Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal Nevada's Andy McIntosh stops Nicholls State's Zack Morgan for a loss in the second quarter of Saturday's game. Chris Wellington, 14, was also in on the tackle.
RENO - Nicholls State took a huge gamble in the second quarter that didn't pay off, and the Colonels paid a hefty price.
With the score tied at 10 in the second quarter, the Colonels tried a fake punt from their own 28-yard line, Andy McIntosh and Chris Wellington tackled Zack Morgan for a 2-yard loss.
Nevada scored two plays later on a 16-yard run by Luke Lippincott to snap the tie and take a 17-10 lead, and went on to a 52-17 win.
"We didn't execute it," said NSU coach Jay Thomas. "It was set up for us to make a big play. When you play these games, you come here to win. You have to take chances when you have opportunities."
Nevada coach Chris Ault wasn't surprised by the trickery.
"They tried to fake two punts and we were ready for it," Ault said. "Last year they did it quite a few times."
AMAYA AT SAFETY
Don't blame Jon Amaya if he felt a sense of deja vu in the first half of Saturday night's game.
Amaya started the first two games of the season at cornerback, but didn't start Saturday. Instead, Nevada coach Chris Ault moved him to safety early in the contest.
Ault said that he made the move because Nicholls State wasn't going to throw the ball much.
Amaya recorded 11 tackles, three behind leader Joshua Mauga. Out of his 11 tackles, Amaya had four solos.
"A little bit (strange) for a while," Amaya said. "I was able to come up on the run. I wasn't playing pass so much."
NSU LOSES QB
NSU quarterback Vin Montgomery left the game after the first possession because of a thumb injury and didn't return.
Thomas said Montgomery broke his thumb and will probably miss the remainder of the season.
"It was costly," Thomas said about the injury. "Zach Chauvin came in, though, and moved our offense. He did well."
Montgomery started the game and helped his team score on its first drive, a 32-yard field goal with about seven minutes left in the first quarter. He ran for eight yards and didn't throw a pass before leaving the game.
BISHOP IS PURE GOLD
Nevada senior tight end Adam Bishop accomplished two firsts in the easy win over Nicholls State.
Bishop scored three touchdowns in the game, catching TD passes of 25, 17 and 4 yards from Nick Graziano.
It was also the first time that Bishop has scored touchdowns in back-to-back games.
"I'm definitely happy that I scored and helped the team win," Bishop said. "I haven't done that ever, not even in high school.
"It (the stats) made it look like I did well. I feel there are a lot of things I need to improve on."
GRAMBLING IN 2008?
Rory Hickock, associate athletic director, said the Wolf Pack has a verbal agreement to play Grambling next season.
FACTS & FIGURES
When Nevada scored early in the second quarter, it extended the Pack's streak of not being shut out to 320 straight games, an NCAA record ... Nicholls State won the toss and deferred to Nevada ... Referee Drew George mispronounced Nevada wrong twice in the second quarter and was booed resoundingly by the crowd... Nevada played without two defensive starters - Ezra Butler (quadriceps) and Erics Clark (knee). Nick Fuhr and Chris Slack started at linebacker and defensive end, respectively... Courtney Randall, a redshirt freshman running back scored his first career touchdown, a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter...Brett Jaekle, who was criticized for lack of distance on kickoffs against Northwestern, put four balls into the end zone on Saturday... The 31 second-quarter points were the most points in a quarter at least since 1996.
Thomas Ranson contributed to this report.
•Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1281