Ault still undecided on starting QB

Ault still undecided on starting QB

BY DARRELL MOODY

Appeal Sports Writer

RENO - The Wolf Pack's Nick Graziano and Colin Kaepernick will have to wait at least one more day to find out which of them will be the starting quarterback for Saturday's opener at Nebraska.

Nevada head coach Chris Ault said during Monday's weekly Western Athletic Conference teleconference that the depth chart for the opening game will be released on either today or Wednesday.

The only thing Ault did say regarding the quarterback battle is that both would see playing time. He said the back-up quarterback's time would depend not only on down and distance factors but how the game was going.

Both youngsters are excited about the prospect of playing at nationally ranked Nebraska this week where a crowd of more than 80,000 is expected.

"It's real exciting," Graziano said. "Hopefully we'll get off to a good start and see where it takes us. We're going to run plays we've had success with, and that's what we have to stick with."

Kaepernick said preparation hasn't been any different this week, save for the piped-in noise during practices last week.

"We're going to prepare for this game like we do for any other game," Kaepernick said. "On film, they seem to be pretty basic. They don't disguise their coverages a whole lot. If I'm not the starter, I'll continue to work hard and be ready."

Ault said he's not big on consistently splitting time with quarterbacks. He prefers to have one starter. Ault also pointed out that only once has he played two quarterbacks on a regular basis during a season.

Ault made it clear that he's been very happy with the progress of both young signal-callers, though based on scrimmage statistics and experience Graziano would have the edge.

Graziano completed 29-of-45 passes for 378 yards and two touchdowns in two scrimmages where stats were kept. Kaepernick completed 12-of-21 attempts for 174 yards and a score. Kaepernick did have a 59-yard TD run in the Pack's second scrimmage.

"They are both very talented," Ault said. "No matter who starts, we have two fine athletes at quarterback. They have been bright spots (in camp). They allow us to be able to do certain things that we haven't done in the past."

Both quarterbacks like to run, and the Pack ran some option during spring and fall practice. Last-year's starter Jeff Rowe had success scrambling for Nevada and both Graziano and Kaepernick have shown the ability to not only escape pressure, but to run on pre-designed plays.

"We want quarterbacks to be able to run with the changes we've made in the offense," Ault said recently.

Ault also pointed out that a quarterback with the ability to run is just one more thing for opposing teams to worry about.

• Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281