BY DARRELL MOODY
Appeal Sports Editor
LAS VEGAS " The Fremont Cannon is staying blue.
Nevada fell behind by 10 points early in the game, but used big second and fourth quarters plus a sterling performance by sophomore quarterback Colin Kaepernick to pound in-state rival UNLV 49-27 victory Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium.
The win was Nevada's fourth straight in the series and gives the Pack a 19-15 lead in the annual battle for the prestigious and largest rivalry trophy in the country.
Kaepernick accounted for 416 yards and five touchdowns in his Nevada-UNLV debut. All told, Nevada ran for 444 yards and a season-high 620 yards total offense.
"I'm really proud of our seniors," Nevada coach Chris Ault said. "They are going out undefeated. That's a special thing for them. I'm really proud of this football team. UNLV is a really good football team. We all know we were down early, but the kids stayed in there and played hard. I'm very proud of them."
One of those seniors Ault talked about was center Dominic Green, who along with fellow senior Greg Hall, John Bender, Mike Gallett and Alonzo Durham keyed the running attack. It was Green and Hall that took the cannon into the locker room after the contest.
"I played four years and got wins all four years," Green said. "This is the last time I'll play in this game. That hasn't sunk in yet."
In the end it looked like an easy game. It was anything but at the outset.
UNLV took a 3-0 on its opening drive of the game, as Omar Clayton (18-for-38 , 327 yards 3 TDs) tossed a 46-yard pass to Ryan Wolfe (8 catches, 167 yards) along the left sideline for a first down at the Nevada 25, setting the stage for Ben Jaekle's 47-yard field goal.
Nevada actually got a bad break, as it blocked Jaekle's 42-yard attempt. However UNLV was hit with a 5-yard penalty, and Jaekle kicked the longer field goal on the next play.
Nevada had a promising start on the ensuing drive, as Vai Taua, who gained 123 yards and scored once, ripped off a 12-yard gain. On first-and-10 from the 46, Kaepernick took off on a zone-read option, but coughed up the ball after a hit by Terrance Lee. Jason Beauchamp recovered at the Nevada 49.
The Rebels didn't waste the short field.
After a 16-yard run by Clayton down to the Nevada 30, the UNLV quarterback made a nice fake, kept the ball and raced 21 yards down to the 9.
After a 2-yard gain by Frank Summers, Clayton arched a pass to the left corner of the endzone for Phillip Payne, who easily caught the ball over Mo Harvey. Kyle Watson's PAT made it 10-0.
Nevada bounced right back with an impressive 80-yard drive " 70 of it coming on a pass to freshman Chris Wellington, who caught the ball in stride at about the UNLV 30 and outraced UNLV defenders to the end zone for his first career score. Brett Jaekle's PAT made it 10-7.
"We've been working hard at getting the ball deep," Kaepernick said. "We had some problems during the week, but we clicked tonight."
UNLV showed Nevada a new look on its next drive, going empty backfield he entire time.
Clayton threw a 12-yard pass to Ryan Wolfe to the UNLV 34, and two plays later Clayton threw for 26 yards to Jerriman Robinson to the Nevada 41. On the next play, Clayton found Casey Flair for a 41-yard score and a 17-7 lead.
That would be UNLV's last bright spot in the game. The rest of the game belonged to the Wolf Pack.
The momentum shifted to Nevada, as UNLV's offense went stagnant, failing to get a first down on its next three drives.
Kaepernick led the Pack on a 58-yard, six-play scoring drive. He capped the series with a 4-yard run to make it 17-14 with 13:43 left in the half.
Kaepernick had the big play in the drive with a 20-yard run. A 15-yard facemask penalty gave the Pack a first down at the UNLV 14, and the Pack's lanky quarterback scored four plays later.
Nevada got a big break moments later when Daryl Hill forced Clayton to fumble. Nevada linebacker Mike Bethea recovered at the UNLV 40.
Kaepernick misfired on first and second down, and then found tight end Virgil Green alone in the left flat. Green caught the ball inside the 20 and beat the UNLV secondary to the end zone for a 21-17 Pack lead.
The 14 points in 54 seconds seemed to further take the wind out of UNLV's sails.
UNLV got one first down and then was forced to punt the ball away.
Nevada responded with an 82-yard drive that was capped by Courtney Randall's 7-yard run, his first TD of the year and second in his career. It put Nevada up, 28-17.
"I thought it was important because it gave us momentum," Ault said. "The first play in the third quarter showed we weren't going to back off."
Ault was referring to Kaepernick 66-yard TD run on the first play of the second half. The run gave Nevada a 35-20 lead with 14:42 remaining.
Kaepernick went on to score on a 28-yard run with 8:41 left in the game for Nevada's final score. It was fitting that the Nevada sophomore got the game's final score, given his dominance.
"You saw his physical abilities and that's terrific," Ault said. "He managed the game very well. He managed our offense. I know we rushed for a bunch of yardage. That was our running backs plus Colin.
"It's a good example of what the offense can do and what the offense can feature. Kap's ability to get outside and run with it is very good. Our offensive front did a great job. We beat a good football team."
And beat them convincingly.
- Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com or (775) 881-1281