A hard-fought victory for Nevada football is the breath of fresh air all Wolf Pack fans needed after three straight losses. The Pack traveled down south to play the University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP) Miners and found a 30-13 victory.
Nevada’s bye week paid off and they found the win they needed. The Pack opened the scoring with just over six minutes remaining in the first quarter. Sophomore quarterback Carter Jones connected with sophomore running back Dominic Kelley, who rushed 21 yards for the touchdown.
The second quarter of the game had Joe McFadden as the star of the show, with the sixth-year kicker making both 26 and 32-yard attempts to move the Pack’s score to 13.
The Miners found the endzone for the first time in the second quarter, just over three minutes before halftime. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Raymond Moore III found redshirt senior Jaden Smith in the air to put six up on the board. Senior kicker Carlos Arreola sent the ball through the uprights for the extra point to make the score 13-7 into halftime.
Nevada’s rush game was on fire for the final two quarters, with junior running back Herschel Turner rushing 72 yards into the endzone for touchdown number two for the Pack. Then, in the fourth quarter Kelley added six more to the Pack’s score from a 6-yard rush.
The game ended after a late touchdown from Moore III to the redshirt tight end Cash Cheeks that brought the final score to 31-13 in Nevada’s favor.
Nevada now moves forward with a 2-3 overall record and 1-1 conference record, tied for sixth in the Mountain West conference.
This victory has sparked hope for Nevada’s future and showed how well they can perform when they are able to work on both sides of the ball. Nevada’s rush game worked especially well, with 274 yards to UTEPs 74 yards.
Turner accounted for 192 yards alone, averaging 10.1 per carry. Kelley made up for the second majority rushing his way into the endzone twice with 99 yards rushing as well as 21 receiving yards.
On top of the impressive offensive performance, Nevada’s defense only allowed two touchdowns against them, the fewest allowed this season tied with their first matchup against Western Kentucky University.
While it was a game Nevada was projected to win, it was still a clean win on their end. The team looked good: it looked like they were all working together to get the job done, and done well.
I like that Nevada is happy sticking with what works; don’t fix what’s not broken, and the rush game definitely was not broken. However, I would like to see the pass game improve for Nevada especially in the red zone.
Jones threw for 102 passing yards, just a bit under Moore III’s 132 yards, and while this number is not too underwhelming, it could definitely improve to be utilized in scoring plays.
Junior wide receiver Gary Givens III found a 9.2 yard average on his five receptions for a total of 46 receiving yards, but wasn’t able to find the endzone.
If Nevada can capitalize off their passing game just as much as they had in their rush, the Pack’s offense will become a force to be reckoned with in this new Mountain West conference.
Up next, Nevada will stay on the road where they will face North Dakota State University on Saturday, Oct. 17 at 4 p.m.
