The Nevada football team beat San Diego State, 6-0, on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium to improve to 1-6 overall and 1-2 in Mountain West play. Here is a Monday review of the game and look-ahead to Nevada’s next opponent, New Mexico.
Just the facts
After winning the coin toss for the seventh straight time this season, Nevada deferred and got a quick three-and-out. The Wolf Pack’s first possession covered 51 yards over 13 plays with Brandon Talton booting a 39-yard field goal. Little did anybody know at the time, that was all the scoring Nevada needed. The Wolf Pack added a 37-yard field goal on its final possession of the first half before both teams were held scoreless after intermission. SDSU’s Jack Browning missed a first-half field goal and Talton missed two 48-yarders in the second half to keep alive the Aztecs’ hopes. On its final possession of the game, SDSU started on its own 30-yard line and drove to the Nevada 23 when QB Jalen Mayden fumbled on 2-and-9 with 1 minute, 12 seconds remaining. Nevada’s Jonathan Maldonado recovered the fumble to seal the Wolf Pack’s first win in 413 days.
Murray’s take
ESPN summed up the game thusly: “Honestly, this game was … not fun. But fielding a football team is arduous, and everyone deserves to win at least one game a year.” Agreed. Personally, I’ve never seen a Wolf Pack game like this. And the history backs me up. This marked the first Nevada football game where both teams scored in single digits since Oct. 24, 1983, a 9-7 loss to Stephen F. Austin. This marked the lowest-scoring Nevada football game since Oct. 26, 1963, a 3-0 loss to Humboldt State. And this marked the fewest points Nevada football scored in a win since a 3-0 win over Santa Ana Air Base on Oct. 24, 1942. Marion Motley was on that Nevada team. So, yes, it’s been a while since we saw a game like this. The teams combined to go 3-of-22 on third down; complete only 15-of-36 passes; average 3.9 yards per play; miss 3-of-5 field goals; and — and this is unofficial — be whistled for one billion false-start penalties. But a win is a win! And Nevada had not had one of those for a long time, so we’re not going to pooh-pooh the victory here.
Overall MVP
LB Drue Watts — We should just give this honor to the entire defense, but if we have to pick one person, let’s go with Watts, who had five tackles and a pass defended. He also made the game’s biggest play. With less than 90 seconds remaining, Watts blitzed and blew up SDSU running back Lucky Sutton (who is 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds), forcing Mayden to scramble. While being pressured by Dion Washington, Mayden hit the hip of his right guard, popping the ball loose and into the hands of Maldonado to secure Nevada’s victory. That play started with Watts pulverizing Sutton.
Offensive MVP
K Brandon Talton — The Wolf Pack kicker accounted for all six of Nevada’s points. While he did not have a perfect day, missing a pair of crucial second-half field goals that could have put the game away, he did set the Wolf Pack’s all-time made field goals record, surpassing Marty Zendejas. Talton has 74 made field goals in 95 attempts (77.9 percent). Zendejas was 72-of-90 (80 percent).
Defensive MVP
DB Emany Johnson — Largely a reserve during his first five seasons at Nevada, Johnson has emerged as a key figure for the Wolf Pack this year. Playing deep safety, Johnson had a game-high nine tackles, marking the fifth straight game Johnson has led Nevada in tackles. This season, Johnson has 54 tackles, including two for loss, with two interceptions and a forced fumble. He’s been Nevada’s top defensive player, an unexpected surprise for the sixth-year senior.
Fun stat
0 — Nevada allowed zero points for the first time since shutting out UNLV in 2012. It was the Wolf Pack’s first road shutout since beating Louisiana Tech in 2006. Nevada held SDSU to 204 yards, including just 47 passing, and 0-of-10 on third down. SDSU started three series in Wolf Pack territory — from the Wolf Pack 49, 49 and 44 — in addition to starting one on its own 48 and another time on its own 42. That’s five series out of 10 where the Aztecs started 58 yards or closer to the end zone. And it mustered just one field-goal attempt all game despite that great field position. It was a huge effort from the Nevada offense, which had issues entering the game allowing big plays but didn’t let SDSU get off a play that covered more than 19 yards. Only three of SDSU’s 10 series went longer than 18 yards.
Up next
New Mexico — With its win, Nevada snapped a 10-game losing streak in Mountain West games. On the same day, New Mexico beat Hawaii, 42-21, to snap a 14-game skid in league play. The Wolf Pack and Lobos both went winless in MW action last year before picking up their first conference wins over the weekend. The Lobos are 3-4 overall with wins over Hawaii, UMass and Tennessee Tech. The losses have come to Texas A&M, New Mexico State, Wyoming and San Jose State. The Lobos have long struggled on offense but have improve there this season, averaging 29.9 points per game, up from last year’s 13.1 ppg. However, New Mexico’s defense has backslid from allowing 26 ppg last year up to 32.6 this year. The Lobos are a more dangerous team that previous seasons and enter Mackay Stadium a 1.5-point underdog. Nevada leads the all-time series, 5-3-1, with the last game between the two being a 27-20 Nevada win at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium in 2020. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.
Sports columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.
