Nevada defensive back Berdale Robins (0) celebrates with teammates after recovering a fumble and returning it for a touchdown against New Mexico State on Oct. 9, 2021 in Reno. (AP Photo/Tom R. Smedes)
There are times when even the explosive Nevada Wolf Pack Air Raid offense needs a little help.
One of those times was this past Saturday when the Pack offense scored just one touchdown in a 27-24 victory over the San Jose State Spartans at Mackay Stadium.
The Pack defense, though, came up with two critical touchdowns on a 56-yard fumble return by linebacker Daiyan Henley and an 86-yard interception return by Berdale Robins.
“Our defense was amazing,” said head coach Jay Norvell, whose Wolf Pack (7-2, 4-1) will meet San Diego State (8-1, 4-1) at Carson, Calif., Saturday night. “They just gave us amazing plays that gave us a shot in the arm.”
The two defensive touchdowns against San Jose State give the Wolf Pack six defensive touchdowns this season, the most in the nation along with Ohio State.
The six defensive touchdowns are also the most the Wolf Pack has scored in a season since at least 2000 and might be a school record (the Wolf Pack does not make statistics before 2000 available). The 2003 and 2006 Wolf Pack each had four defensive touchdowns.
The Wolf Pack defense has scored two defensive touchdowns in each of its last two games. Henley and defensive back Tyson Williams returned interceptions for scores against UNLV two weeks ago. The other two defensive touchdowns for the Pack this season are by Dom Peterson (12-yard fumble return against Idaho State) and Robins (25-yard fumble return against New Mexico State).
Henley and Robins this year join Dameon Baber (2017), Nick Hawthrone (2004 and 2005) and Logan Carter (2003) as the only Pack players since 2000 with as many as two defensive touchdowns in a season.
Baber returned interceptions 100 and 39 yards for touchdowns against San Jose State in 2017 (and also returned a blocked punt for a score in the same game). Hawthrone returned interceptions for scores against Tulsa (30 yards) and Boise State (40 yards) in 2004. He also scored on a 40-yard interception return against San Jose State and a 90-yard fumble return against Idaho in 2005. Carter scored on a fumble recovery in the end zone against Southern Utah and a 40-yard interception return against Washington in 2003.
Hawthrone had five defensive touchdowns in his career. In addition to his two in both 2004 and 2005 he also scored on a 45-yard interception against Boise State in 2006.
The last time the Pack had two defensive touchdowns in a game (before the last two games) was in 2017 against San Jose State when Baber had both. The only other time since 2000 the Pack defense has scored at least two touchdowns in a game was in 2008 against Boise State when James Michael Johnson went 28 yards with an interception and Josh Mauga went 46 yards with an interception.
The Pack has now scored 11 defensive touchdowns since Norvell took over the program in 2017. Brian Polian’s Wolf Pack had six defensive touchdowns from 2013-16. The Pack had 18 defensive touchdowns from 2004-12 when Chris Ault was head coach and seven for head coach Chris Tormey from 2000-03.
TALTON NOT HAPPY WITH HIMSELF: Wolf Pack kicker Brandon Talton didn’t seem like a guy who had just kicked the game-winning 45-yard field goal with three seconds to play Saturday when he met the media after the game.
Talton was still upset with his forgettable second quarter when he missed from 56 and 37 yards and had another try from 52 yards blocked.
“I’m just a little frustrated in my performance,” Talton said. “I never had three field goals missed in a game before.”
Talton, though, more than redeemed himself, kicking a 51-yard field goal in the third quarter and the game-winner with three seconds left.
“It’s (Saturday night) frustrating for me but we won the game,” Talton said. “So why can’t I be happy?”
Talton’s teammates never lost confidence in him, despite the rough second quarter.
“He’s automatic,” defensive back Tyson Williams said. “When B.T. comes in to kick I just go sit on the bench because I know he’s going to make it.”
The 5-foot-9 junior has now missed seven field goals this season, equaling the amount of misses he had in his first two seasons (2019, 2020) combined. Talton was 21-of-25 in 2019, 15-of-18 last year and is 19-of-26 this season. His 55 successful field goals are the third most in school history behind Marty Zendejas (72 from 1984-87) and Tony Zendejas (70 from 1981-83).
“The whole season has been kind of up and down, a rollercoaster for me,” Talton said.
Talton has now beaten San Jose State twice in his career with field goals in the last few seconds. He also beat the Spartans with a 40-yarder as time expired in 2019, also at Mackay Stadium.
“After I hit it (the 45-yarder on Saturday) I just thought, ‘I’ve done it to them twice,’” Talton said. “So why can’t I do it multiple times to everybody else?”
WILLIAMS GETS BEST OF STARKEL: San Jose State quarterback Nick Starkel said Pack defensive back Tyson Williams out-foxed him Saturday night on an interception in the second quarter.
“They baited me into that interception,” said Starkel of his 1st-and-10 pass from the Spartans’ 31-yard line intended for wide receiver Jermaine Braddock. “The safety (Williams) left him (Braddock) and at the last second came right back. He just read my eyes. When I looked left and then looked right he just followed my eyes back to the right. I know I’m going to watch that on film and kick myself in the tail for that one. I know another guy was wide open on that play because everybody has let me know already.”
Williams’ interception gave the Pack the ball at the San Jose State 35-yard line with 5:05 to play in the first half. The Pack, though, didn’t capitalize as Talton missed a 37-yard field goal with 2:25 left in the half.
FRESNO FANS FIGHT: An ugly fight broke out in the northeast stands at Fresno State during the Bulldogs’ 40-14 loss to Boise State on Saturday.
“It was crazy,” Fresno State fan Armando Gonzalez told the Fresno Bee. “It was chaos. It just kept escalating and crazy things kept happening one after the other.”
The fight just after halftime eventually spilled out onto the field near the sidelines, the Bee reported. Gonzalez’s video of the fight shows security guards and Fresno city police getting punched. One fan told the Bee that he broke his wrist when he fell out of the stands and onto a cement surface at field level. Fresno police told the Bee that five arrests were made.
The crowd of 41,031 was Fresno State’s first sellout in seven years.
“I had a feeling of embarrassment for our city that we couldn’t have a good event without something happening like that,” Gonzalez told the Bee.
HOLANI BOOSTS BOISE: Boise State running back George Holani, who has battled injuries the last two seasons, had 117 yards on 21 carries in the Broncos’ win over Fresno State. Holani, who had 1,014 yards in 2019 as a freshman, had just 108 yards in three games last year and 167 yards in five games this year before Saturday.
“He’s obviously talented in a lot of different ways,” Boise State coach Andy Avalos said. “His vision is elite. And his effort is second to none.”
“All I want to do is stay healthy and be available for my team when they need me,” said Holani, who had just four carries for 27 yards in a 41-31 loss to Nevada on Oct. 2.
HAWAII WOULDN’T HAVE SETTLED FOR TIE: Hawaii coach Todd Graham said he was ready to go for the win against San Diego State on Saturday.
The Rainbow Warriors trailed the Aztecs 17-10 but had a first down at the San Diego State 23-yard line with about a minute to play.
“We talked about what we were going to do,” Graham said. “We were going to go score and go for two and win the football game.
“We felt we had a good two-point play.”
Hawaii then faced a 3rd-and-10 from the 23-yard line. Quarterback Chevan Cordeiro, though, then threw a 5-yard pass to Dedrick Parson. By the time Parson was tackled the game clock expired, giving San Diego State the victory.
“It was a kick in the gut,” Graham said. “You cannot throw the ball behind your (first-down) sticks in that situation. You have to throw for at least the first down. We didn’t give ourselves a chance to win. That was a tough one to lose.”
“It was a learning experience,” Cordeiro said. “It’s tough to learn that way. It won’t happen again.”
