Pack shows first signs of growth, but Spartans pick up the win

Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack’s 35-28 loss to the San Jose State Spartans on Saturday at San Jose, Calif.:

QUARTERBACK: B

Watching Shane Illingworth play quarterback on Saturday was like watching a bull rider try to stay atop a bull for eight seconds without a rope. Illingworth, making his first start in 42 days, turned in a heroic, gutsy performance at San Jose. He was sacked nine times but still stood tall and defiantly in the pocket long enough to complete 18-of-29 passes for 223 yards and a touchdown. His 53-yard strike down the middle to B.J. Casteel in the third quarter is the longest Pack touchdown pass since Carson Strong found Romeo Doubs from 66 yards out late last season at Colorado State. Illingworth didn’t make anyone forget Strong on Saturday, but he did give the position hope and promise at Nevada for the first time this year. He had completions of 26 yards to Casteel and 20 to Dalevon Campbell on consecutive plays in the third quarter before the roof, and the Wolf Pack offensive line, caved in. After those completions on consecutive plays late in the third quarter, the offensive line collapsed like a carport after a 35-inch snowstorm in the Sierra. Illingworth was sacked six times over the final eight times he tried to throw. At one point he was sacked three times on three consecutive pass plays. Someone should have slapped a PG-13 rating on that Pack movie in the fourth quarter. Illingworth put 28 points on the board despite having just two receivers to throw to (Campbell, Casteel) and one running back to give the ball (he handed off 24 times, 23 to Toa Taua). So there was no sleight of hand to the Pack offense on Saturday. This was all about Illingworth’s talent and courage.

RUNNING BACKS: B 

Toa Taua also battled the San Jose State defense toe-to-toe. The fifth-year senior ran the ball 23 times for 75 yards and three touchdowns. The only other time he’s scored three touchdowns in his career was the fourth game of his freshman year in 2018 at Toledo. Taua has certainly had more dynamic games in his long career. He had 14 carries (and two catches), after all, of three or fewer yards. Over the last three games he has gained three or fewer yards on 35 of his 47 carries. Almost half of Taua’s 75 yards (36) against San Jose State came on just two carries. His other 22 carries netted 39 yards. But all of Taua’s touchdowns were crucial and kept the Pack from settling for field goals. His 1-yard score opened the scoring in the first quarter, his 23-yard touchdown up the middle on a draw gave the Pack a 14-7 lead in the second quarter and his 5-yard score gave the Pack a 28-21 lead in the fourth quarter.

RECEIVERS: B

B.J. Casteel became the first Pack receiver to go over 100 yards in a game this year with seven catches for 149 yards and an eye-opening 53-yard touchdown. Dalevon Campbell added eight catches for 79 yards. Illingworth targeted them 18 times combined and completed 15. Illingworth’s three other completions all failed to gain a yard (Spencer Curtis’ lone catch lost two yards while Taua lost three yards on one catch and merely got back to the line of scrimmage on his other catch). Casteel’s 53-yard touchdown was more yards than he had his previous two games (49) combined on eight catches. Campbell’s eight catches for 79 yards are his career highs for his four-year (three at Illinois) career. Casteel, who played 24 games at Arizona from 2017-21, had just one 100-yard game (105 against USC in 2019) in his career before Saturday night. It also must be noted that Casteel and Campbell outplayed former Pack receivers Elijah Cooks and Justin Lockhart on Saturday. Cooks and Lockhart combined for 14 catches, 170 yards and no touchdowns while Casteel and Campbell had 15-228-1.

OFFENSIVE LINE: D
The Wolf Pack gave up nine sacks. It is the most sacks allowed by the Pack since David Neill was dumped 15 times against TCU in 2000. Almost all of the sacks were by two defensive linemen. Cade Hall had four and Viliami Fehoko had three. Hall and Fehoko have been two of the best defensive players in the Mountain West for a number of years. Hall’s father, Rhett, had 18.5 sacks over eight seasons in the NFL in the 1990s. So the Pack knew going in where the pressure was coming from and still couldn’t stop it. The Wolf Pack running game, officially, gained just 70 yards on 38 carries. But those numbers (1.8 a carry) were made ugly because of the 39 lost yards on the nine sacks. Grant Starck was whistled for a hold and Isaiah World was called for a personal foul. Take away the sacks and the Pack picked up 106 yards on 29 carries, a respectable average gain of 3.7 yards. But we just can’t get those nine sacks out of our head.

DEFENSIVE LINE: B

Dom Peterson was a force with four tackles and a sack. He also forced and recovered a fumble and had 2.5 tackles for loss. Most of Peterson’s impact plays came on one play early in the first quarter when he sacked San Jose State quarterback Chevan Cordeiro for a 9-yard loss and forced and recovered a fumble. Peterson, though, also teamed with defensive back Zach Lewis to stop Cordeiro for a 2-yard loss in the fourth quarter on what was considered a run and not a sack. The Pack defensive front did a nice job of clogging up the running lanes much of the night as San Jose State finished with just 25 yards on 29 carries (36 yards of losses came on five sacks and two San Jose State kneel-downs at the end of the half and the game). James Hansen had two tackles, one for a loss. And William Green, a transfer from Liberty, had his first two sacks of the season.

LINEBACKERS: B

Linebacker Drue Watts, a freshman, is clearly one of the top three Pack defensive players this year, along with Peterson and defensive back Bentlee Sanders. The 6-foot, 215-pound Watts, who sat out last season at Nevada, had six tackles and a sack. He now has three sacks on the year and one tackle for a loss in each of the last eight games. Naki Mateialona also had six tackles while Marcel Walker had his first sack of the year. Walker, a sophomore transfer from Southern Connecticut State, has been one of the most productive newcomers on the defense this year with 19 tackles and five tackles for a loss.

SECONDARY: D

The Wolf Pack secondary endured one of its most frustrating games of the year. Cordeiro completed 33-of-45 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. It was the second-most passing yards allowed by the Pack this year behind the 435 by Incarnate Word’s Lindsey Scott. The 33 completions are also the second-most behind the 34 by Texas State’s Layne Hatcher. The Pack was called for six pass interference penalties on Saturday, though one was declined. Isaiah Essissima was called for four of them (all accepted) and each time he was trying to cover former Pack receiver Elijah Cooks. Jaden Dedman was also flagged twice (one accepted). Bentlee Sanders, once again, played well with 10 tackles, one for a loss. He also dropped running back Kairee Robinson after a catch of just two yards. Tyriq Mack had seven tackles, one for a loss. Essissima and Dedman, when they weren’t getting called for pass interference, were also busy making five tackles each.

SPECIAL TEAMS: D

Punter Harry Webster continues to struggle. The freshman from Australia averaged just 33.2 yards on six punts. Webster has punted the ball 16 times over the Pack’s last three games and has averaged 31.6 yards a punt. It was Webster’s 25-yard punt to the Nevada 42 that set up San Jose State’s game-winning drive. He also had a 36-yarder to San Jose’s 28-yard line, a 32-yarder to the Spartans’ 30 and a 35-yarder to San Jose’s 49. Matthew Killam made all four of his extra points and didn’t have a field goal attempt, though he did miss a 46-yarder that was wiped out because of a San Jose State penalty.

COACHING: B +

The Pack was a three-touchdown underdog in this game and probably should have won. But the Wolf Pack players and coaches still have no idea how to win games, even when they get a 21-7 lead in the third quarter and 28-21 in the fourth quarter like on Saturday. But forget about the results. Results are for winning teams and, well, that isn’t the 2022 Wolf Pack. Wilson’s team battled one of the best defensive teams in the conference and scored four touchdowns. Imagine that. The Pack dominated the first half (especially on defense) and should have had a bigger lead than the 14-7 advantage they took into halftime. The switch to Illingworth a week ago has clearly breathed new life into the offense and the team as a whole. And don’t overlook the fact he’s done it against two of the better defenses in the Mountain West (San Diego State and San Jose State). We’re also not overlooking the fact that the Pack was called for a season-high 11 penalties. Penalties are always a coaching concern. But many of the penalties were also a sign of a team staying aggressive and not quitting on a losing season. That is a sign of a coaching staff keeping their team motivated.

OVERALL: B +

This was, without a question, the best game overall of this Wolf Pack season. And it’s really not even close. Wins over Texas State and New Mexico State were meaningless. And the next six games were a Halloween fright fest, each for its own haunting reasons. But last Saturday was a Nevada Day celebration. Well, for the first 32 minutes, that is. The last 28 minutes saw the Pack get outscored 28-7, reminding us all that there is still work to be done. But now that this season will officially end at the end of November it’s time to focus on the first 32 minutes on Saturday. Those first 32 minutes were good enough to beat most teams in the Mountain West. It was the best 32-minute stretch of the season (did we mention that the wins over Texas State and New Mexico State were meaningless?). Those first 32 minutes were the first sign of real growth by the football program all year.