #1 Alabama as long as they start strong and fast. If this happens Boise St. can move up to the #2 spot.

Nevada vs. unlv

Is it too late to cancel this game and find another team to play?

Last year the unlv game was the turning point in our season. It’s when we started putting up amazing numbers, and interestingly enough, it’s been like that for a few years.

This game should have been played earlier or not at all.

Is there a chance unlv will win this game? Sure, but it’s a 0.0001% chance. Now unlv fans are going to talk about how the rebels put up 45 against a New Mexico team, the same team that lost to Oregon 72-0 in the first week of the season. Should the rebel fans feel good about this win? Of course, they need to have some confidence so that we can demoralize them more. The rebels still have no shot in this game, but you won last week, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and say momentum will score you 10 in this game, ok maybe 13.

NEVADA on the other hand is coming into this game after cracking the top 25 for the first time since 1991, although a scoreboard-poor performance against BYU. And this is a rivalry game, not sure if it’s more so for the fans or the players, if this will be your first trip to one of these games you’ll soon know what I’m talking about.

Every other year, this game is played in Vegas, the ONLY time you will see UNR on the scoreboard and not NEVADA. Ault hates this, as does every NEVADA player, so does every NEVADA fan. Expect Ault to go in there and have no regard for sportsmanship. Kaepernick also needs to make up for the lack of numbers in the BYU game. Expect NEVADA to put up 73 at least, but don’t be surprised if they put up over a hundred…yes I said a hundred.

I expect this game to open in the sportsbooks with NEVADA as a 24 point favorite, which I believe we will easily cover.

Final Score Prediction:

NEVADA 87 – unlv 13

The cannon will stay blue, it's real colors. When you hear them refer to us as UNR don't question our identity, just remember the words from one of the most successful coaches in college football history:

“Our university began in 1874. We are the University of Nevada. For some reason in the mid-70s, this UNR, University of Nevada, Reno deal came in. When I came back to coach, this is the first thing we started on. In '92, we put a major campaign on. We are the Nevada Wolf Pack. That’s what we are.”
- Coach Ault

Breaking Down the Nevada Offense

There’s a lot of talk going on about a BCS game this year, but is it really a possibility? Abso-f***ing-lutely. To understand how this is possible however, we have to get to know the team. I’ve taken the time to go through 4 aspects of the game, offense, defense, coaching, and special teams. Hopefully I can convince you that this team is for real, but more importantly I hope I can educate you on what we have in our arsenal. I’ll be updating the blog in installments over the next 2 days so come back and make sure you don’t miss anything. And don’t worry, once I post the 4 aspects I’ll tell you what needs to happen to get that BCS game.

Offense

This offense is potent. Plain and simple. There's a reason we were the #1 offense last year and most likely will be again this year.

Let’s start with the quarterback. If Colin Kaepernick was in a BCS conference he would be in the running for the Heisman. #10 is as dual-threat as one can get, in fact he’s a triple threat, the first in college football. He can run like a gazelle, throw like a pitcher (go figure), and evade tacklers like a matador. He continues to put up amazing numbers and even more impressive is the diminishing number of mistakes he's made since his 1st two seasons. This kid is crisp and composed, and to think that for some reason no other school offered him a scholarship for football…hmm.

Vai Taua has been running the ball like a work-horse. #34 has been doing this for two years now and seems more comfortable than ever in this role. But guess what, he’s not the only runner. The Pack is stacked at the RB position, #29 Lampford Mark, #5 Mike Ball, and #35 Courtney Randall are all capable of being 1st string RB’s for us and many other teams out there.

The Receiving core might be the most impressive part of this offense. Most teams are lucky to have 1 WR who can make a difference. We have 5. #15 Rishard Matthews has been seeing the majority of the catches, followed by #82 Tray Session. These two could easily be the #1 wide-out at a Pac-10 school. But it doesn’t stop there #14 Chris Wellington has been seeing less and less balls thrown his way over the past 2 years but is a team player and is there when needed. #19 Malcolm Shepherd only has 4 catches this year but for 71 yards. If there is a worst receiver it’s #19, but he’s not bad at all. You get where I’m going with this? Now here’s the funny thing, our best receiver has the least catches. He’s got the most talent and the best hands on the team. There’s a reason Oregon State had originally laid claim to #4 Brandon Wimberly, this kid is ridiculously good. Last year he put up 733 yards, it doesn’t seem like he’ll get those same numbers this year but he’s only a sophomore. Look for him to be used in the running game as well. Using him on an end-around is a great option as this kid is elusive when he’s 1-on-1. I would start watching him now because you’ll be seeing him on Sunday’s in the near future. Remember Nate Burleson? Well if you ask me, he’s better. When the game is on the line, look for Kaepernick to go to #4 or to Virgil Green.

#85 Virgil Green is going to the NFL. If he wants to that is. I played basketball with him last year and this kid was dunking over me, out rebounding me, and just completely man-handling me. Now I’m no basketball player, but I can hold my own down on the block. Not only does he make and maintain great blocks like a tight end should, but he’s got great hands and maintains possession like a receiver. Think of Visanth Shiancoe of the Minnesota Vikings except better at blocking.

The offensive line is looking strong and is still opening up the holes it was last year. If anything they are more mobile than they were last year. Kaepernick has plenty of time to set up in the pocket (when he wants to) and their picking up the blitz when teams dare to bring it. #62 John Bender is the anchor of this line and his experience is going to be crucial.

Later today I will break down the coaching.

Tomorrow defense and special teams.

Wednesday what needs to happen to get that BCS game.

Nevada vs. BYU

The pack comes into this game ranked #26 in the USA Today poll and #27 in the AP (If USC was not ranked in this poll they would be #26). I would like to thank the voters for these rankings, they could not be any better and I'll explain why.

Nevada travels to Provo for what should be an easy game, but it has the potential to be the complete opposite. On paper Nevada has the Cougars dominated, and the Cougars have looked like a move to D2 would have been a better move than going independent based on what they've done in the past 2 weeks. But Provo is a tough place to play. I've had the honor of watching a BYU game on a neutral field and the fans that traveled were louder than the Nevada fans at last weeks Cal game. And they're sober, which means they are in unison and you don't lose one here and there like some of ours end up in the paddy-wagon.

So why does the ranking mean so much? Because rankings mean everything. If the pack was ranked #25, there would be a sense of "we made it", and with that a little extra confidence and swagger that's not needed yet. Not to mention the added bigger bulls-eye on our backs.

The ranking at #26 is just enough to say "you guys are good, but not sure if you're that good." The bulls-eye is still there but not as big as it could have been. This results in what should be extra motivation to go out there and get what needs to be done, well, done.

As long as the pack doesn't get caught up getting stupid offside penalties (based on crown noise), this should be a walk in the park. Expect ~200 yards from #34 Vai Taua, ~165 from #10 Colin Kaepernick, and ~100 from #29 Lampford Mark. Kaepernick will throw for another 150 but as this game should be over at the end of the 1st, don't expect to see much in the passing game. #85 Virgil Green, and #15 Rishard Matthews will have the bulk of these yards.

Projection:

Nevada 66 - BYU 17

Cal vs. Nevada recap

First of all I want to say congratulations to the team and thanks to the fans. In all my years of Nevada football, I can not remember very many times when the fans were more into the game than they were last night. That being said I have a few things to get off my chest.

1. When Cal tied the game at 7-7, a girl behind me said "This is a whole bunch of sucks. Why did we even come to the game, we're going to lose." First of all, it's the 1st quarter, second of all why did you come to the game if you're just going to be negative?

2. His name is pronounced Kap - er - nick. I'm tired of hearing kapernikus, coppernick, kapernis, and many others. Learn your team's quarterbacks' name.

3. When we are up by 10 in the second quarter, it's too early to start chanting "overrated".

4. When OUR offense is in the redzone, coming into the student section, you don't get as loud as you can. You be quiet so the players can hear the audibles that need to be made.

5. It pissed me off to hear everyone on campus talking about how "we are going to get smoked" and we have no shot of winning before the game, and then after the game everyone is saying how amazing we are. I don't want Nevada to be a band wagon team. If you want to say Nevada is amazing, then come BYU and Boise st., I better not hear "we don't stand a chance".

Now about the game. I did not see it being a blowout, I thought there was a 0.01% chance that that could have happened and I'm sorry for not having more faith in the team. Why do I call it a blowout? Because that's what it was. If it weren't for 2 huge rushing plays given up, and 1 unfortunate fumble by Kaepernick (#10) giving them the ball in the redzone, the score would have been 59 - 10. But mistakes happen and you have to learn from them.

The secondary played pretty damn well against the pass, not great but much better than previous.

Oh and to the Cal fans who kept bringing up that they have the #1 defense in the country? I told you that it's too early to use statistics to make a statement in this game. You played U.C. Davis, the worst team in the FCS. The Nevada offense was methodical and persistent, with hardly any resistance put up from the Cal defense. Sorry, but you're not even close to the #1 ranked defense.

Conversation for the BYU game coming soon.

Picture credit goes to my buddy B.Y.. And for the record, I called Nevada scoring 54 in the game and I'm kinda pissed I was off by 2, where was that safety when we needed it ;)