Quick, keep the sharp utensils out of Nevada coach Brian Polian’s hands.
Polian can’t be feeling great, especially after Saturday’s dismal showing on the offensive side of the ball against Louisiana-Lafayette. If Nevada fans were wondering whether Polian would be around next year, they can breathe easier. A 7-6 season in a weak league isn’t going to bring a lot of suitors unless they are going to hire Polian because of his last name.
How is it you can manage just one field goal with all the prep time you had for this game? Unfortunately, Cody Fajardo played one of his worst games. He was unable to run with much effectiveness, and his passing lacked precision. Louisiana-Lafayette was big and athletic, and the Cajuns dominated both lines. I wasn’t wild about Nick Rolovich’s play calling, and a fumble and penalty in the red zone, both by Wyatt Demps, also didn’t help matters.
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Louisiana-Lafayette won the New Orleans Bowl for the fourth straight time, which is a college football record. I feel sorry for the Cajuns. They never get the true bowl experience because they are playing in their own backyard. Nevada has now played in New Orleans, Hawaii and Idaho to name a few. At least the Pack has had a little bit of variety.
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Speaking of bowl games, I’ll be attending my second straight Sun Bowl. Last year it was Virginia Tech and UCLA. This year, I get to see Duke and Arizona State. If you’ve never seen the UTEP stadium, watch the game. The stadium is essentially built into the mountain, and the local people do a great job of supporting the game.
I would think that there would be a good-sized crowd because Arizona State is just a few hours away. I will be, of course, sitting on the Pac-12 side and rooting for ASU. I kept hoping Stanford would go to El Paso, but no such luck.
I’ve covered the bowl game in Idaho and attended two Rose Bowl games plus a couple of East-West games when they were played at Stanford. I was fortunate enough to see Brett Favre when he played in the all-star game. Next on my bowl bucket list would be to see a Orange Bowl or Sugar Bowl.
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I’m already tired of the Jim Harbaugh saga.
My take on Harbaugh is that he wants to do things his way and not have to answer to anybody unless they already agree with him beforehand. That being said, I think there is more to the Michigan rumors than anybody is letting on. I don’t think Harbaugh’s family would be upset if he took that job. After all, Harbaugh played at Michigan and his dad coached there.
Conversely, Harbaugh would prefer to coach in the NFL, and he has a proven track record. I’m not sure Harbaugh wants to go knock on the door of high school recruits. If he goes to the Raiders, chances are that owner Mark Davis may have to fire Reggie McKenzie and give Harbaugh the dual role of coach and general manager. Maybe Harbaugh could coax more improvement out of Derek Carr. He worked wonders with Alex Smith before dumping him in favor of former Nevada star Colin Kaepernick. Carr hasn’t shown the ability to get the ball downfield at all this year.
What I think 49er owner Jed York needs to do is get both Harbaugh and GM Trent Balke in a locked room. Nobody leaves until the issues are resolved. The problem with the 49ers is that York isn’t a football guy, and right now he seems more aligned with Balke than he does Harbaugh. I wouldn’t be surprised if York does take the temperature of some of the players, and it would be interesting to hear what they have to say. Players in the NFL like to talk off the record about issues around their team.