Ags suffer fourth shutout of the season
USU Head Coach Brent Guy said going into Saturday’s game he thought Nevada was a veteran team peaking at the right time. Nevada sure looked like they fit that description Saturday as they beat the Aggies 42-0, shutting the Ags out for the fourth time this season.
The Wolf Pack’s Dwayne Sanders took Brian Shields’ opening kickoff back 82 yards to put the home team in great position from the very beginning. The ball was moved down half the distance to the goal line thanks to an illegal blocking penalty on USU on the return, starting Nevada on the seven yard line.
Three plays later, Nevada running back Robert Hubbard was celebrating in the end zone after catching a four-yard pass from Jeff Rowe.
On USU’s next drive things were looking up. A pass interference call on Nevada’s Paul Pratt, a 25-yard run by Antraun McDaniel, and a 30-yard pass from Riley Nelson to Kevin Robinson helped USU move the ball down to the Nevada five-yard line. Jimmy Bohm toted it down to the one, but that would be as close as USU would get to scoring a touchdown. The Pack’s tough 3-4 defense held Bohm for no gain, knocked down a pass intended for Will Fausel and stuffed Marcus Cross on fourth down.
“When we got down inside the five it was a 7-0 game and we still had a chance. It’s a one score game at that point,” Guy said. “All we have to do is score one time at that point.”
Nelson said the goal-line stand by Nevada was crucial. “To allow any home team a stop on the goal line like that will definitely give them serious momentum. We felt like we were still in it at the half, but we just couldn’t do anything in the second half. We have no one else to blame but ourselves,” he said.
Hubbard continued to struggle with injuries and was replaced by Luke Lippincott, but it hardly slowed Nevada’s offense as Lippincott scored to make it 14-0 in the second quarter. Lippincott led the Pack in rushing with 146 yards on 25 carries.
Nevada Head Coach Chris Ault said he was pleased his defense was able to get the shutout.
“Our defense continued to give consistent play and played good hard-nosed football,” Ault said. “I am very pleased with the defense and our defensive coaches are doing a great job of making sure that we can execute our game plan.”
The weather was miserable and Nelson said it gave him some problems but refused to make excuses.
“It was pretty tough and I was having some trouble gripping the ball at times,” Nelson said. “When you’re in that situation you have to rise up and overcome and we didn’t do that. We missed on some key situations.”
The third quarter was where things really went south for the Aggies. Nevada opened the floodgates and put 21 points on the board, putting the game completely out of reach. By the fourth quarter the USU coaching staff decided to sit Nelson down and give Leon Jackson III some time running the offense.
“I don’t think we made first down in the whole third quarter,” Guy said. “We gave up all the points in the third quarter, and we didn’t give ourselves a chance at all to get into the fourth quarter.”
Lippincott scored again in the third and Rowe showed off his legs, scoring on two touchdown runs. The crowning touch for Nevada was Mike Kanellis’ one-yard touchdown plunge in the fourth quarter, along with keeping USU off the scoreboard all game.
The WAC leader in sacks, Nevada’s JJ Milan, said, “It felt like we were getting a lot of pressure on the run and the pass. We did a good job executing what we were supposed to do. We raised havoc back there, and that’s what we plan on doing.”
Milan also said that while USU was able to move the ball for stretches of the game, they couldn’t do so with any consistency.
Nelson was complimentary of the Wolf Pack, saying, “Those guys were just solid. With how well they called their assignments and the effort they put out, they are one of the best we’ve played.”
Nevada rushed for 202 yards on the USU defense, which was starting safety Terrence Washington at linebacker in place of Devon Hall. Rowe threw the ball for 140 yards and one touchdown, but the senior quarterback gave his defense all the credit. “All game, it’s 3-and-out, 3-and-out. It’s awesome for us,” Rowe said. “It’s the first time here in a long time when I’ve been comfortable with a 14-0 lead. They’re awesome. They’re playing great, getting us the ball, getting turnovers. You can’t ask for anything else.”
For USU, Nelson had probably the toughest outing of his career to this point, completing six out of 15 passes for 45 yards and getting picked off twice. The swirling Reno, Nevada winds also made trouble for Jackson III, who threw one interception in the fourth quarter.
Antraun McDaniel ran for 78 yards to lead the Ags on the ground, while the normally dangerous Nelson ran for negative two net yards. Kevin Robinson led USU with three catches for 40 yards.
Defensively, Carl Singleton had two sacks and Darby Golden had one. Antonio Taylor led USU in tackles with eight total. Paul Igboeli and Caleb Taylor both had seven solo tackles.
Guy said the penalties called on his football team were disappointing.
“We started out with four consecutive penalties and that’s the most disappointing thing,” Guy said. “We didn’t have problems with penalties until last week.”
-graham@cc.usu.edu