So, what are we going to do now? Stop posting for another year or two? Go back to our day jobs and actually get some work done? Spend some time with the family while we sing hymns in Ault's favor?
Hardly.
Before we dig into Ault and the rest of the team, though, let's celebrate what happened on Saturday. Our fourth down conversion rate was 0/0 - in other words, we never had a fourth down to convert. Our third down conversion rate was 7/7. We had 32 first downs - if you do the math, we had 25 first downs that never even reached third down, much less fourth. We averaged over 10 yards per carry and over 11 yards per catch. Three players picked up over 100 yards rushing for our team. Mike Ball, our third-string running back until Saturday, scored five touchdowns, a rushing scoring performance we haven't seen since a certain infamous third-string running back from Tonopah. Our special teams blocked a punt for the first time since 2002. Our defense even picked up a fumble.
Unfortunately, it's when we start digging into fumbles that the spell ends. Yes, our defense picked up a fumble - UNLV, meanwhile, picked up four of them. Our team also picked up 15 penalties for 169 yards, many of which for personal fouls and pass interference. The personal fouls make some sense; the Nevada-UNLV game is, of course, an emotionally charged game, something which Ault has never had any troubles getting the team up for. The pass interference calls, on the other hand, are far more worrying. In short, our secondary was still getting burned and our offense was still turnover-prone. UNLV just couldn't capitalize.
Don't kid yourself. That final score was not a sign that we're that good. It was a sign that UNLV was that bad.
If you're a UNLV fan reading this blog, smiling to yourself at our past Ault-induced misfortunes, you should be really worried. Your team gave up out there. There's really no other way to put it, and I'm not the only one that noticed. Take Ed Graney from the LVRJ:
On Saturday, in the fifth game of his fifth season, Sanford was a head coach who lost his team in the fourth quarter. The Rebels flat out gave up, and when that happens 52 games after a coach assumes control of things, it can't be talked away as merely 60 bad minutes.That's absolutely true. Trust me, Nevada isn't good enough to score 28 points in a quarter against a team that actually tries. Heck, until we played, UNLV, we hadn't scored 28 points in a single game all season, much less kept anyone under 30. Consequently, please take this suggestion in the spirit in which it's intended when I tell you that UNLV needs to sign Mike Sanford to a lifetime contract extension right now!
Now, if you're a Nevada fan, here's a shot of cold, hard truth: There aren't many teams in the WAC that we can beat while racking up over 150 yards in penalties and handing the ball over four times. Idaho is good. Not great, mind you, but good enough to beat the same CSU team that we lost to a couple of weeks ago. The only team we might be able to beat playing like that would be Hawaii - if their game against Louisiana Tech last Wednesday was any indication, their run defense is nearly as bad as UNLV's. Our problems still haven't been fixed - we still hand the ball to the other team far too often and our secondary is still very much a work in progress. The good news is that Kapernick actually looked comfortable in the pocket, our offensive line was dominating, and we have some incredible depth in the running game. Question remains, though, is that because we were playing UNLV, or is it because our team is actually getting better?
We'll find out against Louisiana Tech. Here's hoping somebody on offense figures out how to hold on to the ball between now and Friday.
Turnovers, and penalties are going to be the death of us this year if we cannot fix the problem. It all boils down to poor coaching. We all expect a turnover or penalty every now and then but come on guys. It is the fundamentals that are lacking right now, and that boils down to the coaches, period. Our 3rd string running back comes in and absolutely killed it on Saturday. You know why? Because he wants to play, and he is tired of sitting on the bench and watching his team loose. He got pissed off and took it out on UNLV. Maybe the rest of the team can catch on as well as the coaching staff. Great win guys, but you still have a lot of work to do. Until next time.
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