UNR packs a punch
The search for win No. 1 will continue Saturday for the USU football team, but things won’t be any easier.
The Aggies will again have their collective hands full. The Nevada Wolf Pack (2-4, 0-2 in Western Athletic Conference action) comes to Logan for a 1:05 p.m. match-up at Romney Stadium.
Don’t be fooled by the Pack’s record. After all, last Sunday it took Boise State four overtimes on its home turf to beat the Pack, 69-67. That game was good enough to be named an Instant Classic by ESPN Classic.
“That was an impressive display,” Aggie Head Coach Brent Guy said. “To me, it was a shame that anybody had to lose that game, the way it came down to it there in the end the way both teams were playing. It was very impressive by both the running back and the quarterback, and the entire Nevada offense with what they did in that stadium last night.”
A key for the Aggie defense will be containing another potent offense. The Pack collected 639 yards of total offense (396 rushing, 243 passing). Nevada is eighth in the nation in yards per game (529.7), 12th in rushing yards (222.8), 14th in points scored (38) and 17th in passing yards (306.8).
“We’re obviously very impressed with the new quarterback (Colin Kaepernick),” Guy said. “(Nevada) showed a completely different aspect than we had seen in the Fresno game where he came in and primarily threw the football and didn’t run the ball a lot like they did last night (against Boise State).”
Offensively, the Aggies will have the services of redshirt-freshman Curtis Marsh for the first time since Sept. 15 at Oklahoma.
POSSIBLE MOMENTUM LOSS WITH BYE?
The Aggies had their best offensive scoring performance since 2003 in the 52-37 loss at Hawaii.
All things considered, Guy isn’t worried.
“We played better, but I still think we needed a break,” Guy said. “Just because we had played some tough games that we had a chance to win, but didn’t win … We won’t lose momentum from that, and now we get Curtis Marsh back so we can put both him and Derrvin Speight in the backfield at the same time with Leon (Jackson), which I think creates a triple-threat for any three of those to run and create the play-pass off of that, or screens off of that with those guys or our wide receivers.”
WAC-ky DEFENSE
Offense has certainly been the strong point of the WAC this season. This past weekend was full of proof of that: Aside from the Instant Classic on Sunday night, Hawaii barely got away from San Jose State with a 42-35 victory in overtime, and Fresno State beat Idaho, 37-24. Fresno won in Reno Oct. 6, 49-41. The Pack beat Nicholls State, 52-17, on Sept. 15. Hawaii is averaging just over 52 points per game, while giving up 23.
So, is the defense that bad, or is the offense that good?
“I don’t think they’ve lost their defense as much as we have a lot of offensive skill in this league,” Guy said. “I just think that sometimes when you get in those games, it just goes back and forth and just starts happening like that where its big play after big play.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen an overtime played like that, where they score on three consecutive plays and four times in five plays.”
-samuel.hislop@aggiemail.usu.edu