The Nevada Sagebrush

Seventy points is going to get you a lot of wins.
What the Nevada football team did to Idaho last Saturday was almost too painful to watch.
It looked too easy.
The Vandals came in to the game with the best rush defense in the Western Athletic Conference, a 6-1 record and tons of confidence.
The Wolf Pack made them look like a Division III team.
Nevada scored 10 touchdowns, averaged 9.1 yards per carry, did not turn the ball over and held Idaho to just 3.6 yards per carry in its 70-45 win.
In the Wolf Pack’s 14 offensive drives, I didn’t see a single one when the 11 guys on offense struggled or looked out of sync.
The players were on full blast as soon as the opening kickoff took flight and they kept that intensity long after the game got out of hand.
But the thing is, I wasn’t surprised.
Since fall camp, we’ve been hearing so much about how this offense should be one of the top in the nation, how the weapons here are almost unparalleled and how Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick should play more like a computer-generated robot than a human.
Well, all that’s coming to fruition.
In the last four games (all wins), the Wolf Pack has scored 205 points and rushed for 1,701 yards. That averages out to 51.3 points per game and 425.3 yards on the ground per game. I can’t even put up those types of stats in a Madden game.
As for the weapons, they’re starting to solidify themselves. Taua has proven he is not a one-year wonder. This year, he’s racking up 101.5 rushing yards per game (23rd in the nation) and has shown glimpses of surprising speed. On his first carry of the game against Idaho, he busted up the middle, broke free into the secondary and scored on an 89-yard touchdown. If you watched that play, you’d be lying if you said you thought he wasn’t going to get caught. But he’s faster than we give him credit for.
The other weapons are some familiar faces and some new ones. Running back Luke Lippincott is back to his old self again and has become a solid receiver. Wide receiver Brandon Wimberly looks like he’s going to evolve into a star someday. So far, the redshirt freshman has 495 receiving yards (fourth in the Western Athletic Conference) and four receiving touchdowns. And Virgil Green has come out of the woodwork to become one of the top tight ends in the WAC. Green has had a touchdown catch in four straight games.
And then there’s Kaep. Although pretty much everything has been said about this guy, it’s still not enough.
Take a look at the immediate turnaround he made this season: In his first three games, he was 54-of-98 passing for 546 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions. His rushing was dismal. Just 150 yards on 32 carries.
In the last four games, Kaepernick is 53-for-84 passing for 741 yards, nine touchdowns and just one pick. And the rushing? How’s 57 carries for 569 and six touchdowns sound?
His turnaround has been unbelievable. And to think earlier this season I questioned if Kaep still had it.
Forgive me, God, for I have sinned.
The entire offense is playing out of its mind right now.
Honestly, the Wolf Pack defense played like crap against Idaho and Nevada still won by 25. I’m going to stop hoping for the defense to turn it around and keep looking for the offense to put up 70. At the end of the day, a win’s a win. If the Wolf Pack wins 70-69, so be it.
I’m not going to fault this team for not being a complete squad. Obviously, one unit is on a completely different planet than the other, but as long as the notches in the win column keep accumulating, there should be no problem.
Juan López can be reached at jlopez@nevadasagebrush.com.

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