Kaepernick shines in scrimmage
BY DARRELL MOODY
Appeal Sports Writer
RENO - Nevada's first offense got off to a slow start - three incompletions, a sack and an interception in its first three possessions -in Saturday's annual Silver & Blue football scrimmage at Mackay Stadium.
But sophomore quarterback Colin Kaepernick rebounded to score on two long touchdown runs of 65 and 52 yards and he also directed two other scoring drives in the 75-play scrimmage that marked the end of spring football.
"We started off slow," Kaepernick said. "We need to stop that. Overall we did well. The offense and defense ... you can see what we can do."
Kaepernick carried five times for 146 yards and the aforementioned two scores. He completed 5-of-15 passes for 74 yards.
Three of those Kaepernick completions went to Chris Wellington, who finished with a team-high 41 yards. Wellington played behind Kyle Sammons last year, and he's hopeful of winning a starting job this season.
"The last two scrimmages I haven't had many thrown balls my way," Wellington said. "There were blitzes and he had to get rid of the ball quicker, or they weren't seeing me. I was hoping to see some balls today. I played behind Kyle and learned from him. I still have to work on my route running.
"In high school, I didn't run good routes and used my speed to get by. The coaches have worked with me on staying low coming off the line."
Nevada's other two scores came on a 15-yard run by Brandon Fragger and a 4-yard run by Lampford Mark, who carried the ball four times for 65 yards and one touchdown. Sophomore Vai Taua chipped in with 57 yards on five carries.
On defense, the Wolf Pack intercepted three passes and turned in three sacks on the afternoon.
Freshman linebacker Joe Easter returned one of the interceptions 43 yards for the defense's only score. Junior safety Jonathon Amaya and sophomore Kevin Grimes each picked off passes for the Wolf Pack. Grimes returned his pick 24 yards.
Sophomore Dontay Moch and redshirt freshmen Zack Madonick and James-Michael Johnson each turned in sacks .
Head coach Chris Ault was pleased with what he saw Saturday from both the offense and defense.
"I thought the offense did well (today), and the defense found a way to get back in there," Ault said. "It was a good hitting scrimmage. The offense was either moving the ball or the defense was stuffing the offense.
"I thought our receivers had a good spring. The running backs were probably the best as a group (in the spring). It was a great spring."
Ault experimented with getting spring ball done before Easter vacation this year, and was blessed with good weather.
When the players come back it will be five weeks of strength work, running and conditioning.
• Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com, or by calling (775) 881-1281