Midseason report card on Nevada football

Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack football team midway through the season ...

QUARTERBACK: A

As you might expect, with this being his senior year, Colin Kaepernick has improved his overall game in most every meaningful statistic so far this year. His passing efficiency rating (151.89), his rushing yards per game (95.6) and his total offensive yards per game (307) are the highest of his career. The number that concerns us, though, are his five interceptions, which have all come in the last four games. He's throwing one interception for every 35 passes, the highest pick rate of his career (his previous high was one every 47 passes in 2009). Toss in his three lost fumbles and he's turned the ball over eight times over the last five games. But this also is a guy who constantly has the ball in his hands. Opponents seem to be paying closer attention to him lately. The last four opponents (BYU, UNLV, San Jose State and Hawaii) have prevented him from running wild on the option, holding him less than 100 yards rushing. But he's still just one of a handful of players in the nation who is always a threat to get into the end zone from anywhere in the field. He is coming off of what is likely the worst game of his career (two interceptions, two lost fumbles, just 30 rushing yards) against Hawaii. It wouldn't surprise us if Kaepernick uses that Hawaii game as motivation to take his game to an even higher level over the final seven games of his career.

RUNNING BACK: A

Vai Taua, probably because Luke Lippincott's eligibility finally ran out after the 2009 season, has improved his game this year even more than Kaepernick. The senior running back has already run for 928 yards this year. His 11 rushing touchdowns have already surpassed his junior year (10). And his 11 catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns are already equal to what he did all of last year . Taua, who is sixth in the nation at 132.6 yards a game, needs just 593 yards and five touchdowns over the final seven games to put up the best rushing numbers (1,521, 15 TDs in 2008) of his career. He's rushed for 100 or more yards in five of seven games this year. Lippincott is gone but Courtney Randall, Lampford Mark and Mike Ball have done an excellent job giving Taua a breather this year with 273 yards on 58 carries4.7 a carry) combined. Pack running backs have also lost just two fumbles all season.

OFFENSIVE LINE: A

This unit has probably only had one bad half (the first half against Hawaii) of football over the last two games. It's hard to be critical of an offensive line that is the biggest reason why the Wolf Pack is fifth in the nation in rushing (288.6 a game), fifth in total offense (509) and eighth in scoring (40). The Pack is also 11th in the nation in sacks allowed at just .71 per game (five in seven games). And, don't forget, this group has only had its starters together for two-plus games (Steve Haley, who is due back next week, broke his arm in Week 3).

RECEIVERS: C

The Wolf Pack just isn't getting enough big plays out of its receiving (wide receivers and tight ends) group. Kaepernick hasn't thrown a touchdown pass to a wide receiver or tight end over the past four games. Tray Session is the only wide receiver who has caught a TD pass this year and he has just two (Rishard Matthews recovered his own fumble in the end zone for another score). Is it their fault or are they simply not getting enough opportunities to make plays? Maybe we should just blame the Pistol offense, which is dominated by the legs of Kaepernick or Taua, for the receivers' lack of big plays. This trend really started last year when the running game exploded. The receivers have been an afterthought for over a year. But, still, no Pack receiver is even averaging 50 yards a game. Tight end Virgil Green caught 10 passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns in the first two games but has just 10 catches for 116 yards and no scores over the last five games. Wide receiver Brandon Wimberly has yet to catch a TD pass this season. Session has caught just 13 passes all year. Chris Wellington had just 13 catches and no touchdowns this year before ending his season with a knee injury. We know they are better than that. The Hawaii spread offense, which gets the ball to its receivers near or even behind the line of scrimmage, does a great job of allowing its receivers to make plays. The Pistol offense, which has deeper routes and relies on Kaepernick's accuracy, doesn't seem as receptive to yards after the catch.

DEFENSIVE LINE: A

Dontay Moch is well on his way to his second consecutive Western Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year award. The senior defensive end, who will likely be a rookie outside linebacker in the NFL next year, has 37 tackles, five sacks and two forced fumbles. He also has 14 tackles for a loss. He's been on fire lately with 11 tackles for a loss and three sacks over the last three games. Moch, though, is also getting a lot of help from his teammates on the defensive front. Brett Roy has three sacks and 5.5 tackles for a loss, Zack Madonick has 1.5 sacks and Ryan Coulson has four tackles for a loss and a sack to go along with 22 tackles. This group hasn't missed a beat despite losing Kevin Basped to the NFL after last year.

LINEBACKERS: B

James-Michael Johnson has made a smooth and productive transition to the middle linebacker spot. The junior has a team-high 45 tackles with 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for a loss. The move to the middle has increased his tackles (his career best is 58 last year) but it has somewhat limited his ability to make big plays (he had 24 tackles for a loss his first two years combined). Johnson, though, has forced two fumbles after forcing just one his first two seasons. Brandon Marshall has made a lot of big plays already with a sack and two interceptions, two fumble recoveries four passes defensed  and 4.5 tackles for a loss. But he hasn't made a noticeable jump in tackles (31 in seven games after getting 61 in 13 games a year ago). The undersized Kevin Grimes (he's just six-foot, 205 pounds) has chipped in with 36 tackles and a sack. This group has done a nice job of making big plays but they need to be in on more tackles. The linebackers have just one double-digit tackle game (Johnson with 10 against BYU) among them all season.

SECONDARY: B

This is the group that has made the most improvement on the entire team. Don't forget that the Pack had the second worst (119th) pass defense in the nation in each of the last two seasons. They allowed 298 yards a game last year and 312 in 2008. They also allowed nine yards per passing attempt last year and eight yards per attempt in 2008. This year the improvement has been dramatic. The Pack is holding opponents to just 238 yards in the air each game and just 6.6 yards per attempt. They've also given up just seven touchdowns through the air after allowing a combined 64 the last two years. Marlon Johnson plays like an extra linebacker (41 tackles) and Duke Williams has been solid with 31 tackles, two interceptions and three passes defensed in six games. Isaiah Frey and Doyle Miller have each defensed seven passes this year. Miller has two interceptions. They have a lot of big tests coming up against quarterbacks Diondre Borel (Utah State), Nathan Enderle (Idaho), Kellen Moore (Boise), Ross Jenkins (Louisiana Tech), and Ryan Colburn (Fresno) but so far so good. The big difference with this group this year is that they are keeping everything in front of them and not chasing receivers into the end zone on a regular basis.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B

Punter Brad Langley has been excellent, averaging 44.7 yards on each of his 14 punts. And freshman kicker Anthony Martinez has been almost perfect, making six of seven field goals and 36 of 37 PATs. But his one field goal miss was from 25 yards and he hasn't made one longer than 33. The Pack had two bad games (against UNLV and BYU) covering kickoffs but that problem seems to be corrected. And opponents have only returned five of Langley's punts all year for a 7.6 average so we need more data before we can judge that area. Rishard Matthews has been OK returning punts (8.5 average) and Mike Ball always seems to be on the verge of breaking a kickoff return. He went for 84 yards on one return against Hawaii. Ricky Drake has booted three kickoffs this year out of bounds.

COACHING: A

When you are 6-1 and were ranked in the Top 25 for three of those seven weeks, not much has likely gone wrong. The Wolf Pack offense has seemed a bit predictable (Taua up the middle, Kaepernick around the edge and passes on third down) at times but you can't argue with the results (40 points a game and fifth in the nation in yardage).  Andy Buh has done a great job in his first year as defensive coordinator and Mike Bradeson has worked wonders with the secondary. The Pack doesn't take a lot of chances on defense but, remember, this is a group that didn't have a lot of confidence coming into the year and simply needed to take baby steps before it could learn to run. This coaching staff on both sides of the ball does a great job of keeping it simple on both sides of the ball and trusting its veteran players to go out and make plays. And that's what has happened so far.