Kaep excels in near upset
There were a lot of questions surrounding redshirt freshman quarterback Colin Kaepernick coming into Sunday’s game against Boise State.Could he fill Nick Graziano’s shoes? Could he lead the Wolf Pack effectively on the road against a big-time team like Boise State in his first collegiate start?
After Sunday’s game the answer to those questions seems to be a resounding yes.
Kaepernick threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another 177 yards and two touchdowns, helping Nevada push Boise State to the brink before losing 69-67 in four overtimes.
He didn’t turn the ball over.
“This guy is one fine athlete and a very, very intelligent football player, and to go onto a stage like this and manage the game the way he did, that’s really a credit to him personally and his mental makeup,” Wolf Pack coach Chris Ault said.
Most impressive about Kaepernick’s play was that he put up the yards against a Boise State defense that was ranked 15th in the nation in pass defense and 16th in rush defense.
“You’re facing a tough defense, and you face that, and the kid has to make the right audibles and right calls,” Ault said.
Kaepernick’s poise was striking in the overtime periods, when 30,394 Boise State fans were screaming at the top of their lungs to encourage the Broncos defense.
He had a 25-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 58-58 and send it into the third overtime and kept the Nevada’s offense moving with shorter runs when receivers weren’t getting open.
“We know Colin can show up and play big games,” wide receiver Marko Mitchell said. “We have confidence in him.”
Kaepernick’s most impressive showing was on a two-play drive in the fourth quarter in which the ball never left his hands.
On first-and-10 he broke free for a 55-yard run to the Boise State 9-yard line and the next play sprinted up the right side of the field for a touchdown.
Kaepernick humbly attributed his success against what looked to be a formidable Boise State defense to his offensive line and the coaches’ preparation.
“Our coaches did a great job of getting us ready for this game,” Kaepernick said. “Everything we saw and we thought they were going to give us, they gave us, so defensively they didn’t show us anything we weren’t ready for.”
Ault had nothing but praise for the young quarterback.
“I thought Colin Kaepernick, for the first time he starts, managed the game as well as any quarterback I’ve ever had,” Ault said. “I thought his play was exceptional.”
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