Nevada prepares for bowl

There is a little more hustle and bustle than normal around Nevada's athletic department these days.

That's because a lot of preparations are going toward Nevada's appearance in the MPC Computers Bowl on Dec. 31 in Boise.

For those of you who think that it's just showing up and playing, think again. There are tickets to be sold and travel arrangements to be made. And, that's just the start of things.

Besides Chris Ault and the rest of the Nevada football team, probably the two busiest people in the athletic department are Craig Hopkins, director of football operations, and Keith Hackett, associate athletic director.

Hackett is Nevada's point person for the bowl game, and he and Hopkins just got back from Boise where they scouted the team hotel and the facilities at the stadium.

"We look at the hotel and where events are going to be held," Hackett said. "We look at a lot of little things and try to have everything in order by the time the team arrives on the 27th.

"Craig and I review and see what things need to be attended to; worked on and who is responsible for what. We'll talk with Kurt Esser, assistant athletic director/marketing, when we get back and divide up the duties."

Hopkins is ultimately responsible for anything involving travel and meals. The hotel the team is staying in was decided by the MPC Computers Bowl committee.

Hackett said the WAC gives a participating team $400,000 to cover expenses. The conference also charters a 150-seat plane for the participating school.

"Last year we did a great job managing our expenses," Hackett said. "Given the fact that Hawai'i is so expensive, we were still able to save. We were able to make up for what we didn't make in football ticket sales during the regular season."

Hackett pointed out that this is a little different trip than normal, and a more costly one.

"This is the one trip where the coaches bring their wives, and all the players, including any scout team players that coach Ault wants to bring, are included," Hackett said. "We ended up with 195 people on our list, so we had to charter a 215-seat plane and we have to pay the difference."

The cost to charter a 215-seat plane is $80,000, which means that Nevada's athletic department had to come up with an extra $15,000 for the extra 58 seats.

And, there's even more expense.

For instance, the cheerleaders are being flown commercially to the game and won't arrive until Dec. 29. It's not known whether every member of the squad goes to the bowl game, given the fact that Nevada has a basketball game in Seattle on Dec. 30.

Hackett said that the band has been given some funds for travel, but was going to have to fund-raise the rest. Undoubtedly, the band would probably go by bus to Boise.

Hackett also said that the school is bringing its own busses, which should help with the transportation around town for the Nevada party.

On the football side of things, it's been just as busy.

Practice resumed Friday afternoon. The players have been doing some conditioning and weightlifting while the coaches have been out recruiting much of the time.

Ault told the media that the staff has broken down all 12 of Miami's games and that a scouting report has been put together.

"They have great athletes," Ault aid. "We have to find a way go work against their speed. Their defense was fifth in the nation. Their offense struggled a bit."

Ault opened practice with players who had not played much this year. The veterans came out 30 minutes later. Ault said the first three practices would be focused more on Nevada than anything else.

"All we're worried about right now is where we are," Ault said.

Finals and scouting will get in the way of preparation, but all bowl participants are going through the same thing. Nevada does have more than a month to prepare compared to the normal five or six days.

The bowl game gives Nevada's seniors a chance to end their careers with a win. Nevada lost its season-finale to Boise State, 38-7 at Mackay Stadium, the only home loss of the year for Nevada.

"We ought to feel fortunate we get another opportunity," Ault said. "To go to a bowl game, it gives the seniors one more chance to make history."