Number One in the Nation

Who is that young man posing at Mackay for a fan photo? Why that's Vai Taua, the leading rusher for the NUMBER ONE RUSHING OFFENSE IN THE NATION! Oh yeah, and he's also the all time leading rusher in Bulldog Stadium history after last nights romp over the Fresno State Bulldogs on ESPN 2.

We are seriously liking some things about this years offense.

How about three times the Pack has had two players rush for over 100 yards in the same game. Two of those games, NSU and FSU, came after a bye week where Nevada was looking for a big win after a tough loss. Obviously Ault and company are taking advantage of the extra time to prepare.

How about no turnovers last night? You were wondering if this team was snake bitten after a couple of costly fumbles against NMSU or UH? Last night was a +4 outing for the boys. Of course you are going to have some fumbles when you run the ball as often as the Pack does but it's nice to see them protecting the football so well.

Did you know?.....Only two teams in the history of college football (1968 Houston and 1973 Arizona St) have rushed for 3000 yards in a season while passing for 2000 in that same year! The Pack currently sits at 2917 rushing and 1800 passing. With three games to go, it's safe to say that the Nevada Wolf Pack will become the third to do so.

Next up the Pack has key games against two of the best defenses in the WAC when the boys host San Jose St next Saturday followed by Boise State the following weekend.

Speaking of defense, ours looked much better last night. There were a couple of times we wanted to tear our hair out like the early crossing route for a TD. But overall the secondary played improved and was able to intercept a couple of passes. They also held Brandstater and Co to 260 yards passing, which is 70 yards below the 330 yards season average that the Pack had been allowing. The big men upfront didn't get the sacks they are used to, but they did hold FSU to 106 yards rushing, 90 yards below the Bulldogs 196 per game season average and the second lowest rushing total for the Dogs this season.

The only real concerns that PWtW had with the game last night was kick off coverage. The Bulldogs continued to start drives with excellent field position and even returned a kick late in the game to make it close and force the offense and defense to continue to have to come up with big plays to compensate. The other concern was the idiocy that took place at the end of the first half. We did see that Ault was trying to call for a time out and was ignored. How can the players be so clueless though? And we didn't really get the field goal at the end of the game either? When you are up by two scores, 2:30 left, and the ball is on the 1 yard line, why kick it? You're still only up by two scores and now you have to kick off to a team who just returned one. Why not go for it? If you score, you're up by 3 scores and it's over. If you don't score, you don't have to kick off to them, you're still up by two scores, and they have to go 99 yards with one time out to get the first one. Fortunately it all worked out right (well at least for the Wolf Pack and for everyone who took the under points, hehe).

Overall this was a great game. The team is back on the bowl game path. They showed well on national television. They protected the football and generated turn overs. They looked well prepared coming off the bye.