Final grades: Pack turns in unacceptable performance

Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack football team’s first season under head coach Ken Wilson, a trying year that included a season-ending 10-game losing streak and a finish of 2-10 overall and 0-8 in the Mountain West Conference:

QUARTERBACK: D+

Nate Cox’s sixth season of college football began off the field last spring and summer with a couple proverbial punches to the gut. But that was nothing compared to the punishment he received on the field once the season started. The Wolf Pack added former Oklahoma State quarterback Shane Illingworth in May, putting Cox’s first real chance at a starting job in Division I in jeopardy. Cox then put his career in jeopardy by getting a Driving Under the Influence charge in June. But the 6-foot-9 quarterback somehow survived both off-the-field events to not only save his final college season but also start more games (seven) than Illingworth (five).

Surviving the season on the field, though, was a different matter. He failed to lead the Pack to even one victory in those seven starts and never was able to even produce a lead as late as halftime. Cox completed 53 percent of his passes (133-of-251), the lowest completion percentage for a Pack season leader at quarterback since Andy Heiser in 2003 (50 percent). Cox also passed for just five touchdowns and 1,464 yards, the fewest touchdowns for a Nevada quarterback with 200 or more attempts since Paul Sylvia in 1970 (four). To Cox’s credit, though, he was intercepted just five times and he finished as the Pack’s second leading rusher with 272 yards. But, still, it all added up to an 0-7 record as a starter, the first time a Pack quarterback started seven or more games in a year without a victory since Allen Crawford lost the first seven in 1964 (Dave Dyer started the final three games after Crawford was injured, going 1-2). Illingworth played in just six games all season, with five starts (2-3 record), completing 58 percent of his passes (84-of-145) for 761 yards and two touchdowns and three interceptions. Illingworth was sacked 21 times (Cox went down 15 times), getting dumped an alarming 13 percent of the time (21-of-166) he dropped back to pass. His best game came against San Jose State when he was 18-of-29 for 223 yards and a touchdown even though he was sacked nine times. The Wolf Pack, like last summer, will go into the 2023 season looking for a starting quarterback it trusts.

RUNNING BACK: B+

Toa Taua, despite getting 20-plus carries in just four games, turned in the best season for a Pack running back since James Butler had 1,336 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2016. Taua had a career-high 911 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground and also caught 41 passes for 293 yards and another score. His 41 catches are likely a school record for a running back and are certainly the most by a Pack back since the school moved to FBS in 1992 (Talib Wise caught 44 passes in 2004, but split his time at running back and wide receiver). Taua, who also played a Pack-record 59 games at running back in his career from 2018-22, finishes his career with 855 carries for 3,997 yards and 33 touchdowns on the ground and 163 catches for 1,190 yards and four scores through the air. His rushing attempts are fifth in Pack history, his rushing yards are sixth and his rushing scores are ninth. His career catches and receiving yards are the most by a Wolf Pack running back in school history and his career total touchdowns are eighth. Taua’s long-time partner in the backfield, Devonte Lee, was limited to just eight games this year because of injury and contributed 233 yards and five touchdowns on 67 carries.

RECEIVER: C

You can blame it on the offensive scheme, the quarterback, the pass protection or even the weather. But any which way you look at it, the Pack receivers simply didn’t make enough game-changing plays this season. The wide receivers and tight ends combined to catch just six touchdowns all season long (Taua had the Pack’s seventh touchdown catch). B.J. Casteel led the Pack with 48 catches, the fewest by a Nevada receiving leader since Maurice Mann had 35 in 2003 (before that it was Alphonso Williams with 36 in 1983). Casteel, with four scores, was the only Pack receiver who found the end zone more than once all year. Dalevon Campbell had 39 catches and Jamaal Bell had 27 (just 13 over the final nine games). Casteel (one) and Campbell (one) had the only 100-yard receiving games by the Pack all year. Casteel, at 48.4 yards a game, was the only receiver to average more than 39 yards a game. Casteel’s 581 yards are the fewest by a Wolf Pack season leader since Caleb Spencer had 564 in 2006 (before that it was Williams in 1983 with 553).

OFFENSIVE LINE: C- 

There were a few hide-your-eyes games this year, like when the Pack allowed nine sacks to San Jose State and six to Incarnate Word, an FCS team. The running game also struggled mightily against Iowa (69 yards on 36 carries), San Diego State (35 yards on 21 carries) and San Jose State (70 yards on 38 carries). But, for the most part, the offensive line turned in a respectable job, thanks to a conservative passing game and a running game that was productive due to Taua. But, despite the presence of Taua, the Pack ground game averaged just 3.3 yards a carry. This was an inexperienced offensive line that was missing its most accomplished player (Aaron Frost) because of injury. Pack quarterbacks were sacked 36 times, a disturbing amount given all the quick, short passes. Joey Capra and Grant Starck were the only two Pack offensive lineman who played at least one snap in all 12 games. The Wolf Pack has already hired a new offensive line coach (Angus McClure) for 2023, so the concerns in this area were not a secret.

DEFENSIVE LINE: C- 

Like most every other position group on the team, the Pack defensive line also simply did not make enough big plays this season. Dom Peterson, as expected, was the best defensive lineman on the team and he did finish with 34 tackles (13 for loss) and six sacks. Peterson’s 28 career sacks are the third-most in Pack history and his 55.5 tackles for a loss are the second-most (since 2000 when sacks and tackles for a loss were first treated as an official stat by the NCAA). Peterson also recovered three fumbles, forced two and blocked a kick. Dion Washington had 21 tackles, five for loss, and two sacks, giving Peterson some help up front. But the rest of the front was difficult to notice in most games. James Hansen (19 tackles, three for loss, and one sack) and Thomas Witte (18 tackles, four for loss, and a sack) had some highlight moments, as did Dwight Togiola, who had three tackles for a loss and two sacks in just nine games.

LINEBACKER: D+

Freshman Drue Watts might have been the best newcomer on the team this year. Watts, who stands just 6-foot, 220 pounds, was fourth on the team in tackles with 57 and was second (behind Peterson) with nine tackles for a loss. Watts was also second in sacks (behind Peterson) with three. The 6-1, 220-pound Naki Mateialona, who had just six tackles over his first two seasons (12 games) at Nevada, had a solid year as a starter with 53 tackles and two sacks. But if a defense is truly going to be a force, the top three tacklers on the team cannot be defensive backs, as was the case this year. No linebacker in the top three in tackles hasn’t happened at Nevada since at least 1999 (tackle stats are not readily available before then). Maurice Wilmer had 25 tackles and Marcel Walker had 24, five for a loss. Elijah Winston had 14 tackles and an interception in 10 games and freshman Chris Smalley, a Douglas High graduate, had 11 tackles in eight games.

DEFENSIVE BACK: B

The Wolf Pack secondary, most of whom were holdovers from the Jay Norvell era, was the best unit on the team for the most part all season long. The secondary picked off six passes over the first two games, boosting the Pack to its only two victories all year (New Mexico State and Texas State). Bentlee Sanders even returned one of his three interceptions 34 yards for a touchdown against Texas State. Without the secondary’s standout efforts in the first two games the Pack might not have won a game this season. But even the secondary struggled at times this year, especially against talented quarterbacks. The magic disappeared starting in Week 3 against Incarnate Word, an FCS school, which passed for 435 yards and four touchdowns in a 55-41 upset that started the Pack on its downfall. The Wolf Pack never won another game all season and the secondary never truly regained its greatness. After picking off six passes over the first two games, the secondary had just three interceptions over the final 10 games. Sanders had two of the three to finish with a team-high five. But despite the lack of turnovers the last 10 games, the secondary usually found a way to contribute. If it wasn’t for the defensive backs, after all, there would have been games when it seemed like nobody in silver and blue was making a tackle. The top three tacklers for the season were all defensive backs (Sanders with 81, Tyson Williams with 65 and Tyriq Mack with 58). Jaden Dedman also was sixth on the team in tackles with 50 and Isaiah Essissima was seventh with 35. Dedman (eight) and Essissima (nine) also combined to break up 17 passes, by far the most on the team. Opponents, especially in the Mountain West, though, stopped throwing near Sanders.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C- 

Injuries forced the Pack to use a backup punter and a backup kicker for a large chunk of the season and that, of course, hardly ever turns into a positive. Kicker Brandon Talton played just seven games because of injury and still finished second on the team in scoring (behind Taua’s 72 points) with 45 points and was voted the team‘s MVP on special teams. Talton was 10-of-12 on field goals and made all 15 of his extra points. Talton’s 65th career field goal (against Boise State in Week 10) made him the Mountain West’s all-time leader. Talton now has 68 field goals and 122 extra points in his career, for 326 points. He is third in Pack history in field goals, sixth in extra points and third in kick scoring. Matt Killam supplied three field goals (missing two) and 10 extra points (one miss) with Talton injured. The Pack punting duties were shared by Matt Freem (42.4 average on 50 punts) and Harry Webster (33.7 average on 23 punts). No opponent returned a punt against the Pack for more than 28 yards all year long or returned a kickoff for more than 33 yards, so the coverage teams were solid. But the Pack also got little by the way of field position from its kickoff returners (19.3 average) or punt returners (7.4).

COACHING: D+

Ken Wilson, to be sure, suffered from a drastic talent shortage in his rookie season as head coach. But, don’t forget, he took over the program last December, so he had a full eight months to improve the roster and, well, didn’t accomplish much. The Wolf Pack did lose a ton of talent via the transfer portal after last season, a group that included the top two receivers in the conference this year in Tory Horton of Colorado State (71 catches, 1,131 yards, eight touchdowns) and San Jose State’s Elijah Cooks (63-983-10).

And there were certainly others who left that would have helped this thin Pack roster. Former Pack back Avery Morrow rushed for 834 yards and former Pack quarterback Clay Millen passed for 1,910 yards and 10 touchdowns for Colorado State. The Pack also lost standout linebacker Daiyan Henley to Washington State, where he had 106 tackles and four sacks this year. Dan Grzesiak had 10.5 tackles for a loss for Utah State this year, a skill that was sorely missed this year at Nevada. But the talent Wilson did have never seemed to show improvement throughout the year, as evidenced by a season-ending 10-game losing streak in which the Pack wasn’t even competitive in most games. Wilson and his staff seemed to treat the year with as much urgency as they would an April practice in spring ball. Once this team started to experience adversity (in Week 3), the players and coaching staff seemed helpless to stop the bleeding. The Pack simply never recovered and never won a game over the final 84 days (10 games) of the season, the longest victory drought in the history of the program. The Wolf Pack under Wilson didn’t show up in many games and compete for 60 minutes. They seemed overwhelmed from the start against good teams like Air Force, Iowa, Fresno State and Boise State and also stumbled their way through silly losses to bad teams like Colorado State and Hawaii. The Pack also wasted a 17-3 lead in the season-changing loss to Incarnate Word, as well as a 21-7 lead in a heartbreaking loss at San Jose State and a 13-0 lead in an unforgivable loss at UNLV with the treasured Fremont Cannon on the line.

The bottom line with Wilson and his staff is that they have no real idea yet how to win games or even motivate their roster. The Pack couldn’t win on the road or even at Mackay Stadium. But give Wilson and his staff a pass for their first season. They are learning how to perform in their new roles. It’s a huge jump, after all, from linebacker coach and co-defensive coordinator to head coach when you are almost 60 years old, as well as from tight ends coach and special teams coach to offensive coordinator. The co-defensive coordinators were either at some place called Ottawa University Arizona or were a defensive analyst, for the most part. It was Football 101 for the players and coaches. And it showed week after week.

OVERALL: F

What we saw in 2022 was simply unacceptable on and off the field. Blame it on a rookie 58-year-old head coach and his makeshift staff, or Norvell or the transfer portal. Right now, it really doesn’t matter who or what is to blame. The only important thing is that it gets fixed. This past calendar year, with its series of unfortunate events, can never happen again to this Wolf Pack football program for a very long time. The year was a complete disaster and tested the patience and loyalty of Wolf Pack fans everywhere, most of whom stayed away from Mackay Stadium. The Pack lost 10 games in a row all in one season for the first time in school history. It lost all of its conference games (a couple of seasons featured a tie) for the first time in school history. The Pack got run over by Boise State at Mackay Stadium and let a UNLV team that was going to fire its head coach after the game steal the Fremont Cannon. That would have been unacceptable for Wolf Pack fans even if this team finished 10-2 this year. Fresno State blitzed the Pack at Mackay. Jay Norvell and Colorado State, a team that likely wouldn’t have won a game all year if not for the former Pack players on its roster, came to Mackay and beat the Pack in an embarrassing game. That loss felt as pleasant as inviting the guy who just stole your car, television and cell phone over for dinner and when the night ends, he promptly goes home with your wallet and your wife.

Yes, it was incredibly difficult to be a Wolf Pack fan this year. This team was overwhelmed in most games and seemed to know it and let it happen. Over the final 39 quarters of the 48-quarter season, starting with the second quarter in Week 3, the Pack ended just three quarters (the first and second against San Jose State and the first against UNLV) with a lead. Forget a victory. This team had just one lead at halftime (against San Jose State) over its final 10 games. Seven of the 10 losses in the seemingly never-ending losing streak (it’s still not over, Pack fans) were by 14 points or more. They led in the fourth quarter of those 10 games just once, for a mere six-plus minutes at San Jose State. Somebody in the organization owes this already fragile fan base a huge apology for what happened this year.