Louisiana Tech vs. Nevada Football 2009
Wolf Pack Nabs 200th Victory for Coach Ault
Colin Kaepernick passed for three touchdowns and ran for two others Friday night as the Wolf Pack defeated Louisiana Tech 37-13 in a Western Athletic Conference game at Reno, Nev.
Ault, in his 25th season at Nevada, improved to 200-94-1. He became the 54th coach in the NCAA history to reach the 200-win milestone and is one of six active Football Bowl Subdivision coaches with 200 wins. The others are Joe Paterno (Penn State), Bobby Bowden (Florida State), Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech), Jim Tressel (Ohio State) and Mack Brown (Texas).
It took Ault 295 games to earn his 200th victory – just one game more than Amos Alzono Stagg, who was the 11th fastest to reach the plateau.
Ault is known as an offensive guru, and one of his more recent innovations is the pistol offense, which has been run with great effectiveness by 6-foot-6 speedster Kaepernick.
On Friday night, the pistol -- a modified version of the shotgun -- piled up 511 yards. Kaepernick was the catalyst, completing 15 of 21 passes for 166 yards and rushing 12 times for 89 yards without a turnover.
Vai Taua added 17 rushes for 107 yards as Nevada (2-3 overall, 1-0 WAC) rolled up 345 yards on the ground. But what really made Ault's night comfortable was a strong effort by his defense.
Louisiana Tech (2-3, 1-1) was limited to 256 yards of total offense and managed little other than a 64-yard touchdown run by Daniel Porter in the third quarter.
Nevada won its second straight after an 0-3 start while coach Derek Dooley's Bulldogs had a two-game winning streak snapped.
Wolf Pack Breaks Away in 2nd Half
Brandon Wimberly gave Nevada a 23-7 lead early in the third quarter with a 24-yard TD reception to cap a nine-play, 80-yard drive. The freshman spun out of a tackle after catching a short pass, then bolted down the right sideline and dove in for the score.
Tech struck back just 19 seconds later, as Porter shook out of a pair of tackles and ran 64 yards for a touchdown to make it 23-14 with 9:56 left in the period. But Porter left the game with hamstring problems shortly after and his team didn't make it into the end zone again.
Nevada then came up with a pair of back-breaking scores. Kaepernick sprinted free for a 67-yard touchdown with 1:57 remaining in the third. And a blocked punt by Kaelin Burnett set up a 3-yard TD pass from Kaepernick to tight end Virgil Green 11 seconds into the fourth.
Nevada Overcomes Slow Start
The game started poorly for the Wolf Pack as Phillip Livas returned the opening kickoff 84 yards to the Nevada 15-yard line. Porter scored from there two plays later to give Louisiana Tech a 7-0 lead.
Nevada got going on its second possession, driving 76 yards on 14 plays and pulling even on Kaepernick's 3-yard scoring pass to tight end Talaisi Puloka Jr.
The Wolf Pack moved even more briskly on its next drive, moving 79 yards on six plays, and going up 14-7 on Kaepernick's 5-yard rush with 29 seconds to play in first quarter. The score was set up by receiver Chris Wellington's 47-yard run.
After Louisiana Tech was stopped on downs on the Nevada 42 early in the second quarter, the Wolf Pack drove 35 yards to set up a 40-yard field goal by Richard Drake. That made it 17-7 at the 10:22 mark of the period.
Wolf Pack Cuts Down on Turnovers
Nevada had been plagued by turnovers all season, committing 14 in its first four games. But the Wolf Pack had none Friday night. Louisiana Tech made one, when a Ross Jenkins pass was picked off by Isaiah Frey in the third quarter.
Jenkins completed eight of 17 passes for 129 yards, and Porter rushed 11 times for 99 yards for Tech. Chad Boyd and Adrien Cole led the defense with 10 tackles apiece.
Wimberly paced Nevada receivers with five catches for 73 yards, and Luke Lippincott rushed 12 times for 57 yards for the Pack. Jonathon Amaya recorded a team-high tackles, and Kevin Basped had 1.5 of Nevada's three sacks.
Bulldogs, Nevada Continue WAC Play Oct. 18
The Bulldogs and Wolf Pack will resume WAC play Saturday, Oct. 18. Louisiana Tech will face New Mexico State in a 3 p.m. PST game at Ruston La. Nevada, which holds a 6-4 series lead over the Bulldogs, will travel to Logan, Utah, on Oct. 18 for a Noon PST contest. vs. Utah State.
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