Pack gear up for ranked Hawaii
In one of the more intriguing games of the season, Nevada will take on No. 12 Hawaii at Mackay Stadium Friday night.The Wolf Pack will be fighting to get to the six-win mark and become bowl eligible while the Warriors will be trying to stay undefeated and keep their BCS bowl hopes alive.
A Nevada win could conceivably hurt its own bowl hopes, but with so much uncertainty you can bet Wolf Pack coach Chris Ault is billing this as a make-or-break game to his players.
Nevada has the advantage of not having to travel 2,300 miles and play in a much higher altitude, but a lot more things are going to have to fall into place if it wants to shatter Hawaii’s perfect season.
Avoid a shootout
A high-scoring game is probably a foregone conclusion, but if that happens Nevada won’t be happy with the outcome.
It got into a memorable shootout with Boise State earlier this season and showed it has the offensive firepower to go toe-to-toe with a top notch offense, but Hawaii is not Boise State.
The Warriors have Heisman Trophy candidate Colt Brennan – provided he can get his head right after getting rocked toward the end of the Fresno State game – who averages 410 yards per game, the second best mark in college football.
Hawaii’s offense is the third best in the nation, averaging 533 yards per game, and is tied for first in total touchdowns with 57.
There are only a few offenses that might have the ability to trade touchdowns with Hawaii for an entire game and Nevada is not one of them.
Nevada needs to slow this game down.
The offense needs to let running back Luke Lippincott grind out the yards on long, full-field drives and the defense needs to avoid giving up big passes and make Hawaii work for its points.
Protect Kaepernick
He’s no Colt Brennan, but when Colin Kaepernick gets time he can be deadly.
Dominic Green and Co. have done a decent job protecting him for most of the season, but they will be tested by a fast Warrior pass rush that is ranked sixth in the nation, averaging over three sacks per game.
Hawaii’s pass rush showed it has the ability to thwart talented quarterbacks when it forced New Mexico State’s Chase Holbrook into two interceptions in a 58-13 win earlier this season.
When under pressure, Kaepernick tends to overthrow the ball, and Nevada’s offense can’t afford to blow any plays against a more talented Hawaii team.
Get lucky
The fact is that this year Hawaii is just better than Nevada in nearly every aspect of the game ,except rushing offense and on paper should easily win this game.
But a Wolf Pack win is possible if the intangibles go its way.
The weather is currently predicted to be 60 degrees on Friday, but a sudden temperature drop would certainly help Nevada’s cause.
A fumble or interception return for a touchdown, a blocked field goal or an injury to one of Hawaii’s top players are all things that could change the dynamic of the game to Nevada’s favor.
The Wolf Pack needs to find some magic on Friday.
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on Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 at 1:53 am and is filed under Football, Sports.
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