Nevada Wolf Pack Opponent Scores/Records through November 29th, 2009

This week's results, sans the smart-aleckery:

Notre Dame (6-6) lost to Stanford (8-4, 6-3 PAC 10) 38-45 on the road.

Colorado State (3-9, 0-8 MWC) lost to Wyoming (6-6, 4-4 MWC) 16-17 at home.

Missouri (8-4, 4-4 Big XII) defeated Kansas (5-7, 1-7 Big XII) 41-39 at home.

UNLV (5-7, 3-5 MWC) defeated San Diego State (4-8, 2-6 MWC) 28-24 at home.

Utah State (4-8, 3-5 WAC) defeated Idaho (7-5, 4-4 WAC) 52-49 on the road.

Idaho (7-5, 4-4 WAC) lost to Utah State (4-8, 3-5 WAC) 49-52 at home.

Hawai'i (6-6, 3-5 WAC) defeated Navy (8-4) 24-17 at home.

San Jose State (2-9, 1-6 WAC) defeated New Mexico State (3-9, 1-6 WAC) 13-10 at home.

New Mexico State (3-9, 1-6 WAC) lost to San Jose State (2-9, 1-6 WAC) 10-13 on the road.

Not including the Nevada-Boise State game, Nevada opponents are 5-4 for the week ending November 28th, 2009 while two teams, LaTech and Fresno State, remained idle.  I can't remember the last time that the teams had a winning record for the week, and I really don't feel like doing the research right now to see if and/or when it happened.  Four teams played each other, Utah State at Idaho, and New Mexico State at San Jose State.

Overall, Nevada opponents are 35-48; out of conference opponents are 22-26.

One more week!

December

The twelfth month is nigh upon us; with it comes the end of the belovéd Wolf Pack's regular football season, and it with no small degree of melancholy, although there is the bowl game forthcoming.

I think we'll wait until Sunday to write in any depth about the Boise State game; it goes without saying that the first quarter was a dissapointment.

An even bigger dissapointment, by my reckoning, was watching the Broncos go for two on their second touchdown; statement made, Peterson.

Come-uppance next year?  I sure hope so, someone has to step up and take Boise State down a peg.

Good luck to the Pack in the post season!

For the record, the new banner is meant to commemorate the 1914 Christmas Truce.

He went for two...against Belgium!

Nevada vs. Boise State Common Opponents 2009

Louisiana Tech:
     Nevada vs. Louisiana Tech, October 9, 2009
                  1   2   3   4   T
     NEV:     14   3  13  7  37
     LaTech: 7    0   7   0  14

     Boise State at Louisiana Tech, November 6, 2009
                  1   2   3   4   T
     BSU:     13  14  3  15  45
     LaTech: 7   0  14  14  35

Utah State:
     Nevada at Utah State, October 17, 2009
                  1    2   3   4   T
     NEV        0  14  7  14  35
     USU        7  14  3   8   32

     Boise State at Utah State, November 21, 2009
                   1   2   3   4   T
     BSU        7  28  10  7  52
     USU        7   7   7   0  21

Idaho:
     Nevada vs. Idaho, October 24, 2009
                   1   2   3   4   T
     NEV        14 14  21 21 70
     IDHO       0  24  14 7  45

     Boise State vs. Idaho, November 14, 2009
                   1   2   3   4   T
     BSU       21  21 14  7  63
     IDHO      7  10   0  8  25

Hawai'i:
     Nevada vs. Hawai'i, October 31, 2009
                  1   2   3   4   T
     NEV:      7  14  7   3   31
     HAW:    14  0  0   7   21

     Boise State at Hawai'i, October 24, 2009I
                  1   2   3   4   T
     BSU:     10  24 10 10  54
     HAW:    0    0   2   7   9

San Jose State:
     Nevada at San Jose State, November 8, 2009
                  1   2   3   4   T
     NEV:      6  28  14 14  62
     SJSU:     0   0   0   7   7

     Boise State vs. San Jose State, October 31, 2009
                  1   2   3   4   T
     BSU:      7  17  14  7  45
     SJSU:     0   7   0   0   7

Fresno State:
     Nevada vs. Fresno State, November 14, 2009
                  1   2   3   4   T
     NEV:     10  14 14 14  52
     FSU:     14   0   0   0  14

     Boise State at Fresno State, September 18, 2009
                  1   2   3   4   T
     BSU:      10 14 10 17  51
     FSU:       0  17 10  7  34

In those six games:
     Nevada:
          PF-287 PA-133 (dif. +154 )
     Boise State:
          PF-310 PA-131 (dif. +179)
     Dif. between the two:
          PF-BSU +23
          PA-BSU -2
          Dif.-BSU +25

Data courtesy of espn.com.

Nevada Wolf Pack Opponent Scores/Records through November 21th, 2009

Almost forgot this week...sorry.

Notre Dame (6-5) lost to Connecticut (5-5) 30-33 in OT at home.
Wow.  Just...wow.

Colorado State (3-8) lost to New Mexico! (1-10) 27-29 on the road.
CSU's last win...yep, still Nevada at home; this was also UNMs ONLY win so far this season!!!

Missouri (7-4) defeated Iowa State (6-6) 34-24 at home.
The Tigers achieve bowl eligibility by getting their proverbial stuff together against some mediocre Big XII competition.

Louisiana Tech (3-8) lost to Fresno State (7-4) 28-30 on the road.
LaTech is just bad enough to help Pat Hill avoid his patented late-season choke maneuver...this time.

Utah State (3-8) lost to Boise State (11-0) 21-52 at home.
At least the Broncos did what they were supposed to in Logan.

Hawai'i (5-6) defeated San Jose State (1-9) 17-10 in OT on the road.
Can you believe that Hawai'i can still screw one WAC bowl contender?  Although with home games against Navy and Wisconsin that chance is spotty at best.

San Jose State (1-9) lost to Hawai'i (5-6) 10-17 at home.
I still say Dick Tomey deserves better.

Fresno State (7-4) defeated Louisiana Tech (3-8) 30-28 at home.
Meh.

So, not including the Nevada-NMSU sleepover down at the Aggie Playpen, Nevada opponents are 3-5 for the week ending November 21, 2009; two former opponents played each other, and two were bye (UNLV and Idaho).

Overall, Nevada opponents are 30-44; OOC opponents are 20-24.

Earning His Comp Car?

So says Pat Forde at ESPN:

Coach Who Earned His Comp Car This Week
Nevada's Chris Ault (36), whose team was 0-3 heading into October -- and a pretty bad 0-3 at that, outscored by 60 points. Since then the Wolfpack is 8-0, having scored 50 or more points five times. Nevada will pose a worthy test for unbeaten Boise State on Friday night on the blue turf.

That said... we're not North Carolina State, Mr. Forde. It's "Wolf Pack" here. Just don't ask why that's the case, seeing as there are, far as I know, no wolves in Nevada. There was, however, a former NC State coach by the name of Buck Shaw who briefly served as a line coach at Nevada; considering how small Nevada was at the time, it wouldn't be terribly surprising if Shaw was able to convince people to change the team's name from the original "Sagebrushers" to something that sounded a little tougher.

Not Quite As Topical As It Was Two Months Ago

Bronco Nation says we're "not quite as topical as [we were] two months ago". Frankly, I have to agree. To Ault's credit, the Wolf Pack has really come alive over the past month and a half. The question on our minds, however, is this:

Is it because our team is that good, or is it because the WAC is that bad?

The answer to that question, of course, is YES. Our team is getting better. The offense is playing to our personnel strengths by focusing on the running game, which is a development I already spoke in favor of not too long ago. On the other hand, outside of us, Fresno State and Boise State, the WAC is bad. How bad? According to Sagarin's latest computer rankings, the WAC is ranked behind the Mountain West and ahead of Conference USA. This doesn't sound too bad until you remember that Boise State tilts the average substantially in the WAC's favor.

To help drive the point home, here are the team-by-team rankings for us, Conference USA, and the MAC:

Western Athletic Conference
8 Boise State
52 Fresno State
56 Nevada
78 Idaho
89 Louisiana Tech
109 Hawaii
110 Utah State
137 San Jose State
157 New Mexico State

Conference USA
41 Houston
54 East Carolina
62 Central Florida
65 Southern Miss
72 Marshall
80 SMU
96 UAB
97 Tulsa
125 UTEP
129 Memphis
140 Rice
141 Tulane

Mid-American Conference
45 Central Michigan
58 Temple
83 Ohio University
85 Bowling Green
87 Northern Illinois
107 Buffalo
112 Kent State
114 Western Michigan
116 Toledo
132 Akron
146 Miami-Ohio
164 Ball State
184 Eastern Michigan

Look at the numbers for a second. If you take Boise State out of the equation, our Sagarin ranking drops from 65.78 down to 63.84, which puts us several points below Conference USA (65.21) and just above the MAC (61.19). In other words, Nevada has been chewing up yardage and securing several NCAA rushing records against one of the weakest conferences in college football.

That said, we have been chewing up yardage. If we were as bad as the rest of the conference, we wouldn't be blowing them out 52-14 or 63-20. If our defense wasn't improving, we wouldn't have kept our opponents under 21 points in each game in November. Folks, yes, this team is putting up impressive scores against some truly awful teams, but they are putting up impressive scores. You don't do that unless you're actually halfway decent.

So, how do I think we'll do against Boise State? Good question, and it's one that's keeping some Bronco fans up at night, too. Boise State is, in many respects, in the same position we're in, only without the ugly non-conference losses that we suffered. Are they any good? Are we? Nobody really knows because neither team has played anyone that couldn't pass for a Sun Belt team in months. I mean, Buffalo would help either of our team's strengths of schedule more than the bottom third of the WAC. Think about that for a minute.

Personally, I think this game will be close. Ault fired Tormey so many years ago because Tormey's Pack didn't perform against Boise State; consequently, Ault has made it his personal mission to prove that, unlike Tormey, his teams won't quit when facing the Broncos. This approach has paid off pretty well - the past two Nevada-Boise State games were rather close, with Kaepernick's coming out party occurring in Boise in quadruple-overtime two years ago. That said, I think this game is going to provide somebody with a reality check. Since this is FireChrisAult.com, and since Boise State is not afraid to throw the ball, guess who I think will receive it?

Boise State 49, Nevada 35

NEVADA vs. BOIZZZEEE STATE: All-Time Football Data

Nevada (8-3, 7-0 WAC, T-1) at Boise State (11-0, 6-0 WAC, T-1).

Not ancient, but definately a storied rivalry.  Boise State leads the all-time series 23-12-0.  Overall for his career, Chris Ault is 7-15 versus the Broncos; in his third term, Ault is 0-5.  Nevada has won at BSU only twice out of sixteen tries; Ault has won once in ten tries.

Scoring:
Nevada: 912 BSU: 1156 (Boise State +244)
Nevada PPG: 26.05714285
BSU PPG: 33.02857142
Nevada has scored 21.11% fewer points than Boise State overall.

Ault Scoring:
Nevada: 539 BSU: 672 (Boise State +133)
Nevada PPG: 24.5
BSU PPG: 30.54545454
Ault-led Nevada teams have scored 19.79% fewer points than Boise State overall.

Ault 2 Scoring:
Nevada: 143 BSU: 255  (Boise State +112)
Nevada PPG: 28.6
BSU PPG: 51
Third term Ault-led Nevada teams have scored 43.92% fewer points than Boise State (since 2004).

This is the final game of the season for Nevada, whereas Boise State is taking advantage of the Hawai'i clause and adding a thirteenth game (U. C. Davis earlier this season); the Broncos will play New Mexico State on December 5th.

The series (as always, Ault-coached games appear with an asterisk or two):

September 25, 1971
Boise State: 17 at Nevada: 10

October 14, 1972
at Boise State: 56 Nevada: 19

November 3, 1973
at Nevada: 23 Boise State: 21

October 5, 1974
at Boise State: 36 Nevada: 16

November 8, 1975
Boise State: 49 at Nevada: 6

October 23, 1976*
at Boise State: 26 Nevada: 8*

October 15, 1977*
at Nevada: 28 Boise State: 10*

November 10, 1979*
Boise State: 28 at Nevada: 27*

November 8, 1980*
at Boise State: 14 Nevada: 3*

October 31, 1981*
Boise State: 13 at Nevada: 3*

September 18, 1982*
at Boise State: 20 Nevada: 13*

September 24, 1983*
at Nevada: 38 Boise State: 20*

September 22, 1984*
at Boise State: 37 Nevada: 12*

September 21, 1985*
at Nevada: 37 Boise State: 10*

November 8, 1986*
Nevada: 21 at Boise State: 16*

November 7, 1987*
Boise State: 36 at Nevada: 31*

October 29, 1988*
at Boise State: 40 Nevada: 28*

November 4, 1989*
at Nevada: 30 Boise State: 14*

November 10, 1990*
at Boise State: 30 Nevada: 14*

December 8, 1990*
at Nevada: 59 Boise State: 52*

October 26, 1991*
at Nevada: 17 Boise State: 14*

September 11, 1993
at Nevada: 38 Boise State: 10

September 17, 1994*
at Boise State: 37 Nevada: 27*

October 12, 1996
at Nevada: 66 Boise State: 28

November 8, 1997
Nevada: 56 at Boise State: 42

October 31, 1998
at Nevada: 52 Boise State: 24

October 23, 1999
at Boise State: 52 Nevada: 17

October 27, 2001
at Boise State: 49 Nevada: 7

November 23, 2002
Boise State: 44 at Nevada: 7

November 29, 2003
at Boise State: 56 Nevada: 3

November 27, 2004*
Boise State: 58 at Nevada: 21*

October 29, 2005*
at Boise State: 49 Nevada: 14*

November 25, 2006*
Boise State: 38 at Nevada: 7*

October 14, 2007*
at Boise State: 69 Nevada: 67 (4OT)*

November 22, 2008*
Boise State: 41 at Nevada: 34*

Las Vegas Football At Its Finest

It's always good to see that a tradition of excellence is being cultivated by our southern rivals. Take this fine example of proper special teams execution, for example:



I sure hope that Defensive Tackle gets a scholarship with UNLV when he graduates!

Nevada vs. New Mexico State: All-Time Football Data

Nevada (7-3, 6-0 WAC, T-1) vs. New Mexico State (3-7, 1-4 WAC 8th).

Truly an ancient and storied rivalry here.  Nevada leads the all-time series 10-2-0, with both losses coming at Mackay Stadium by the exact same score exactly ten years and one day apart.  Chris Ault is 6-1 vs. the Aggies, and his teams have scored fewer than 40 only once in the series (1992).

Scoring:
Nevada: 516 NMSU: 316 (Nevada +200)
Nevada PPG: 43
NMSU PPG: 26.33333333

Ault Scoring:
Nevada: 306 NMSU: 200 (Nevada + 106)
Nevada PPG: 43.71428571
NMSU PPG: 28.57142857

Ault 2 Scoring:
Nevada: 181 NMSU: 131 (Nevada +50)
Nevada PPG: 45.25
NMSU PPG: 32.75

The series (Ault-coached games are marked with an asterisk):
October 24, 1992*
at Nevada: 35 NMSU: 21*

November 13, 1993
Nevada: 34 at NMSU: 14

October 15, 1994*
at Nevada: 45 NMSU: 24*

September 9, 1995*
Nevada: 45 at NMSU: 24*

November 2, 1996
at Nevada: 63 NMSU: 14

November 1, 1997
Nevada: 45 at NMSU: 24

October 10, 1998
NMSU: 48 at Nevada: 45

October 9, 1999
Nevada: 23 at NMSU: 16

November 12, 2005*
Nevada: 48 at NMSU: 24*

October 28, 2006*
at Nevada: 48 NMSU: 21*

November 2, 2007*
Nevada: 40 NMSU: 38*
(This site was created that evening.)

October 11, 2008*
NMSU: 48 at Nevada: 45*

A Dark Day in Nevada

It is with great sadness that I pass on the news that Mike Sanford has been fired from his head coaching job with UNLV. This is truly a bleak day for Nevada Wolf Pack fans everywhere. I mean, who are we going to beat the ever-loving tar out of now?! If something isn't done, there's a faint but statistically significant chance that UNLV might - just might! - hire a coach that can actually face the tactical and recruiting brilliance that is embodied in the Aulternator himself!

Of course, in order to pull off that minor feat, UNLV needs to find themselves an athletic director. As the article succinctly put it:

Smatresk says he expects a new UNLV athletic director will pick a new head football coach. No athletic director has been named.

Now that's a well-run program down there. On behalf of Nevada fans everywhere, I'd like to offer my effusive praise to the well-run UNLV Rebel athletic program down there, and I sincerely and truly hope that they continue running their program in the vein that they've pursued thus far.

Keep up the good work!

Nevada Wolf Pack Opponent Scores/Records through November 14th, 2009

#23 Notre Dame (6-4) lost to #12 Pittsburgh (9-1) 22-27on the road.

Missouri (6-4) defeated Kansas State (6-5) 38-12 on the road.

UNLV (4-7) lost to Air Force Academy (7-4) 17-45 on the road.

Louisiana Tech (3-8) lost to #8 LSU (8-2) 16-24 on the road.

Utah State (3-7) defeated San Jose State (1-8) 24-9 at home.

Idaho (7-4) lost to #7 Boise State (10-0) 63-25 on the road.

Hawai'i (4-6) defeated New Mexico State (3-7) 24-6 at home.

San Jose State (1-8) lost to Utah State (3-7) 9-24 on the road.

So, not including the Nevada-Fresno State drubbing, Nevada opponents are 3-5 for the week ending November 24th, 2009; only two former opponents played each other this week.

Overall, Nevada opponents are 27-39; OOC opponents are 19-22.

Editorial Postscript: My second greatest sports thrill of the weekend was knowing that Stanford vanquished USC with such a resounding decision that all of preppydom will languish for months...on the road.

Winning Cures All Ills

In my last post, I said that this week's game would state definitively what kind of team we really are since Fresno State is the first decent team we've played since the beginning of October. After today's game, the verdict is in:

We can run the ball really well!

Considering the name of the blog, I really hate to admit this, but I have to be honest - Ault and his staff have been doing an excellent job of playing to our offense's strengths as of late. It took a bit longer than I would have liked for Ault to admit that we're not a pass-first offense, but it's quite apparent now that he did figure it out. Letting the ground game run the offense has given Kaepernick the confidence he needed to develop his passing game, which has reduced turnovers substantially. It's much easier to change your throwing motion and improve your timing with your receivers when you know you can just hand it off to one of three other people in the backfield or run it yourself whenever things aren't clicking through the air.

The genius of the run-first offense doesn't stop there, though.

Since we run the ball, we consume a ton of clock. This is good since our defense is, at best, mediocre. We're solid against the run, sure, but we're also nearly heart attack-inducing against the pass. When it comes to our secondary, time is most certianly not on our side - the longer the game goes on, the higher the chances that our opponents will be able torch us through the air. Consequently, burning as much time as possible on the offensive side of the ball is absolutely paramount; fortunately, a run-first offense is precisely what you need in a situation like this. Of course, it should go without saying that clock consumption becomes far less important when your running backs can routinely get over 10 yards a rush behind an offensive line that's pushing big enough holes to drive a moving truck through, but you get the idea.

So... what now? We just guaranteed that we're getting 3rd place in the WAC at worst, and, assuming we take care of business against NMSU, we're guaranteed 2nd. That means we're going to a bowl game. Heck, it might mean we're going to Hawaii instead of Albuquerque, which I'm sure our players won't mind. Question is, do we have what it takes to derail Boise State's increasingly remote shot at a BCS bowl?

I can't believe I'm typing this, but I'm beginning to think that maybe - just maybe - we might. For the sake of appearances, however, I'll still say that we're doomed as long as Ault has a chance to work his clock management "magic".

We are FireChrisAult.com, after all. We have a reputation to maintain.

I Don't Think Anyone Saw THAT Coming

In the history of Nevada victories over Fresno State, last year was fairly lopsided; 1992 was fairly lopsided; but the Pack earned the greatest margin of victory in the series since a 53-7 victory in 1948.  The most lopsided game in the history of the series was a 48-0 Nevada victory in 1929, with the 2001 Fresno State 61-14 victory coming just short.  (Most points scored by the victor?  Nevada scored 62 in 1994.)

The stat of the game: the Wolf Pack did it with 45 passing yards.

Kaep was 6/12 for 45 yards, averaging 3.8 yards.

And, no, the loss of Mathews late in the second quarter was not a huge difference maker.  Mathews was averaging 4 yards per carry on eight touches with 32 yards overall; that's on pace for just a twig under 74 yards for the game.

Lippincott had a Senior Day to remember, rushing for 149 yards and THREE touchdowns averaging 14.9 yards per carry.

The analysis will come up sometime tomorrow (preview: Fresno State's 362 passing yards).

Tuscarora, NV

Nevada vs. Fresno State Common Opponents 2009

To gear up for, arguably, the biggest conference game of the 2009 season for the beloved Wolf Pack, it seems natural to do a head-to-head comparison of scores between the two teams' common opponents.

There are four of them.

Utah State:
     Nevada at Utah State, October 17, 2009
                   1   2   3   4   T
     NEV        0  14  7  14 35
     USU        7  14  3   8  32
     Fresno State vs. Utah State, October 31, 2009
                   1   2   3   4   T
     FSU        17  3   7  7  31  
     USU       10  17  0  0  27

Idaho:
     Nevada vs. Idaho, October 24, 2009
                   1   2   3   4   T
     NEV      14  14 21 21 70
     IDHO      0   24 14  7 45
     Fresno State at Idaho, November 7, 2009
                   1   2   3   4   T
     FSU       17  7   7   0  31
     IDA         0   0   7 14  21

Hawai'i:
     Nevada vs. Hawai'i, October 31, 2009
                   1   2   3   4   T
     NEV        7  14  7   3  31
     HAW      14  0   0   7  21
     Fresno State at Hawai'i, October 10, 2009
                   1   2   3   4   T
     FSU        14 14 14  0  42
     HAW       0   3   0  14 17

San Jose State:
     Nevada at San Jose State, November 8, 2009
                   1   2   3   4   T
     NEV        6  28 14 14 62
     SJSU       0   0   0   7   7
     Fresno State vs. San Jose State, October 17, 2009
                   1   2   3   4   T
     FSU         7  24  0  10 41
     SJSU      14  0   0   7  21

(Note: Nevada and Fresno State play opposites; that is to say, whomever the one team plays at home, the other team plays them on the road.  Neat, huh?)

In those four games:
     Nevada:
          PF-198 PA-105 (dif. +93)
     Fresno State:
          PF-145 PA-86  (dif. +59)

Of those four teams, only Idaho is not currently one of the bottom three.

Fresno State: has won five in a row; did what they should have against Hawai'i; at least had an interesting game versus San Jose State; did about as well as the Pack did against Utah State (only at home, though); and didn't really have much trouble at Idaho.

Nevada: has won six in a row; looked as though they didn't give Hawai'i much thought; made a statement against San Jose State while gearing up for the two toughies, Fresno State on only six days rest; did about as well as Fresno State versus Utah State (on the road); and made a BIG offensive statement at home against Idaho (made a big defensive statement, too, only for all the wrong reasons).

Black and white analysis gives a slim edge to the Pack at home...very slim, and very black and white.  The same black and white analysis going into the Boise State game in 2006 would have said something similar: Nevada managed to score 42 while holding scoreless BOTH Utah State at home and LaTech on the road going into that game, a bit better than Boise State had done against both of those teams; the Broncos would go on to beat Nevada 38-7 on the Pack's own Field Turf.

Prognostications anyone?

Patsville, near Mountain City.

Data courtesy of espn.com.

Don't Start Celebrating Just Yet

So, you just watched the SJSU game on ESPN a couple of days ago and thought, "Wow, our team is pretty good!" You looked at our record, noticed we have a winning streak going, and thought, "Hey, our team has finally turned the corner!" You took a look at the WAC standings and saw that we have a 1/2 game lead on Boise State for the WAC championship, thus making us #1 in our conference. You took a look at all of this, smiled, and said, "Ah, those FireChrisAult guys, they don't know what they're talking about."

You also thought Fox News and Rush Limbaugh would stop broadcasting after Obama won in November, didn't you? Oh, you sad, naive fool...

In all seriousness, we're pretty happy here with the Wolf Pack's performance since the beginning of October. We are Wolf Pack fans, after all, and, though we're obviously not big fans of the Aulternator, even we'll agree that a broken clock can be right twice a day. However, we're also a little more realistic about where we are. To help illustrate our current state of affairs, let's compare a couple of teams:

• One team has a half game lead in its conference. The other team is only a half game behind the leader.
• Both teams have six wins.
• Both teams have scored more than 40 points twice in their last three games.
• Both teams have only played one team with a winning record since October 1st.
  
• Neither team has played the two most powerful teams in their conference.
• Both teams will play one of their traditional conference powerhouses at home, but will have to play the traditional top dog on the road.
  

One of those teams is, of course, us. The other is Arizona, which still has Oregon (at home) and USC (on the road) on their schedule. How do you think Arizona fans are feeling right now? Heck, Arizona's #17 in the country this week, so I imagine they're pretty happy. Now, what do you think Arizona's chances really are against Oregon and USC? Do you think the Wildcats are going to the Rose Bowl?

Right.

The good news, of course, is that Fresno State is no Oregon and Boise State is no USC, though Boise State has been doing a pretty decent impression these days. However, Fresno State's only loss in the WAC was against Boise State, and its other two losses this year were to a freakishly good Cincinnati team and to a Wisconsin team that always plays tough at home. In other words, this isn't San Jose State we're playing. These guys are good and they're used to playing tough, physically demanding teams. We're not going to push forward with 8-10 yard runs without contact like we did on Sunday.

Thankfully, the rest of the WAC is absolutely pitiful this year, so the worst we'll finish is 7-5, assuming we take care of business against New Mexico State. Assuming Boise State beats Idaho, that would put us third in the conference with all of the tiebreakers in our favor, which means we'd either be going to New Mexico or Hawaii again. For fairly obvious reasons, the Humanitarian Bowl would either take Boise State or Idaho, depending on whether Boise State gets a bid somewhere else or not. So, provided we take care of business in a couple of weeks against NMSU, we'll still go to a bowl game, Ault and his fans will pat each other on their backs, and everybody will sit back, relax, and pretend our program is right where it should be.

That said, if we lose to Fresno State at home, we're not where we should be. It just means we're the best of the worst of the WAC. The WAC is a three horse race every single year. Which horse will we be this time around?

We'll find out on Saturday.

Nevada vs. Fresno State: All-Time Football Data

The Fortieth Meeting...

Nevada (6-3, 5-0 WAC, T-1st) vs. Fresno State (6-3, 5-1 WAC, 2nd).

Not as old as the San Jose State vs. Nevada rivalry, but a good rivalry and still plenty old and storied, with the first game dating back to October 9, 1926, a 26-7 Wolf Pack victory.  They have also met much more consistantly, playing thirty-nine times overall, with the longest break coming between 1955 and 1982 (27 years).

Fresno State has the advantage with a commanding 24-14-1 overall record.  Chris Ault is 4-4 against the Bulldogs for his career, and 2-3 since his return in 2004.

Scoring:
Nevada: 781 Fresno St: 1020 (Fresno St. +239)
Nevada PPG: 20.55263158
Fresno St. PPG: 26.15384615

Ault Scoring: (8 games)
Nevada: 280 Fresno St: 279 (Nevada +1)
Nevada PPG: 35
Fresno St. PPG: 34.875

Ault Scoring Since 2004: (5 games)
Nevada: 156 Fresno St: 194 (Fresno St. +38)
Nevada PPG: 31.2
Fresno St. PPG: 38.8

The Series (Ault-coached games appear with the usual asterisk):
October 9, 1926
Nevada: 26 at Fresno State: 7

October 15, 1927
at Fresno State: 10 Nevada: 7

November 10, 1928
at Nevada: 12 Fresno State: 12

October 19, 1929
at Nevada: 48 Fresno State: 0

November 27, 1930
at Fresno State: 6 Nevada: 0

October 24, 1931
at Nevada: 31 Fresno State: 13

November 24, 1932
Nevada: 7 at Fresno State: 0

November 29, 1934
at Fresno State: 33 Nevada: 0

November 11, 1935
Fresno State: 27 at Nevada: 6

November 26, 1936
at Fresno State: 13 Nevada: 6

November 6, 1937
Fresno State: 46 at Nevada: 8

October 22, 1938
Fresno State: 27 at Nevada: 0

October 14, 1939
at Fresno State: 45 Nevada: 0

November 2, 1940
at Fresno State: 7 Nevada: 6

October 18, 1941
Fresno State:6 at Nevada: 3

November 7, 1942
at Fresno State: 33 Nevada: 0

November 3, 1945
at Nevada: 7 Fresno State: 4
(Talk about an ugly win...)

November 11, 1948
Nevada: 53 at Fresno State 7

October 22, 1949
Nevada: 34: at Fresno State: 13

November 8, 1952
Fresno State: 59 at Nevada: 22

October 17, 1953
at Fresno State: 47 Nevada: 7

October 16, 1954
Fresno State: 21 at Nevada: 7

October 15, 1955
at Fresno State: 42 Nevada: 9

October 16, 1982*
at Nevada: 40 Fresno State: 26*

September 17, 1983*
at Fresno State: 24 Nevada: 22*

November 5, 1994*
Nevada: 62 at Fresno State: 35*

September 26, 1998
Nevada: 27 at Fresno State: 24

September 25, 1999
Fresno State: 49 at Nevada: 24

October 14, 2000
at Fresno State: 58 Nevada: 21

November 17, 2001
Fresno State:61 at Nevada: 14

November 16, 2002
at Fresno State: 38 Nevada: 30

November 8, 2003
Fresno State: 27 at Nevada: 10

November 20, 2004*
at Fresno State: 54 Nevada: 17*

November 26, 2005*
at Nevada: 38 Fresno State: 35*

September 1, 2006*
at Fresno State: 28 Nevada: 19*

October 6, 2007*
Fresno State: 49 at Nevada: 41*

November 7, 2008*
Nevada: 41 at Fresno State: 28*

Get Ready for Fresno State!

There really isn't a whole lot to say about the San Jose State game this week, so I won't go into analysis...thank God, those take me hours to do.  Instead, just a few quick blurbs.

Nevada proved that they can win on the road.  Granted, the five or so SJSU fans in attendance plus Krazy George weren't able to produce a game-affecting din (more of a squeaky hush?), but the Pack's showing against the last last-place team was not altogether convincing...this game they looked like they were getting ready for the next three games, two of which are far and away the biggest conference games of the year.

Fresno State is going to be one tough cookie, so Nevada is going to need as much help as possible.  Get out and back like you've never backed before!

Near Montague, CA.

Nevada Wolf Pack Opponent Scores/Records through November 7th, 2009

Notre Dame (6-3) lost to Navy (7-3) 21-23 at home.

Colorado State (3-7) lost to UNLV (4-6) 16-35 on the road.
Once again we have to mention that their last win was September 19th vs. Nevada.

Missouri (5-4) lost to Baylor (4-5) 32-40 at home.
That's right - Baylor...sheesh.

UNLV (4-6) defeated Colorado State (3-7) 35-16 at home.
Someone had to win.

Louisiana Tech (3-6) lost to Boise State (9-0) 35-45 at home.
November 27th on the Smurf Turf is starting to look REALLY interesting.

Utah State (2-7) lost to Hawai'i (3-6) 36-49 on the road.
Two weeks in a row the Pack gets to play the last-ranked WAC team.

Idaho (7-3) lost to Fresno State (6-3) 21-31 at home.
November 14th in Reno is looking pretty good, too.

Hawai'i (3-6) defeated Utah State (2-7) 49-36 at home.
Again, someone had to win this game.

So, not including the Nevada-SJSU game, Pack opponents are 2-6 for the week ending November 7th (8th), 2009, and those two wins are, in both cases, opponents playing other opponents so, as I said above, someone had to win those games.  That doesn't really send a good message to Jeff Sagarin.

Overall, Wolf Pack opponents are 24-34 to-date, and OOC opponents are 18-20 (the tie is finally broken).

Editorial postscript: how does the 4th-ranked Pac-10 team get to be ranked 10th in the nation, even above the team who just demolished and demoralized them the prior week?  Oregon was humbled by Stanford, a classic Fresno State-style let-down, but for comparison's sake, USC has yet to play Stanford.

Our thoughts go out to Jahvid Best.

Nevada vs. San Jose State: All Time Football Data

Nevada (5-3, 4-0 WAC, T-1st) at San Jose State (1-6, 0-3 WAC, 8th)

This really is an historic rivalry...at least it should be.  The first meeting between "Nevada State University" and the "San Jose Normal School" was November 30, 1899 at the original Mackay Stadium, and to date is the longest-standing continuing series, the only other colleges the Sagebrushers (as Nevada was known at the time) had played were Santa Clara, Pacific, California JV, & Stanford JV in 1898, and Stanford & California varsity each of the two games prior to the first San Jose State meeting in 1899.

The teams have lost touch several times along the journey, but maintained scheduling through much of the 1930s and some of the 1940s.  After 1948, though, it would take Nevada moving into D1-A in 1992 to renew this rivalry.  From 1931 through 1948 (and including the 1992 meeting) all games were played in San Jose.

There have been 23 meetings between Nevada and San Jose State, with the Wolf Pack holding the advantage 13-8-2.  Chris Ault is 6-2 all-time in this series, and is 4-1 since his return to coaching in 2004.

All-Time Scoring:

   Nevada- 593 [25.782608695 PPG] (Nevada +99)

   SJSU- 494 [21.478260869 PPG]

Ault All-Time Scoring:

   Nevada- 282 [35.25 PPG] (Nevada +107)

   SJSU- 175 [21.875 PPG]

Ault Scoring Since 2004:

   Nevada- 160 [32 PPG] (Nevada +62)

   SJSU- 98 [19.6 PPG]

The Series (Ault-coached games appear with an asterisk):

November 30, 1899

at Nevada: 6 San Jose State: 0

November 4, 1900
at Nevada: 0 San Jose State: 0

October 31, 1931
Nevada: 18 at San Jose State: 0

November 5, 1932
Nevada: 0 at San Jose State: 0

October 27, 1934
at San Jose State: 10 Nevada: 0

November 16, 1935
at San Jose State: 20 Nevada: 6

October 7, 1939
at San Jose State: 28 Nevada: 0

November 29, 1940
at San Jose State: 30 Nevada: 7

November 8, 1941
Nevada: 20 at San Jose State: 19

September 24, 1948
Nevada: 39 at San Jose State: 0

November 7, 1992*
at San Jose State: 39 Nevada: 35

November 6, 1993
at Nevada: 46 San Jose State: 45

October 22, 1994*
Nevada: 42 at San Jose State: 10

November 18, 1995*
at Nevada: 45 San Jose State: 28

October 21, 2000
San Jose State: 49 at Nevada: 30

November 10, 2001
at San Jose State L 45 - 64
 
October 19, 2002
at Nevada: 52 San Jose State: 24
 
September 18, 2003
Nevada: 42 at San Jose State: 30
 
November 6, 2004*
at Nevada: 42 San Jose State: 24
 
October 1, 2005*
Nevada: 30 at San Jose State: 23
 
October 21, 2006*
at Nevada: 23 San Jose State: 7
 
November 24, 2007*
at San Jose State: 27 Nevada: 24
 
November 15, 2008*
at Nevada: 41 San Jose State: 17
 
Final conference standings since 2002:
2002-
   Nevada: T-4th SJSU: T-4th
2003-
   Nevada: 5th SJSU: 8th
2004-
   Nevada: T-7th SJSU: 10th
2005-
   Nevada: T-1st SJSU: T-6th
2006-
   Nevada: T-3rd SJSU: T-3rd
2007-
   Nevada: T-4th SJSU: T-4th
2008-
   Nevada: T-2nd SJSU: T-5th

Wolf Pack 2009 Opponents: How They Fared thru 10/31/2009

# 23 Notre Dame (6-2) defeated Washington State (1-7) 40-14 at home.
Notre Dame plays FOUR (4) road games in 2009.

Colorado State (3-6) lost to Air Force Academy (5-4) 16-34 at home.
Last win: September 19th vs. Nevada.

Missouri (5-3) defeated Colorado (2-6) 36-17 on the road.
First win since September 25th at Nevada.

UNLV (3-6) lost to TCU (8-0) 0-41 on the road.
Northern Nevadans are going to REALLY miss Mike Sanford.
 
Louisiana Tech (3-5) lost to Idaho (7-2) 34-35 on the road.
How's the World Series going?
 
Utah State (2-6) lost to Fresno State (5-3) 27-31 on the road.
Big moral victory to Utah State...they are improving this year.
 
Idaho (7-2), of course, defeated LaTech (3-5) 35-34 at home.
See above.
 
So, not including the Nevada-Hawai'i game, Wolf Pack opponents are 3-4 for the week ending October 31, 2009 (Nevada Day!), and a combined 23-28 overall.  OOC opponents are a combined 17-17 overall.

Bruno's!

Gerlach, NV.

Best. Ravioli. Period.

Hawai'i at Nevada: an Armchair Analysis

A win is a win, and I'll take it.

From an offensive standpoint...well, I'm just not sure what to say.  The Pack was 3-11 (27%) on 3rd down, 1-2 on 4th (50%), was 12-21 through the air (57%), averaging 8.8 yards per completion, and averaged 6.4 yards on 49 carries.  It is hard to argue with totals (184 passing, 312 rushing = 496), but that 3rd down conversion rate is a tangible figure to underscore what appeared to be a team playing rather uninspired football. 

In all, Nevada's passing yardage (184) was nearly 29 points fewer than Hawai'i was allowing going into the game (212.875) [FWIW: UNLV gained the most yardage through the air vs. Hawai'i with 340], although it was on par for the Pack's average (185.429).  Nevada's rushing yardage (312) was nearly 113 MORE than Hawai'i opponents were earning prior to this game (199.143), and just a handful fewer than their own average (320.413).

It's not hard to imagine: last week a much ballyhooed 6-1 Idaho team, tied for the conference lead, came to Mackay and was thoroughly splattered like a proverbial gridiron pizza.  This week a Hawai'i team, a dilapidated shell of its former self who finds itself bottom feeding in the WAC (quite an accomplishment when you consider the bottom half this season so far...the bottom FIVE all have losing records, and only LaTech has more than one conference win), lumbers into Mackay hampered by injuries and other peculiarities while the Pack is favored by 29 1/2.  I reckon it's difficult at best to bring your "A" game under those circumstances, but, as they say, anything can happen on any given Saturday and that's why they play the game...in my opinion, coaching should have them hungry for another 70 points.

Hawai'i also did their part to help a lackluster Nevada team: one punt, for 10 yards, wound up turned over on downs.  But another, for a delightful 7 yards (that's SEVEN...single digit) led to a Wolf Pack touchdown.  Nevada was able to capitalize on two Moniz interceptions, and a 45 yard kickoff out of bounds by Scott Enos also helped the Pack find the endzone.

The defense made some improvements: they held Hawai'i to 4-11 on third down (36%) and 0-2 on 4th down (0%).  For all that can be said for the defense this season, those stops were diference makers.  They also kept the "big" plays to a minimum: one Hawai'i TD pass went for 71 yards in the first quarter.  Beyond that, Hawai'i went 29 of 49; except for the 71-yard touchdown, no pass went for over 23 yards, although they had four over 20 (20, 23, 23, 21).  In order, passing yardage went thusly: 20, 23, 8, 9, 18, 71, 12, 13, 6, 8, 7, 10, 18, -1, 7, 4, 12, 5, 12, 11, 9, 23, 0, 19, 5, 21, 10, 4, 7, 2.  Nevada sacked Moniz twice, but never really seemed to be too serious about puting real pressure on their quarterback.

Hawai'i also managed to rush the ball 20 times for an average of 5.9 yards per carry; three carrys went for double-digit gains.  In Hawai'i's fourth-quarter scoring drive, 80 yards, the Warriors ran 12 plays with only two incompletions; they ran six consecutive plays for positive yardage, and of those six, they ran four consecutive running plays of 17, 5, 7, and 1 yards, respectively.

In all, Hawai'i's passing yardage (374) was 20 higher than their season average (354) in seven games, and over 74 higher than Nevada's opponent's average (299.714); their rushing total (118) was just over 43 higher than their previous season average, and just over four yards higher than the Nevada defense was allowing prior to the game.

Nevada also had fewer penalties, although for more yardage, earning 6 for -63 yards, to Hawai'i's 8 for -60.  Hawai'i penalties were mostly procedural.  Nevada earned 2 Illegal blocks and an illegal formation, along with the usual compliment of procedurals.  The Pack was able to gain retribution in the second quarter for two penalties, a ten-yard hold and the 5-yard illegal formation, in both cases by scoring touchdowns on the ensuing play: Taua's 30-yard TD reception and Kaep's 38-yard TD run.

But, long story short, Nevada didn't look like a team sharing the conference lead; Nevada didn't even look like a top 1/3 team: 14 points off of turnovers, and another 14 off of spectacular special teams play, and those crucial Hawai'i mistakes made the game for Nevada, helping the Pack score 28 of their 31 points.