Nevada Football: Wolf Pack Rained On In Shut Out Loss To Iowa
Nevada’s trip to Iowa City was rough and stormy as Iowa lit up the Wolf Pack 27-0 in a lightning delayed contest.
Contact/Follow @BrandonGBlake & @MWCwire
Poor Weather And Poor Play Doomed Nevada in 27-0 Loss to Iowa
In a game that had more lightning delays than points for Nevada, the Wolf Pack were shutout by the Iowa Hawkeyes 27-0. Nevada’s offense was like the weather in Iowa City on Saturday night, poor and very rough.
The Wolf Pack offense only gained 151 yards of offense and quarterback Shane Illingworth (who played the full game) only threw for 82 yards and threw an interception. Illingworth’s QBR rating was a paltry 16.3 and that my friends is very, very bad.
Credit to Iowa’s defense because they are a great unit but Nevada’s offensive performance was not good. When the game was played and not delayed by weather, Nevada’s offense did not do much to try to challenge Iowa’s defense. Not a lot of unique play-calling was done by offensive coordinator Derek Sage to rattle the Hawkeye defense out of their game plan. Except for when QB Nate Cox came in for a two yard QB run, not a lot of diverse play-calling was made by Sage and the Nevada offense.
And the defense for Nevada was not any better against Iowa on Saturday night. The Wolf Pack had no answer for Iowa running back Kaleb Johnson. Johnson ran for 103 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries. The Wolf Pack defense also had no answer to stop Iowa QB Spencer Petras. Petras was solid against Nevada’s defense as he completed 14 of 26 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown.
Nevada played another bad game on both sides of the ball against Iowa on Saturday and it wasn’t pretty, like the weather in Iowa City. The game action got started in the first quarter when Iowa got on the board first when running back Kaleb Johnson scored on a 40-yard touchdown run. That score put the Hawkeyes up 7-0 early in the game.
On Nevada’s next possession, QB Shane Illingworth’s pass was intercepted and Iowa got the ball back. On the Hawkeye’s next possession, Iowa QB Spencer Petras connected with wide receiver Arland Bruce IV for a 21-yard touchdown pass to make the score 14-0 Iowa.In the second quarter, Iowa tacked on a field goal when Drew Stevens connected on a 43-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17-0.
The score would be 17-0 Iowa going into halftime. And 17-0 would be the score when during the third quarter, the game was called for a lightning delay. The delay lasted for more than an hour and then the game resumed with the Wolf Pack with possession of the ball.
The Wolf Pack ran nine plays before another lightning delay stopped play. That lightning delay lasted for another hour when play resumed. Nevada still had the ball when Brandon Talton attempted a 57-yard field goal that was no good. On Iowa’s next possession, the Hawkeyes scored again when kicker Drew Stevens connected on a 33-yard field goal to put Iowa up 20-0.
The Hawkeyes added a final touchdown when Kaleb Johnson scored on a 55-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. That touchdown put Iowa up 27-0 and that would be the final score in a game for Nevada that was like the weather in Iowa City, miserable.
The Wolf Pack have looked bad these past two games and must get themselves together quickly as conference play begins this week. Also, Nevada head coach Ken Wilson must decide on a quarterback very soon. Maybe Wilson gives Illingworth another shot at starting QB because going up against Iowa is hard no matter the quarterback.
But then again, it has been four games and Wilson cannot continue the quarterback rotation all season. He must decide eventually on who will be the full time starting quarterback for Nevada.
Nevada and their 2-2 record will have a short week as their next game is Friday against Air Force.
