Pack rules opener
Nevada running back Vai Taua led the Wolf Pack with 103 rushing yards Saturday. Nevada rushed for 426 total yards against the Tigers. Amy Beck /Nevada Sagebrush
Nevada racked up 426 rushing yards on 53 attempts in its 49-13 season opening win against Grambling State.
The Wolf Pack also scored seven rushing touchdowns while limiting the Grambling State offense to just five yards on 40 attempts, an average of just over 0.1 yards per carry.
“Four-hundred yards rushing is amazing,” sophomore quarterback Colin Kaepernick said. “That tells you right there the kind of work our offensive line has put in the off-season, and the kind of work they put in tonight.”
The Wolf Pack was led by sophomore running back Vai Taua’s 103 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. Junior running back Brandon Fragger added 83 yards and a touchdown while senior running back Luke Lippincott totaled 70 yards and a touchdown. Kaepernick led the touchdown assault, scoring on runs of seven, 19 and 28 yards.
TURNOVERS
Despite manhandling Grambling State from the Football Championship Subdivision, the Nevada offense turned the ball over four times. The Wolf Pack’s two lost fumbles, interception and turnover on downs did not please head coach Chris Ault.
“Two were by Kaepernick, one cost us the shutout,” Ault said. “I don’t expect him to do that. It’s just that simple. So we’ll have to cut off both arms and see if he can play with two legs.”
The Wolf Pack knows that to compete with No. 12 Texas Tech next week, it will have to limit its mistakes.
“We need to execute better. We’ve got to do that to have a chance to beat a Big 12 team.”
PUNTER-BRAD LANGLEY
The Nevada offense had little trouble moving the ball, but the few times they were stifled, sophomore punter Brad Langley came in and helped the Wolf Pack control field position.
Langley averaged 47 yards on his four punts including a booming 51-yard punt into a 21 mile-an-hour wind in the second quarter that rolled out-of-bounds at the Grambling 31-yard line. His punts were returned for a total of -3 yards.
Langley, a sophomore transfer from American River Junior College in Sacramento, became the first punter in Chris Ault’s 24-year tenure at Nevada to receive a scholarship in his first year.
Langley said he hopes to contend for All-Western Athletic Conference Honors this year. Last year’s All-WAC punter was Louisiana Tech’s Chris Keagle, who averaged 41.3 yards per punt.
SOFTBALL TEAM HONORED
In between the first and second quarter of Saturday’s Nevada vs. Grambling State game, the Wolf Pack softball team was honored for last season’s magical NCAA run which ended May 18 in the Championship game of the Los Angeles Regional at the hands of UCLA.
The 21,927 fans in attendance gave the team a rousing ovation as the players stood on the sideline and accepted their 2008 WAC Championship trophy.
The Wolf Pack beat Purdue twice to advance in the double-elimination tournament this May, but lost an extra inning game to the Bruins 6-4 and the championship game 4-3.
The Wolf Pack’s season kicks off next semester.
Juan López can be reached at jlopez@nevadasagebrush.com.
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