Nevada grabs historic win
The Nevada football team beat San Jose State on Saturday 41-17 to become bowl eligible and move into second place in the Western Athletic Conference.
The Wolf Pack (6-4, 4-2 in the WAC) also reached a major rushing milestone.
The Wolf Pack rushed for 333 yards and four touchdowns Saturday, setting the all-time record for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns in a season in the process.
Nevada has 3,250 rush yards and 35 rush touchdowns this season.
Ault joked about the 1978 team he coached that previously held the rushing yards record (3,096) and shared the touchdown record (34).
“I’m getting a little upset now,” head coach Chris Ault said. “You’re talking about ’78 on me.
“I think it’s outstanding for (this year’s team). Those guys have worked hard and they deserve the accolades.”
Sophomore quarterback Colin Kaepernick said he didn’t want to celebrate just yet.
“After the season, that’ll be something we look back on and it’ll be a good memory for us,” he said.
Aside from the records, the Wolf Pack dominated both sides of the line. Nevada stuffed San Jose State for negative 23-rush yards and nine tackles for loss.
Nevada defensive end Kevin Basped said the defensive line had a little extra motivation.
“We had quotes on the board (in the locker room) saying that they were the most aggressive (defensive line),” the sophomore said. “Their coach said after this game they would lead in sacks and tackles for loss.”
The Spartans came into the game with 31 sacks, but could not get to Kaepernick once.
“We set goals each week,” senior center Dominic Green said. “One of our goals that we set was zero sacks. To accomplish that against a defense like San Jose State, it feels great.’’
Despite the 24-point victory, Ault was not content with the play of his defense.
In a span of four plays in the third quarter, the Spartans scored two touchdowns on a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Kyle Reed to wide receiver David Richmond.
“I’ve got mixed emotions about the game right now,” Ault said about Nevada’s second half defense. “It’s ridiculous. Just ridiculous.”
At halftime, Nevada held San Jose State to 67 total yards (83 passing and negative 16 rushing).
“These past couple weeks, we have grown as a defense,” senior safety Uche Anyanwu said. “We know if we keep playing like this, we’re ready for a breakout game where we play even better than we have been.”
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on Saturday, November 15th, 2008 at 7:55 pm and is filed under Breaking News, Football, Sports.
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