Win over Boise would be “hell of a way to go”

By: Juan López

Monday, November 23, 2009 - 10:46 PM

Rarely is Nevada safety Jonathon Amaya outspoken.

The senior captain is quiet and reserved off of the field, but powerful and boisterous on it.

The latter personality showed during the Wolf Pack football team’s Monday practice, when he pictured a win against Boise State.

“It would definitely be a hell of a way to go (out) for me,” said Amaya, who will play in his final regular-season game at 7:15 p.m. Friday. “I feel like I’ve kind of built up a little history with Boise, playing them these past three years. I’m anxious to get out there on Friday night and prove that we’re for real.”

Nevada’s (8-3, 7-0 WAC) game against the Broncos (11-0, 6-0 WAC) will be for the Western Athletic Conference crown. It will match up two of the hottest and highest-scoring teams in the nation.

In the eight straight games the Wolf Pack has won, it has averaged 51.6 points per game and won games by an average of 29 points per game. Boise State, on the other hand, has been hot all season, averaging a nation-best 44.4 points per game and winning games by an average of 27.1 points per game.

Nevada senior linebacker Mike Bethea knows there is a lot more to this game than just another matchup with Boise State: Nevada has not beaten the Broncos since 1998 and Boise State is 69-2 on its home field since the start of the 1999 season. But Bethea doesn’t want to put more pressure on the team than there already is.

“Obviously, you’re going to be reminded about the history of the series through the media, but you try not to think about that stuff,” he said. “For us, it’s a big game, but you can’t make it bigger than it is.”

Although Bethea would like to play the game down, there is no way around it: Friday’s game is the one of the biggest in the Wolf Pack’s history. The implications are there (winning a WAC Championship for the first time since 2005, breaking into the Top 25 polls), but there is also a lot riding on the line for a Nevada senior class that has never gotten the better of the Broncos.

“They’re one of the few teams who (we haven’t beaten) in my time here and it’ll be special for us if we do it this year,” said senior running back Luke Lippincott.

He called the game the biggest of his career.

Juan López can be reached at jlopez@nevadasagebrush.com.