The Nevada Wolf Pack had not won a football game on the islands in 64 years. If Nevada plays like they did this past Saturday against the University of Hawaii Warriors, they may likely win quite a bit sooner. Before nearly 30,000 fans in Aloha Stadium, Hawaii (1-2, 0-1 in Mountain West) under new head coach Norm Chow may have more rebuilding to do as they were shellacked 69-24 by the Wolf Pack.
For the most part, Nevada (3-1, 1-0) came into this Mountain West Conference opener as a slight favorite but what they did to the Warriors wasn't slight. The Nevada Wolf Pack took apart the Hawaii Warriors defense using a great running attack - and almost made it look too easy.
Stefphon was astounding
Led by running back Stefphon Jefferson, the Wolf Pack junior did whatever he wanted, while carrying the ball 31 times for 170 yards and scoring a record seven touchdowns during just three quarters of work. Mostly they were the short yardage variety - five yards and shorter. The seven touchdowns tied an NCAA record - six were on the ground while one was a receiving touchdown. Jefferson broke several Mountain West records and now has run for over 100 yards in all four contests this year.
Nevada quarterback Cody Fajardo, who is a duel threat, threw for 220 yards on 14 of 20 passing and two touchdowns. Fajardo also had 69 yards of rushing on 13 carries - and he was not sacked.
Close for a little while
The Warriors defense showed promise the week prior versus Lamar but obviously, the Wolf Pack have one of the most powerful running games in the country so there was little to compare to with Lamar. The game itself was close … at least through the middle of the second quarter. Undoubtedly, Hawaii had no answer for stopping Nevada but up until late in the first half, the Warriors offense was able to move the ball and score.
Hawaii quarterback Sean Schroeder threw a 19 yard touchdown pass to tight end Ryan Hall early in the second quarter and then tossed a 36 yarder to Jeremiah Ostrowski that made it 20-17 Wolf Pack … until Nevada ground out two drives to take a 34-17 halftime lead. It was all over at that point.
The 69 points were the most ever given up by the Warriors since they started playing in Aloha Stadium, which dates back to 1975. The only time Hawaii was beat by a larger margin in the series with Nevada was back 64 years ago when they lost 73-12.
"It's just one game"
This was to be an early Mountain West Conference showdown but the only team that showed up was Nevada. Chow played it off the best he could when he said: "It's just one game. It's a disappointing one. Obviously, we didn't play as well as we could." (Source - Yahoo! Sports)
Next week the Wolf Pack will play another road game, this time in San Marcos, Texas, against Texas State Bobcats. This is Texas State's inaugural season in Division 1 - they are a part of the Western Athletic Conference. The Warriors are on the road to play the first of two contests while on the mainland, with the initial game being a rivalry battle next Friday night versus the BYU Cougars - making this a short week for Hawaii. No rest for the weary.
Sources - Mountain West Conference, University of Nevada, University of Hawaii
Related articles:
Mountain West Conference Week 4 Fan Preview
Hawaii Warriors Overwhelm Lamar
Can Hawaii Reach the Top 25 in 2012?
Through thick and thin, Daryle has been a huge fan of college football as well as Hawaii, visiting there as a second home for over 40 years. Go 'Bows!
