Dropped passes keep Nevada from winning WAC opener
Add catching the ball to Nevada’s list of things to work on after Saturday’s loss to Fresno State.
Nevada’s receivers dropped six passes, many of them coming at critical times when the recievers were wide open.
The Wolf Pack’s leading wide receiver Marko Mitchell dropped three passes, Mike McCoy dropped two and tight end Adam Bishop dropped one.
“I normally don’t drop passes,” Mitchell said. “Those are just me trying to break my team out of the slump and make plays, and basically I didn’t make the plays.”
Mitchell dropped two passes on Nevada’s second possession of the game, one of which might have led to a touchdown if it hadn’t slipped through his fingers.
After his second dropped pass on third-and-12, Nevada was forced to punt and Fresno State returned it for a touchdown.
Another key pass was dropped by Bishop near the end of the first quarter.
Bishop was wide open on the sideline on a third-and-three play, but Graziano’s pass went right through his hands, again forcing Nevada to punt.
“That’s hard to accept,” coach Chris Ault said. “Especially in the first half. People were wide open and there’s no excuse for it. That’s lack of focus and concentration. When you’re struggling like we were and the defense is playing as poor as it is you’ve got to make it count.”
Turning the Ball Over
Nevada fumbled the ball four times against Fresno State and lost two of those.
In the second quarter senior wide receiver Alex Rosenblum signaled for a fair catch, but dropped the punt and Fresno State recovered the ball at Nevada’s 17-yard line.
“Rosenblum’s fumble, that’s just inexcusable,” Ault said. “It was kicked right to him.”
Also, near the beginning of the fourth quarter with Nevada on the Fresno State 2-yard line and threatening to score, running back Brandon Fragger fumbled the ball and the Bulldogs recovered it in the end zone for a touchback.
“It was just a good hit,” Fragger said of the tackle by Fresno State’s 6-foot-5, 330-pound Jason Shirley.
Fresno State converted the turnover into points, scoring on a 72-yard touchdown run by Lonyae Miller three plays later.
Disgruntled Fans
The announced attendance at Saturday’s loss was 18,503, and Mackay Stadium looked full throughout the first half.
But when Nevada went into the locker room down 28-13, a steady stream of fans could be seen leaving the stadium, and by the fourth quarter the stands looked empty.
The student section, which was filled with towel waving, face-painted students in the first half, was bare by the third quarter, with the yellow-jacketed security guards nearly out-numbering the students.
Freshman Potential
Colin Kaepernick wasn’t the only redshirt freshman who showed potential against Fresno State.
When Fresno State’s Clifton Smith broke free on a punt return in the fourth quarter, it looked to be a guaranteed touchdown, but Kevin Basped, a 6-foot-6, 240 pound defensive lineman sprinted down the field and tackled Smith at around the 5-yard line, showing uncanny speed for a lineman.
Fortunately for Nevada, the huge return was called back on a holding penalty.
Smith had already returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter.
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