The Pack Shows its Bite at the Silver and Blue Scrimmage

Nevada Spring Football
By Randy Connors

Nevada fans watching the annual spring Silver and Blue scrimmage at Mackay Stadium had to be impressed by the Wolf Pack football team because even head coach Chris Ault, who is very demanding, was happy about his team’s performance.

“Today’s scrimmage put a great exclamation point on this spring. I thought it was a great scrimmage. There were bright signs on both sides of the ball. There was great hitting and some weaknesses we have got to work on. But I was very pleased. We went 84 plays. I thought defensively we played really well, we got around the ball. I thought the offense, once they got warmed up, started moving the ball better,” coach Ault said.

During the scrimmage the defense, ranked number three in the country against the run last year, held the country’s number two rushing offense to 91 yards and no touchdowns. The passing defense looked much improved as they knocked down three passes and nearly nabbed two for touchdowns. Ault said that the defense had performed well throughout the spring practice sessions.

The Wolf Pack offense that averaged almost 300 yards per game last season looked effective even without the WAC’s Offensive Player of the Year quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and last season’s backup, Nick Graziano, who transferred out of the Nevada program. Sophomores Luke Collis and Tyler Lantrip took turns running plays. The duo combined for 350 yards and four touchdowns passing. Kaepernick, dressed in sweats and nursing a sore ankle from the Humanitarian Bowl, relayed plays to Collis and Lantrip.

“I am really pleased with both quarterbacks. They are excellent quarterbacks. They made great strides every week and got tougher as the spring went on. I am excited about them,” Ault said.

Wolf Pack watchers have a lot to be excited about as the pistol offense continues to evolve. Offensive line coach and offensive coordinator Chris Klenakis says that the Pack worked on expanding the offense this spring.

“We made improvements. We want to be a better throwing team and I think we took strides forward this spring in doing that. We put a lot of emphasis on our play action game and we took some steps up in that direction. There are some things we liked and some things we maybe didn’t like. That’s the thing about spring, it all looks good when you draw it up on the board in winter - but until you run it full speed you don’t know,” Klenakis said.

Senior All-WAC offensive lineman Alanzo Durham is confident that the Pack will continue to be one of the nation’s top rushing and passing teams. “We are just going to keep doing the same thing we do every year and that is work harder and get better. With coach ‘K’ behind us, there is nothing we can’t achieve. All the guys are pumped. They are ready to follow-up on what we did last year,” Durham says.

The players know that hard work is necessary as the Wolf Pack looks forward to one of the most difficult schedules ever. Senior Running back Brandon Fragger scored a touchdown during the Saturday scrimmage. “We have one of the hardest spring programs and everyday we get better and better. That helps us prepare for the big games,” Fragger said.

Senior defensive tackle Chris Slack thought the spring training session went good for him and the team. “Everyone has a good attitude. We try to have some fun out here, get better and get ready for Notre Dame,” Slack said.

Safety Jonathan Amaya, one of the Pack’s fiercest tacklers and senior leaders has seen a lot of spring training sessions, yet his intensity and the focus of the spring sessions has not changed. “I think we prepared well. We worked overtime - we definitely put in a lot of overtime,” Amaya said.

After the final scrimmage the mood on the field was genuinely upbeat. The Wolf Pack football players finished a successful spring practice and were off for spring break. Coach Ault was smiling and had good words for his players. But as always, the coach held back from being completely satisfied.

“We have a ways to go. We want to compete at the championship level. That is what it is all about,” Ault said.

[Editors Note: Nevada’s 2009 non-conference games include Sept. 5 at Notre Dame, Sept. 19 at Colorado State, Sept. 26 vs. Missouri, and Oct. 10 vs. UNLV]

NEVADA FOOTBALL ANNOUNCES 17-PLAYER RECRUITING CLASS

RENO, NEV. — Head coach Chris Ault and the Nevada football team announced the signing of a 17 football recruits to National Letters of Intent.

The class features nine offensive players, seven players on defense and a kicker and it includes four players who have already enrolled at Nevada.

“This is a solid class and with it we met some immediate needs,” Ault said. “This class includes some incoming freshman who we believe will work into the depth chart this fall. We had a limited number of scholarships available so it was a very interesting and thorough process. We were able to disseminate information more effectively.”

There are five junior college transfers who should provide an immediate impact plus a sophomore transfer with three years of eligbility remaining. Two of the 11 freshman have already enrolled this semester as grayshirts while the other nine fresh-man will join the team in the fall.

“Our team is so young and much of that youth is already in the depth chart,” recruiting coordinator Jim Mastro said. “I think that shows the high level of the last few recruiting classes and I believe this class is in that category. We were able to be very selective this year with the caliber of the student-athletes we are bringing to the University of Nevada.”

Nevada went 7-6 in 2008 and made its fourth-straight bowl appearance. The Wolf Pack returns 15 starters from that team. Nevada will begin spring football on Feb. 20 with the annual spring scrimmage scheduled for March 14.