Nevada Football: Wolf Pack Defeat Aztecs To End 16 Game Losing Streak
Nevada ends a 411-day losing streak by relying on their defense to outlast San Diego State.
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The Losing Streak Is Over As Nevada Outlasts The Aztecs 6-0
411 Days
It’s been 411 days since the Nevada Wolf Pack football team won a football game.
On Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, California, the Wolf Pack finally broke through and got that elusive win. A strong defensive effort helped Nevada defeat the San Diego State Aztecs 6-0.
The defenses for Nevada and San Diego State performed spectacularly tonight. The offenses for both teams however were horrid. The place kicking for both teams was also horrid. Both kickers went a combined 2 for 5 on field goal attempts.
It was far from a beautiful, well executed game by the Wolf Pack on Saturday night. Nevada went 3 for 12 on 3rd down, QB Brendon Lewis went a paltry 9 for 22 passing for 98 yards and the Wolf Pack committed 10 penalties for 58 yards. But despite those issues, the Wolf Pack left San Diego with the win and that is what matters.
The Nevada defense were the stars of the game against San Diego State. The Wolf Pack defense held the Aztecs to 0 for 10 on 3rd down efficiency while limiting the Aztecs to a little over 200 yards of total offense. While the Nevada offense struggled once again with inconsistency, the defense shook off a half of season’s worth of poor play to have their best performance of the season.
For those who missed Nevada-San Diego State and are expecting an action filled recap well..this is not gonna be that type of recap. In a game that featured a combined 12 punts between the Wolf Pack and the Aztecs, there wasn’t a lot of offensive production. If you watched the game, you could say that both teams’ offenses were offensive and not in a good way.
In the first quarter, Nevada got on the scoreboard first when Brandon Talton connected on a 39 yard field goal. That score concluded a 13 play, 51 yard scoring drive to put Nevada up 3-0. That drive was the best looking offensive performance the Wolf Pack had the whole game.
After both teams exchanged punts, the Aztec offense was on the move as they went on an eight play, 41 yard drive to get in scoring range. The Aztecs got to the Nevada 17 yard line where the Wolf Pack defense stopped SDSU from advancing any further.
But SDSU kicker Jack Browning missed a 34 yard field goal that would have tied the game. One of the rare good offensive drives for the Aztecs in this contest resulted in zero points. The Aztecs got the ball back on offense late in the first half in Nevada territory. But the Wolf Pack defense held their ground as SDSU went for it on 4th and 2.
SDSU QB Jalen Mayden was stopped short of the first down by the Wolf Pack defense and the Aztecs turned the ball over on downs.
The Wolf Pack took advantage of the turnover on downs when they marched the ball to the SDSU 29 yard line. A pair of runs by QB Brendon Lewis and RB Sean Dollars put Nevada in field goal range. Talton connected on a 37 yard field goal at the end of the first half to put the Wolf Pack up 6-0.
In the second half, both the Nevada and San Diego State defenses still played well while both teams’ offenses were still horrid. One of the rare good offensive plays for Nevada was late in the game when Brendon Lewis connected with WR Dalevon Campbell on an incredible catch by Campbell.
But the play was called back due to an illegal motion penalty called by the refs against Campbell. That penalty call against Nevada was bad as after looking at the replay, it was hard to see where Campbell made an illegal motion move.
The Wolf Pack squandered away two chances to extend their lead in the second half. The usually reliable Brandon Talton missed two field goals both from 48 yards out that would have pushed the Nevada lead further out.
Late in the game after Talton’s second miss, the Aztecs went on their final drive of the game. The Aztecs converted on a 4th and 3 at the Wolf Pack 29 yard line when Mayden rushed for five yards to extend the Aztec drive.
During this final drive for San Diego State, the Aztec offense moved with very little urgency. I get the idea of running the clock down to give Nevada little time to score late in the game. But the Aztec offense just moved slow when they should have gone faster.
Two plays after SDSU converted on that fourth down, the Wolf Pack defense rose to the occasion and forced a turnover. Nevada linebacker Drue Watts pressured Mayden and Mayden fumbled the ball and linebacker Jonathon Maldonado recovered the ball and secured the win for Nevada.
The game was far from pretty (ok the game was bad and probably set offensive play back 50 years) but the Wolf Pack won. It has been a long time since I could type those words but it happened.
Nevada still has to figure out how to solve their offensive inconsistencies and be able to finish drives on offense. But for the first time all season, the Wolf Pack defense played the best game of the season. The Wolf Pack defense has been one of the worst units in the Mountain West this season but they showed up and played great against the Aztecs.
A unit that gave up 500 yards of offense to UNLV last week and has been a porous defense all season, shut out the Aztecs. Hats off to the Nevada defense for the best game they played this season.
Nevada returns to action next Saturday in Reno as they face the New Mexico Lobos. Can the Wolf Pack, date I say, win two games in a row?
