Nevada preview: hurry before the window closes

Previewing the WAC seems like a good job for an intern. Unfortunately, we do not have an intern. Ugh. Previously: Utah State, Fresno State, Hawaii, SJSU, LaTech. Today: Nevada.

  Nevada

  Team motto: Reno is for winners


The WAC is typically a three-team conference, which is kind of sad considering that nine teams actually play there. In years past, any number of different WAC schools not including the University of Idaho have jumped into the big three alongside the traditional favorites of Boise State and Fresno State.

Might it be Nevada's turn again? Well, it certainly isn't anybody else's!

The Wolf Pack have the look of a stereotypically successful WAC team: high-scoring offense, afterthought defense, and a coach with a name people recognize although they're not sure why. And their performance last season gives the program hope that maybe this year will be the year they win the WAC outright. Aren't they cute when they're unrealistic?

With Colin Kaepernick at quarterback, Luke Lippincott at running back, and the Pistol offense playing the role of crazy Uncle Eddie, this team has all the right ingredients for an entertaining and possibly fruitful season. Just keep Uncle Eddie away from the light bulbs.

Five questions

Luke Lippincott isn't really better than Ian Johnson...is he?
My heart says no, but my 2007 statistical almanac says yes. According to last season's numbers, Lippincott is the WAC's most mathematically excellent back, by way of his conference-best 1420 yards. Johnson still holds the edge in touchdowns, undefeated seasons, and knit beanies, but the emergence of backs like Lippincott are what has the media buzzing about the WAC's new running focus.

Quick! Name one player on the Nevada defense!
Um...er...(stammering)...uhhh...(flipping through Phil Steele's college preview magazine)...

What scares you the most about the Nevada offense?
Plenty of things scare us about the Nevada offense, but perhaps the scariest part of their attack is its insane unevenness. Check out how many points they scored in some of their games last year:

• vs. Nebraska, 10
• vs. UNLV, 20
• vs. Fresno State, 41
• vs. Boise State, 67
• vs. Hawaii, 26
• vs. San Jose State, 24
• vs. LaTech, 49
• vs. New Mexico, 0

The possibility for the Nevada offense to put up a 50-spot on an opposing team is very real. The possibility for them to chunk their way to 20 points is also an option. And you never know which team will show up. Some teams might gameplan to try to stop Kaepernick or Lippincott or WR Marko Mitchell, but they'd be better off prank calling their hotel rooms the night before the game.

If Colin Kaepernick could be any type of weather, what would he be?
Kaepernick is a free spirit who does not like being tied down to expectations or consistency or the pocket. He would be a cloud, roaming free through the beautiful blue sky without a worry in the world. "Why hello, Mr. Sunshine," Kaepernick might say. "Do you mind if I overthrow you on an out route? You don't? Oh happy day!" Clouds don't have to read defenses or put balls on the numbers; they can go wherever they want, whenever they want. And Chris Ault can't do anything about it.

Give me one reason to think that Nevada is not the same old Nevada as always.
The law of averages and this:

Over/unders

+/- 2:1 ratio of pass attempts to rushes for Kaepernick
+/- 69 points Boise State scores against Nevada this season
+/- 0 times the Wolf Pack elect to kick when they win the toss

Nevada could cause a lot of problems for teams this season...teams like Grambling State, Utah State, and Idaho. The rest of their schedule? It's anybody's guess. New Mexico shut out the Wolf Pack in the teams' bowl game last year, and in so doing, the Lobos gave everyone a blueprint on how to slow the Nevada offense. (Tip: the quarterback can't throw.)

No matter how well the WAC schedule plays out for Nevada, their non-conference slate may cost them any chance of BCS talk. They play Texas Tech and Missouri in back-to-back weeks, and chances are good that they won't be able to knock off both Big XII powerhouses. Too bad Baylor was busy.

They do have enough talent to be a solid WAC team, though. On any given day, they can outscore their opponent, and if they find some consistency with the offense and some teeth for the defense, they will be in fine shape. Their visit to Fresno in early November should define their season. If they can get past the Bulldogs, then they can start thinking WAC title...that is, until they play Boise State two weeks later.

Perfect situation

Nevada beats one of the BCS teams on the non-conference schedule, Kaepernick completes more than 50 percent of his passes, Wolf Pack cruises undefeated through the WAC, Lippincott becomes Heisman candidate, Ault and the Pistol offense ride off intot the sunset to live happily ever after

Reality

The Wolf Pack get swept by the BCS teams on their non-conference schedule, Kaepernick turns the Pistol offense into the Wing-T, Nevada cruises through the WAC until Boise State, settles for a Hawaii Bowl appearance

Final record: 8-4 overall, 6-2 conference

Bizarro Nevada fall scrimmage, defense beats offense

One of Boise State's chief WAC rivals this season will be the Nevada Wolf Pack, who should have one of the best offenses in the conferences. Supposedly.

Such was not the case in Nevada's first scrimmage of the fall yesterday.

The first scrimmage of the 2008 season went to the defense which scored twice and allowed only one score in a 90-minute and 90-plus play scrimmage Sunday at Mackay Stadium.

The "D" returned a fumble and an interception for touchdowns and forced five turnovers total. Colin Kaepernick and Luke Lippincott, the two stars of the Nevada offense, were held to 102 yards combined, and OBNUG's pick for preseason WAC offensive player of the year, QB Nick Graziano, went 3-for-12.

By the way, the Nevada defense is terrible.

What should Bronco fans make of this result? Probably little. Seeing Nevada struggle on offense will undoubtedly encourage us to make some inappropriate jokes at their expense, but when all is said and done, the Nevada offense will be fine, the Nevada defense will be bad, and the WAC championship will still come down to Fresno State and Boise State.

In the meantime, we'll be snickering at Kaepernick's efficiency rating.

Defense dominates the day [Nevada Appeal]

Wednesday: Links with determination

Story of the day:

For Oregon fans, BSU a better draw than some Pac-10 teams [Arbiter Online]

No wonder tickets for the Boise State-Oregon game are in such demand. Duck fans would rather see the Broncos than several conference opponents. Sorry, Stanford.

"Frankly, the Boise State game has garnered the type of interest amongst our ticket holders and donors that is as great as some of our conference games and greater than some conference games," Mike Marlow, senior associate athletic director at the University of Oregon said. "It's been a ticket that has been in demand from our season ticket holders and donors as well."

We're curious to find out what demand is for the Utah State game (or if "demand" is even the right word).

Also in the Arbiter's story was news that the Boise State ticket lottery would be happening soon. However, they neglected to describe what kind of lottery it would be. Scratch tickets? Ping pong balls? Names out of a hat? Human tetris contest? College journalists have a lot to learn about asking the right questions.

Other links:

Brock Forsey to speak at local youth camp [Statesman]
OBNUG to crash local youth camp.

Nevada's terrifying schedule poster [Wizard of Odds]
The wolf eye follows you everywhere.

Ada County Vandal picnic on Saturday [Statesman]
Bring your lowered expectations. And a Jell-O salad.

Minor glitch in Boise State's NCAA 09 schedule [GameZone]
No more Idaho State at least.

Flash animation of BSU's new turf [Statesman]
That's one way to spend your resources.

Monday: Links with temper

Story of the day:

Aaron Burks, man of mystery [Statesman]

Congratulations on the Idaho Statesman for breaking some Boise State football news yesterday with the announcement of Texas high school WR Aaron Burks giving a verbal commitment to the Broncos. We have just one question: who?!

Burks is a mystery to a lot of Boise State fans. Fight Fight BSU couldn't find much about him. The guys at Bronco Country unearthed his stat line from last year (seven catches) and not much else. We're happy that the Boise State coaches are able to discover such gems, but Bronco Nation needs some more information.

Perhaps this is the problem: the Statesman might have spelled his name wrong. We found an Arron Burks on the Baylor Scout page, and Boise State's Scout profile has it spelled the same way. Perhaps this way we can find out more information about the kid. At any rate, the plot remains thickened.

Other links:

Goodbye, old blue turf [KTVB.com]

Better keep the Blue Turf Towel guy away from this.

How to bet on the Nevada Wolfpack [Bet Us]

Subtitle: More than one way to lose money in Reno

Coach Pete the racehorse [Statesman]
It appears someone likes Boise State more than we do.

An Oregon comic book: The Amazing O-men [SI.com]
It is only a matter of time before we have Idaho: The Disappointing V-men.

The Mothership in photos [Statue Left]
Still awesome and large.

Countdown to media day begins [PWtW]
We were wondering when Chris Ault would be speaking.

Tuesday: Links with gaudiness

Story of the day:

Down goes OBNUG [Fight Fight BSU]

Yesterday afternoon, through no fault or knowledge of our own, our site was apparently inoperable--lost to the hinder reaches of the webosphere. What happened? Beats us. In fact, we're not even sure it's working now.

We could not replicate the stark emptiness of www.obnug.com in our web browsers, but Drew at Fight Fight BSU has visual evidence of the outage in all its awful carnage. Our site looked like a colorful link dump with rhyming words and related searches. It was quite a departure from the standard Google template we have come to know and love.

We assume the problem is fixed. When we tried it yesterday, everything seemed to work fine (through no technical knowledge of our own, might we add). Let us know if you have problems today by sending an email. In the meantime, here is what you may or may not have missed yesterday afternoon:

• Dan Hawkins' youngest son wisely chooses Boise State, poorly chooses to play QB
• The importance of Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen's retirement (aka: BSU Pac-10 party!)

Other links:

Sensible Nevada preview [Double T Nation]

Kaepernick has skinny legs, the Pack doesn't play defense, yadda yadda.

Benson to the Pac-10 indeed [USU Aggies]

If Boise State follows, the WAC might end

UNLV is not in the WAC [Money Over Everything]

But the story was right about them being weak.

Hawaii versus SMU in 2009? [Honolulu Advertiser]
And yet we still can't get Boise State vs. Colorado.

Boise State basketball breakdown [Parsing the WAC]
Statesman finally sniffs out Oregon ticket story [Statesman]

Tuesday: Links with recruiting

Story of the day:

Welcome, Malcolm Johnson [OregonLive Blog]

The big recruits just keep coming.

Boise State got a verbal commitment from Barlow High (Oregon) RB Malcolm Johnson, one of the top-rated running backs in the state.

"I really wanted to commit early and then focus on my senior year," Johnson said.

We really wanted you to commit, too.

Johnson's junior season numbers were outrageously great and not at all congruent with the offers he had received.

Johnson, who led Oregon’s Class 6A in rushing with 2,514 yards last season, chose the Broncos over offers from Portland State and Air Force.

Hmm, Portland State, Air Force, or five-time WAC champion and national darling Boise State? We like that our recruits can problem solve, too.

Other links:

Wolfpack players not above Reno DUI law [Deadspin.com]

Well, at least they're getting national media attention.

Colt Brennan throwing for Redskins [Redskins.com]
We don't really have a joke for this one.

Fresno season hinges on injuries [Fresno State blog]
...and on actually beating teams on the WAC schedule.

New CB recruit a Scandrick clone? [Dave's blog]
Hello, shirtless wind sprints!

Welcome to the WAC blogosphere, Nevada

If the Internet needs more of anything, it would be WAC football blogs...and free Bronco iVision.

Thankfully, one of those wishes has been granted. Packfan7, often seen leaving hopeful Nevada oratories in OBNUG's comments section, has started a Nevada blog: Pistol Whipping the WAC. We might have gone with "Kaepernick's chicken legs" or "Can't we Ault just get along?", but the Pistol reference is a good one, too.

Here's a sample from the site's first post:

Welcome to the first edition of Pistol Whipping the WAC. My attempt at proving the impossible, that the University of Nevada is in fact a football school that has just been mascarading as an NBA factory as of late.

At least he's being honest with himself.

Welcome, PWtW. We look forward to hearing what you have to say, and we look forward to leaving childish put-downs in your comments section.

[Pistol Whipping the WAC]

Public Enemy #1: Kaepernick's case

OBNUG is in the process of deciding who should be this website's most hated villain. We'll be presenting the cases for all of the candidates over the next few weeks. Enjoy.

Colin Kaepernick

Contrary to popular belief, Colin Kaepernick does not draw our ire because of his fascinating, frustrating romp through the Boise State defense in last year’s epic Bronco-Wolfpack thriller.

He draws our ire for not doing the same to Hawaii.

Nevada had the Warriors on the ropes, taking leads in the third quarter and late into the fourth quarter. A Hawaii loss could have meant a shared WAC title for the Broncos, and all Kaepernick had to do was not be human. Instead, he turned in this pedestrian stat line:

Kaepernick 9-20, 134 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 11 carries, 23 yards

Where was the breakaway speed? Where were the elusive open-field moves? Whenever Kaepernick had a chance to make a play in the Hawaii game, he didn’t.

On the contrary, whenever he had a chance to make a play against the Broncos, he did. In fact, he made plays even when plays weren’t needing to be made. He made plays on top of plays, and his plays were plays that played the Bronco D in ways they’d never been played before. We remember; how could we forget?

Kaepernick 11-23, 243 yards, 3 TDs; 14 carries, 177 yards, 2 TDs

The Nevada sophomore seems to have a grudge against us, which is exactly why he is up for consideration for OBNUG’s Public Enemy #1. Sure, we enjoy pointing out his passing flaws and demeaning his achievements on the football field. But as far as we’re concerned, he started this feud with his impartial supernaturalness.

Nevada QB redeems himself

Colin Kaepernick restored the faith of Nevada fans with a four-TD day in the Wolfpack's second spring scrimmage, this after a performance in the first scrimmage that could best be described as "setting offensive football back several years."

The reigning WAC freshman of the year threw touchdown passes of 71, 65 and 55 yards and added a 1-yard rushing score in Saturday's scrimmage, the Wolf Pack's second of the spring.

No word on whether or not the Nevada defense attended the scrimmage.

Non-BCS Notebook [ESPN.com]

Nevada QB struggles against Nevada defense

The Nevada Wolfpack held their first scrimmage of the spring last week, and in the midst of encouraging signs comes the stat line of starting QB Colin Kaepernick:

Kaepernick 2-of-9 for 26 yards, 0 TDs, 0 Int

This will just further serve to promote the theory that Kaepernick is not a quarterback, but rather a running back who happens to take snaps.

The team was encouraged with the rushing of RB Luke Lippincott and the receiving of WR Marko Mitchell, both of whom seem to have been in mid-season form. Lippincott caused the Broncos trouble last year, and it looks like he will be a handful again.

Good signs in first spring scrimmage [Nevada athletics]

Thaddeus Brown hates winning

Thaddeus Brown backed off of his commitment to Boise State, choosing instead to sign with WAC rival Nevada.

"(Thaddeus) Brown ... may be the fastest one of all of them. These two cornerbacks (Brown and Isaiah Frey) are as good a cornerbacks as we've ever recruited at this university as freshmen," said coach Chris Ault.

The Pack convinced Brown to reconsider his verbal commitment to Boise State.

The draw of a 3-10 season must have put Nevada over the top.

Class pleases Ault [Reno Gazette-Journal]