LAS VEGAS — Quarterback Cody Fajardo rushed for 143 yards and a touchdown, while throwing for three additional scores, while leading the Wolf Pack to a 49-27 win over in-state rival UNLV in Saturday’s Battle for the Fremont Cannon.
Trailing 17-14 at halftime, Nevada (7-5, 4-4 Mountain West) outscored the Rebels 21-3 in the third quarter en route to a 35-10 second half to pull away for the win.
The Wolf Pack offense outgained UNLV (2-11, 1-7), 454-376, with 408 yards coming on the ground. Nevada had three rushers gain more than 100 yards, as Don Jackson rumbled for 132 yards on 22 carries and James Butler tallied 116 yards on 11 attempts.
The loss brought an end to the Bobby Hauck-era. Hauck turned his resignation in to UNLV’s director of athletics Tina Kunzer-Murphy on Friday.
Hauck, who had two years left on his contract, will receive a one-time payment of $400,000 to complete the University’s financial obligations.
THE FREMONT CANNON/GOVENOR’S SERIES
Nevada takes a 24-16 lead in the series with UNLV, improving to 10-9 at UNLV … Nevada has claimed the Fremont Cannon in the nine of the past 10 seasons while taking the Fremont Cannon home from Las Vegas for the first time since 1978 … The Wolf Pack takes a 7.5-4.5 lead in the Governor’s Series presented by NV Energy.
OFFENSE LIGHTS UP IN THE SECOND HALF
The Wolf Pack finished with a season-high point total of 49 and its largest margin of victory of the season … Nevada scored 28 unanswered points in the second half after tallying touchdowns in five of their first six drives … The Wolf Pack has now scored 20 unanswered points in the second half in four games this season … Entering the game, Nevada’s +80 fourth quarter scoring margin ranked first in the nation.
NEVADA SETS SEASON-HIGH RUSHING TOTAL
Nevada posted a season-high 408 yards rushing on 53 carries with a 7.7 average yards per carry and three rushing scores … The Wolf Pack’s 408 yards on the ground are its most since posting 418 against Northwestern State on Sept. 15, 2012 … Nevada had three players rush for over 100 yards for the first time since Nov. 6, 2010, against Idaho (Lampford Mark, 116; Vai Taua, 113; Mike Ball, 101) … Senior QB Cody Fajardo rushed 13 times for 143 yards and one touchdown – his 13th career 100-yard game … Junior RB Don Jackson rushed for a career-best 132 yards on 22 carries … Freshman RB James Butler rushed for a career-best 116 yards on 11 carries … Nevada has rushed for 200+ yards in five consecutive games for the first time since the opening five games of the 2012 season … In the past four weeks, Nevada also ran for 295 at Hawai’i, 229 against San Diego State, 223 at Air Force and 227 against Fresno State.
CODY COLLECTS TOUCHDOWN NO. 100
Senior QB Cody Fajardo passed for three touchdowns and ran for another, collecting his 101st touchdown responsible for in his career … Fajardo’s 12-yard TD pass to Jerico Richardson in the third quarter marked touchdown #100 … Entering tonight’s game, Fajardo ranked sixth in the nation amongst active3 FBS players in career TDs responsible for … Fajardo posted his 13th career 100-yard rushing game and fifth of the season … Fajardo’s five 100-yard rushing games rank second by a Mountain West quarterback in conference history.
BROCK MATCHES PROGRAM RECORD
With four kick returns, senior Kendall Brock tied Mike Ball’s program record with 70 career kickoff returns … The Fresno, Calif., native also caught a three-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter,, marking his first TD catch since Oct. 6, 2012, at Wyoming.
BOWL SCENARIOS
The Wolf Pack closes the 2014 regular season with a 7-5 overall record and bowl eligibility … Nevada has made 13 bowl appearances in program history with its last trip coming in 2012 following eight straight bowl appearances … The Mountain West’s bowl tie-ins are as follows; the Las Vegas Bowl, Poinsettia Bowl, Hawai’i Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and the New Orleans Bowl.
MISCELLANEOUS
Junior DE Lenny Jones recorded Nevada’s third interception return for a TD this season, picking off Blake Decker in the third quarter and returning it 32 yards for a score … Jones has recorded interceptions in back-to-back weeks with three in his career … In the first quarter, senior CB Charles Garrett recorded his first interception of the season and third of his career.
after picking off a Decker pass in the end zone … Freshman DB Kendall Johnson recorded a season-high two pass breakups.
PARTICIPATION
Senior Devin Combs made his second appearance of the season, rushing for a five-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter – his first rushing TD since Oct. 13, 2012, at UNLV … Sophomore QB Tyler Stewart and RS-freshman Dante Mayes also saw their first action of the season … Nevada started in its 4-3-3 formation on defense … Junior Bryan Lane Jr. started at strong safety for the first time this season and sophomore Randy Uzoma made his first career start at linebacker … The Wolf Pack offense started in a three-wide formation for the first time since San Diego State as senior Kendall Brock made his first career start at WR … 11 players started in all 11 games for Nevada in the regular season; QB Cody Fajardo, RB Don Jackson, TE Jarred Gipson, C Matt Galas, RG Connor Talbott, RT Kyle Roberts, DE Ian Seau, DT Jordan Hanson, DE Brock Hekking, FS Nigel Haikins and CB Charles Garrett.