Nevada Football: Wolf Pack Lose To Colorado State 30-20
The sequel to The Green Defection ended with Nevada on the losing end, again. 30-20 to Colorado State
Contact/Follow @BrandonGBlake & @MWCwire
Nevada Loses Once Again To Norvell, Rams 30-20
The effort and the fight back were there but in the end, there was not enough of it to win.
In the end, Nevada did not have enough offensive punch or defensive stops to defeat the Rams. And because of that the Wolf Pack fell to Colorado State 30-20 in the sequel to The Green Defection.
The losses Nevada suffered (and there are a whole lot of losses under Ken Wilson) was typical of the type of losses the Wolf Pack have suffered recently. Inconsistent struggles on offense and defense while the opposition takes advantage of those struggles. And Nevada turning the ball over twice given their limitations did not help them at all against the Rams.
The Wolf Pack offense will give you two or three good offensive drives and then long stretches of poor play. And the poor offensive drives from Nevada mostly results in the defense struggling to stop a team with a good offense. And Colorado State is a team with a good offense and they exploited the many problems in the Nevada defense.
Nevada has lost 19 of 23 games due to the toxic mixture of inconsistently bad offense and poor defensive play. And this recent loss to Colorado State is another example of this negative phenomenon.
And it does not help that Nevada’s recent loss was the second straight loss to a Colorado State team coached by former Nevada HC Jay Norvell.
In the whole “Green Defection” conflict, it is Norvell with two victories over his former employer and Ken Wilson, the coach who has been involved with Nevada for over 20 years who is winless against Norvell.
I have a very strong sense that Coach Wilson will not be around for a third “Green Defection” contest.
The action started rather badly for Nevada early on in the game. On Nevada’s third play on their first offensive possession of the game, QB AJ Bianco’s pass was intercepted by CSU’s Henry Blackburn.
The Rams offense took only four plays to cash in on the Nevada turnover. Colorado State’s running back Avery Morrow (an ex-Nevada Wolf Pack player) scored on a four yard touchdown run. That score put CSU up 7-0 early in the first quarter.
Nevada did respond well on their next offensive series. The Wolf Pack went on a 10 play scoring drive that ended when PK Brandon Talton connected on a 37 yard field goal. After that score the Rams lead was cut to 7-3.
Colorado State answered Nevada’s field goal with an 11 play 75 yard scoring drive that ended when QB Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi(15 for 30, 245 yards, two touchdowns) connected with WR Tory Horton (six receptions,78 yards, one touchdown) on an eight yard touchdown pass. That score by CSU aided by a couple of ex-Wolf Pack players (Fowler-Nicolosi and Horton) put the Rams up 14-3.
The Rams added on two field goals towards the end of the half. CSU PK Jordan Noyes connected on field goals of 30 and 42 yards to extend the Rams lead to 20-3.
The Wolf Pack offense was stuck in the mud (I can’t use the other word I want to use because this is a family website) and going nowhere. Then a QB change took place due to Bianco taking a hard hit when his pass was picked off and Brendon Lewis(18 for 24 169 yards, 14 carries 61 yards, one touchdown) had to step in at QB.
The results for the Nevada offense were still below average. However, Lewis did drive the Wolf Pack offense to a score when Talton connected on a 31 yard field goal to cut the Rams lead to 20-6.
Then at the end of the half Fowler-Nicolosi’s pass was picked off by DB Richard Toney Jr. Toney Jr. returned it 66 yards for the touchdown to cut the Rams lead to 20-13 after the first half.
In the second half, the Rams for a moment stopped the Nevada positive energy to end the first half. Colorado State scored on their first possession of the second half on Jordan Noyes 31 yard field goal. Noyes’ third field goal of the game extended the Rams lead to 23-13.
Then the Wolf Pack offense reignited their positive movement with QB Brendon Lewis at the helm. Nevada went on a 12 play, 75 yard scoring drive in the third quarter that ended with Lewis scoring on a nine yard TD run. That score by Lewis cut the Colorado State lead to 23-20 and it looked like Nevada would continue to build from that score and play well.
After Nevada’s defense forced Colorado State to punt toward the end of the third quarter, the offense got the ball back. The Wolf Pack offense went on a 17 play, 59 yard drive that bled out the remainder of the third and into the fourth quarter.
The Nevada offensive drive ended when Brandon Talton missed a 43 yard field goal that would have tied the game. That missed field goal from Talton basically took all the sails out of Nevada’s chances to tie or take over the lead.
Surprisingly, the Colorado State offense took advantage of Nevada’s missed field goal. Fowler-Nicolosi connected with WR Louis Brown IV (another ex-Nevada to ex-Nevada connection) on a 38 yard touchdown pass. That score put the Rams up for good 30-20 in the fourth quarter.
The Wolf Pack offense in the last two possessions of the game resulted in punts. The offense once again failed to consistently move the ball and put points on the board. And because of that and the defense failing to make stops at the right time, resulted in another Nevada loss.
What else can be said about the 2023 Nevada football season. The effort and fight is there, the talent is better than last year. But many aspects of the coaching at Nevada is lacking severely and that is why Nevada has dropped 19 of their last 23 contests.
If the coaching staff does not change for 2024 then be ready Wolf Pack fans for more losing. And we all know what I mean by coaching staff changes need to be made and it is not solely at offensive coordinator.
The 2023 season finale for Nevada football is next Saturday in Reno against Wyoming.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1360]