Tag: Nevada Wolf Pack

Report Card: Grading the Iowa Hawkeyes’ 27-0 win over the Nevada Wolf Pack

The Iowa Hawkeyes blanked Nevada, 27-0. Naturally, the best all-around performance thus far earns improved marks in this week’s report card.

Even though Mother Nature had other ideas, ultimately, nothing could stop the Iowa Hawkeyes from turning in their best start-to-finish performance of 2022. The Hawkeyes improve to 2-1 on the season and will now turn their attention to Rutgers next Saturday night from SHI Stadium at 6 p.m. on FS1.

As a result, the Nevada Wolf Pack exit Iowa City the victim of a 27-0 shutout and drop to 1-2 on the season.

“We got off the mat and got back in the fight and did a good job in unusual circumstances tonight. So to stay focused, that was good to see. Just really pleased. We showed some progress in certain areas. Happy about that. Obviously, it was good to get Nico (Ragaini) back and Keagan (Johnson) back and then Brody (Brecht) was able to get involved a little bit too at the receiver position. So gave us a few more guys to throw to.

“All in all, the team effort was good. Again, you go 60 minutes broken down over seven hours, not easy to do. Defensively, you all saw the game, those guys played a good game. They were aggressive and very tough to run against and they made the passing yardage tough as well. I thought especially in the first half. It was a little disjointed once we got back in the second half. But in the first half I thought we had a little rhythm offensively. The run game wasn’t perfect, but we did some better things so that was encouraging,” Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz said of the victory.

Before completely turning the page over to Rutgers, let’s hand out some Nevada grades. Pull up a chair. Class in session.

Tale of the tape: Final statistical breakdown of the Iowa Hawkeyes versus Nevada Wolf Pack

Iowa plays host to Nevada for the Hawkeyes’ “Gold Out” game. Here’s a look at the statistical tale of the tape between these two.

The Iowa Hawkeyes welcome in the Nevada Wolf Pack in one final nonconference contest before Big Ten play begins with a trip to Piscataway, N.J., against Rutgers.

Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz offered his thoughts on the Wolf Pack ahead of tonight’s showdown.

“Nevada is a change-up from the last two weeks. Start with the fact that it’s a night game, a little bit different. But full disclosure, it’s not like we know a lot about Nevada. We don’t have a lot in our memory bank. It’s a very different preparation in the fact that the last two opponents we’ve played have programs where they’ve had coaching staffs that have been in place and pretty easy to figure out their identity. We didn’t spend a lot of time in the out of season looking at film on Nevada just for that reason. It’s a new staff. Coach Wilson has come in there and they’ve got a new staff, a lot of new players on top of it.

“Their program has had success historically. I’m old enough to remember Chris Holt coaching there and Kaepernick playing, and last year they beat Cal in their opener and had two very close losses to two good programs there, Air Force and San Diego State, so that part kind of puts that in perspective. You tie in the fact that what happened in college football last week is a good illustration that no matter who you are, you have to get ready to play, no matter who you play.

“Shifting back to Nevada, we’re trying to figure out who they are, what they are right now. Offensively, they have good skill players, good receiver group, a couple good backs. And they picked up a couple new guys in the off season. The guys up front are doing a good job, and arguably the tallest quarterback we’ve played since I’ve been here, and he’s doing a good job. Defensively, they’re putting their scheme together. They’re an active group, athletic group, and play with good effort,” Ferentz said.

As the Hawkeyes look to polish off their nonconference slate with a big home victory, let’s take one final look at the two teams’ respective statistics.

‘It’s not an intentional derailment’: Spencer Petras remains Iowa Hawkeyes’ No. 1 quarterback

Kirk Ferentz said it’s “really tough to give an honest evaluation right now” and Spencer Petras will remain the starting quarterback.

The question that Iowa fans have been waiting on this week was answered Tuesday with a response that will leave a number of Hawkeye fans upset.

According to Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz, it’s still Spencer Petras that is the Hawkeyes’ No. 1 quarterback and he will start on Saturday against the Nevada Wolf Pack.

“He’ll start right now. That’s our plan, unless something happens in practice. We obviously have spent a lot of time looking at it, considering it, talking about it, and it’s not the same as last year, but there are some similarities I think in that I think it’s really tough to give an honest evaluation right now.

“I’ve talked to Alex about the same thing, just that no matter who’s in there right now, we’ve got some challenges, and we’ve got to work through those, try to improve in those, and then we’ll have a fairer way to assess I think. I think I speak for everybody in our program, we both have, all have faith in both players,” Ferentz said.

Currently, Petras is rated as the nation’s second-worst quarterback nationally in ESPN’s total quarterback rating among all qualified passers. The San Rafael, Calif., native has completed just 23-of-51 passes for 201 yards with zero touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.

The Iowa media followed up by asking what Petras has done to retain his starting job, or if it’s a matter of Petras simply directing traffic better for an offense that does have some challenges beyond just the play of its quarterback.

“No, I think Alex is capable of that, and I think he proved that last year. I just go back to body of work. This kind of ties into some other topics I’m sure, but we were 0-2 at the start of the ’20 season. Then, we won 12 straight with him at quarterback, so he built up some credit right there, and I thought he played really well. Not in each and every game, but he did a pretty good job and led our football team, so, you know, he’s got a good resume going. And I think the other challenge right now, we’ve had some challenges to work through, and that’s where we’re at presently.

“So, that’s the challenge right now is to piece things together where whoever’s back there can have a better chance to perform in a way that we think and believe both of them are capable of, so that’s our bigger challenge right now I think at this point. I don’t think it’s, in my assessment or our assessment, it’s really fair to just pinpoint one person right now. I think that would be taking an easy route out,” Ferentz said.

Chad Leistikow, a columnist for the Des Moines Register and Iowa City Press-Citizen, listed off Iowa’s point totals in each of Petras’ past six starts—7, 7, 3, 17, 7 and 7—and asked why that body of work was enough to justify him remaining the Hawkeyes’ top signal-caller.

Leistikow also mentioned that Iowa scored 27 and 33 points in Padilla’s first two starts last season against Minnesota and Illinois.

“That’s our assessment. Those are good points, but we’re looking at the whole thing, and that’s our assessment right now,” Ferentz said.

Once again, Ferentz was asked by reporters what the media and fans aren’t seeing right now that keeps Petras in that best position.

“Yeah, I mean, that’s like our whole football team. Probably the biggest difference between you guys and me right now, or us as a staff, is we get to see the guys day in and day out starting in January, and it’s true each and every year, so we’re a little bit more knowledgeable of our injury situation, missed time, all those kinds of things. Going back, there’s a lot of factors at play right now, you know, a lot of factors at play. I think we’ve beat that horse to death a little bit on Saturday, but whether it’s the receiver position, lack of time. And, I felt like we were in a pretty good position going back to Kids Day. I think we were on a good progress path at that point.

“And then, you know, some things happened the next couple weeks that have made it a little bit difficult. Long story short, I think we saw some improvement Saturday. There were some things that were more encouraging and some things that were really close. But close doesn’t get it, and that’s the challenge that we’re running. When we feel with this team that we have a chance to really assess things fairly, then we’ll make the judgments we feel necessary, and hopefully that’s coming soon,” Ferentz said.

As one final piece of this puzzle, Ferentz was asked if it’s safe to assume that Petras is practicing the best of his quarterbacks.

“Yeah, we think he is, but again, that’s not a knock on Alex. Alex is doing a good job, too. We’re not trying to drive this train off the road by any stretch. I mean, it’s not an intentional derailment,” Ferentz said.

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Nevada Wolf Pack Preview 2022: Season Prediction, Breakdown, Key Games, Players

Nevada College Football Preview 2022: Team breakdown, season prediction, keys to the campaign, and what you need to know

Nevada Wolf Pack Preview 2022: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Nevada season with what you need to know and keys to the season.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Nevada Wolf Pack Preview
Head Coach: Ken Wilson, 1st year at Nevada
2021 Preview: Overall: 8-5, Conference: 5-3
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Nevada Top 10 Players | Nevada Schedule

Nevada Wolf Pack Preview 2022

There are overhauls, and there’s what Nevada has to go though.

You’ll have to forgive the program if it feels a tad bit disrespected. It’s one thing to lose your head coach to some big massive job, but Jay Norvell took off for Colorado State. It might have been a decent pay day and a difference in facilities, but that’s staying in house.

Worse than that, in a transfer portal world he took a whole lot of key players with him to Fort Collins.

In comes Ken Wilson, a first time head coach who lived Nevada football as a key assistant – and working partly in the athletic director’s office – for over 20 years before spending in the Pac-12 as linebacker coach for Washington State and then Oregon.

He has a total overhaul to deal with, there are wholesale changes on both sides of the ball, and the transfer portal will make this one of the most inexperienced teams in the country – at least when it comes to returning starters.

Don’t get comfortable with too many positions here. It’s going to take all fall camp to get everything in place.

Nevada Wolf Pack Preview 2022: Offense

The offense bombed away last year with QB Carson Strong and WR Romeo Doubs forming one of the most dangerous combinations in the country. The O was sixth in the nation in passing, didn’t turn the ball over that much, and managed to do a whole lot of big things including a 52-10 win over that Colorado State team. There will still be a passing game, but …

The Wolf Pack won’t even come close to the 4,511 yards and 38 touchdowns of last year. Nate Cox was the No. 2 man last year, and the 6-9, 225-pounder gave it a run in the bowl clunker against Western Michigan, but on the way is dangerous Oklahoma State transfer Shane Illingworth, a big bomber who’ll get every shot at taking over.

Doubs, TE Cole Turner, new San Jose State Spartan Justin Lockhart, and Colorado State Rams Tory Horton and Melquan Stovall combined for 285 catches for close to 2,300 yards and 29 touchdowns. But all is not lost.

Nevada got BJ Casteel from Arizona – he came up with 90 catches in four years in Tucson – and added TE Cooper Shults from Oregon among other new transfers to fill in with a few decent veterans.

The ground attack should be used a bit more with all-around talent Toa Taua back for his fifth year. He and Devonte Lee form one of the Mountain West’s better – and more experienced – 1-2 punches.

Now the O line has to go to work. Aaron Frost is the one key holdover at one guard spot, but this is going to be all about the transfer portal working into the starting five mix.

Nevada Wolf Pack Preview 2022: Defense

The defense had a whole lot of nice parts, and now they’re almost all gone. The pass rush was great, there were plenty of takeaways, and there were times when this group did more than just hold serve. Just a few starters are back, but this is a surprisingly veteran defense full of upperclassmen.

Dom Peterson is one of the best returning players in the Mountain West. The four-year producer at tackle will play more of an end in the 4-2-5 style with decent bulk inside around 310-pound Liberty transfer William Green.

The linebacking corps needs the transfers to help the cause. There’s not a lot of returning experience and little to no size. On the plus side, this group can move, and no one head coach Ken Wilson knows how to coach up the linebackers.

The secondary got a big signing with Michigan transfer Darion Warren-Green came over. He’s got one corner job all to himself, and the safety trio of Tyson Williams, Bentlee Sanders and JoJuan Claiborne might be the team’s big early strength.

Keys To The Season | Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Nevada Top 10 Players | Nevada Schedule & Analysis

Nevada Wolf Pack: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats NEXT

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Nevada Wolf Pack Top 10 Players: College Football Preview 2022

Who are the top 10 Nevada players going into the 2022 college football season?

Nevada Wolf Pack Preview 2022: Who are the top 10 players going into the season?

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

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Nevada Wolf Pack Preview 
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
Nevada Schedule

2022 NFL draft: Carson Strong scouting report

Everything NFL draft fans need to know about Nevada quarterback Carson Strong

The Offensive Player of the Year in the Mountain West Conference, Nevada’s Carson Strong is hoping his college accolades translate well to the next level as he enters an intriguing quarterback mix in the 2022 NFL draft.

Here is everything you need to know about Wolf Pack’s gunslinger:

LSU loses assistant coach to the NFL ranks

Graduate assistant Asauni Rufus arrived this offseason from Vanderbilt, but he’ll be joining the San Francisco 49ers staff as a defensive quality control coach.

It seems Brian Kelly will have a spot to replace on his newly minted coaching staff.

According to a report from The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman, recently hired graduate assistant Asauni Rufus will join the San Francisco 49ers coaching staff as a defensive quality control coach.

Rufus has previously worked as an assistant coach at Nevada, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt, working as an analyst and in quality control.

He played college football at Nevada, where he was a standout defensive back for four years from 2015-18. In his first season, Rufus became the first freshman in Wolf Pack history to have a 100-tackle season since 1994. In four years at Nevada, Rufus compiled 340 tackles and three interceptions and was an all-conference honorable mention in three of his four years with the Wolf Pack.

 

After Rufus’s four years at Nevada, he went right into coaching in 2019 at Nevada as a special teams analyst. But after his first game, the Fighting Irish hired Rufus for the same position. In 2021, Rufus joined Vanderbilt’s staff as a quality control assistant before moving to LSU during the offseason.

Rufus will join a 49ers team that finished one win short of the Super Bowl last season. He will help one of the top defenses in the league, which has a lot of key players returning next season. The young, rising coach will have an opportunity to make a name for himself in the NFL ranks.

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Nevada QB Carson Strong: Senior Bowl meeting with Titans went really well

Carson Strong says he met with the Titans while down at the Senior Bowl in Mobile.

At the very least, the Tennessee Titans are doing their due diligence at the quarterback position ahead of the 2022 NFL draft.

One signal-caller we know the Titans have met with is Nevada quarterback, Carson Strong, who confirmed as much to The Draft Network’s Crissy Froyd.

In fact, Strong says his meeting with Tennessee was among the better ones he had during his time down in Mobile, Alabama, while preparing for the 2022 Senior Bowl.

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound quarterback had his best collegiate season in 2021, finishing with 4,186 passing yards, 36 touchdowns to eight interceptions, and a completion rate of 70.2 percent.

Here’s a bit more on Strong, courtesy of  Drae Harris of The Draft Network, who gave the Wolf Pack signal-caller a second-round grade.

“Carson Strong is 4th year junior who aligns at QB mostly from the gun. He is an average athlete with regard to mobility outside of the pocket. In the run game, he isn’t much of a threat to the defense as a runner and clearly would rather to deliver the ball from the pocket. As a result, running many of the zone-read concepts or QB designed runs would be problematic with him. The passing game is where he thrives. He’s more of a traditional pocket passer with very good arm strength and generally throws with a good base. Has a lot of pre-snap responsibilities in terms of protection and appears to handle it well. When throwing from a clean pocket his accuracy is good, but he definitely has some throws where he could have better ball placement. He has the mental processing to make quick decisions. Because he lacks good escapability, if his primary is covered, he will force the ball in—often for an ill-advised throw. As a result, he doesn’t always go through a full progression to hit his check down. 

“Nevada’s Air Raid-based offense provides many opportunities for him to display his downfield accuracy. However, the offense also can be attributed to his moments of lazy footwork and throwing with an inconsistent base. He has a good internal timer and he innately feels pressure on the backside. He keeps his eyes downfield and can throw receivers open on deep balls. He can look the safety off, throw the seams to the TE, and easily gets the ball out of his hands from the gun. One of his best assets is his ability to take care of the football. Nevada’s offense calls for big shots down the field, and he has been judicious in this regard. Some of his turnovers in the exposures I’ve graded were situations where his receivers let him down. Although the league seems to be trending away from this type of QB, this is someone who would thrive with an effective running game, good protection, and a sure-handed tight end.”

While Titans general manager Jon Robinson did back embattled quarterback Ryan Tannehill after his playoff debacle, he also noted that the team would be taking a look at all positions in April’s draft.

Some fans want a more immediate change under center, but that might not be possible because of how difficult it’ll be to unload Tannehill’s contract.

The most we expect to see happen at the position this offseason is the Titans drafting a quarterback for the future in the hopes that he can take the reins from Tannehill sooner rather than later.

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Oklahoma Sooners Kicker Gabe Brkic named a finalist for Lou Groza award

Oklahoma Kicker Gabe Brkic was named as a semifinalist for the Lou Groza award for the third consecutive year.

The most interesting man in the Oklahoma football program is getting some national accolade. No, we’re not talking about Caleb Williams. We’re talking about the Sooners’ mustache man, kicker Gabe Brkic.

Today, Brkic was announced as a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award honoring the nation’s best kickers.

This marks Brkic’s third year in a row as a semifinalist. Only two others kickers hold the distinction of having been nominated as semifinalists three times; Wake Forest’s Nick Sciba and Nevada’s Brandon Talton.

Brkic has been excellent on the season making 17 of 20 field goals and has been perfect on his extra points this season. He is kicking at an 80 percent clip on field goals 40 yards or longer while also 5 of 6 from field goals on longer than 50 yards. His 56-yarders against Tulane and Western Carolina remain as the longest kicks of the season by any kicker in the NCAA.

He’s been clutch this season and in season’s past making game-winners like his winner against the West Virginia Mountaineers after Spencer Rattler and a struggling offense orchestrated a game-winning drive to get in Brkic’s range.

The finalists for the award will be announced on November 23rd effectively giving Brkic the rest of the Sooners regular season to make his case as one of the three finalists.  With the way the Sooner offense has been moving the ball of late, it stands to reason there will be many more opportunities for Brkic to showcase his talents.

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.

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The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman connect 2 coaches with OU ties to Washington State vacancy

The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman connect 2 coaches with OU ties to the Washington State head coaching vacancy.

There’s been quite a shakeup in the coaching landscape in college football over the last week. First was the news that LSU and Ed Orgeron would part ways following a poor start for the Tigers and some controversial happenings inside the program. Then yesterday, Washington State made a move to fire head coach Nick Rolovich and several assistants after they refused to take the COVID-19 vaccination, which had been mandated for all state employees in Washington.

All of a sudden, there are two head coaching jobs available in the Power Five.

As media members begin to speculate about who could fill these openings, Oklahoma assistants will inevitably be in the crosshairs. Bruce Feldman of The Athletic listed two coaches to fill Washington State’s job. That is former co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Jay Norvell and current defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.

One of the coaches Washington State might target is Norvell. The 58-year-old has done very well at one of the tougher jobs in the Mountain West. He’s also spent some time in the Pac-12 at Arizona State and UCLA. He knows the terrain and is a proven leader. His program is 12-3 over the past two years and he’s 27-14 the past four years. – Feldman

Norvell has been the head coach at Nevada since 2017 and has amassed a 30-23 record for Wolf Pack. After starting his tenure with Nevada 3-9 in 2017, Norvell went 8-5 in 2018, and he and the Wolf Pack have earned bowl bids each of the last four seasons. In the COVID shortened 2020, Norvell and Nevada went 7-2, finishing second in the Mountain West Conference and winning the Idaho Potato Bowl.

Norvell’s offense has helped quarterback Carson Strong gain consideration as one of the top quarterback prospects in the 2022 NFL draft. Nevada is currently 26th in the nation in scoring at 36.3 points per game, and they hold wins over California and Boise State.

That would be a solid direction for Washington State to go if they didn’t pursue a coach they are familiar with. Alex Grinch. Though Feldman’s skeptical that Grinch would leave the Sooners for a job like Washington State. However, it’s a name that connects to the Cougars, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him get an interview for the gig.

Grinch spent three seasons at Washington State as the defensive coordinator under then-head coach Mike Leach.

In his best year as defensive coordinator under Leach, the Cougars allowed just 24 points per game in 2017. An up and down season saw Washington State shut out Montana State and Colorado but allowed 40 or more points four times.

Grinch helped improve Ohio State’s defense before moving on to Oklahoma after the transition from Urban Meyer to Ryan Day. Before Grinch arrived in Norman, the Oklahoma Sooners were allowing 33.2 points per game under a combination of Mike Stoops and Ruffin McNeil. Oklahoma has improved each year under Grinch and is allowing just 24.85 points per game in 2021.

As time goes on, it becomes more and more likely that head coaching positions will begin to target Alex Grinch. He’s having success on the field despite injuries to key starters on defense, and he’s having success in recruiting as the Sooners continue to add five and four-star recruits in the 2022 recruiting cycle.

The time will come when Alex Grinch leaves for a head coaching opportunity. It’s inevitable. You can’t keep good coordinators at the coordinator level forever. However, he doesn’t have to be in any rush. Grinch can take his time and wait for the job that he wants.