Pack repeats 2017 stumble with another bad loss

Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack’s 55-41 loss to the Incarnate Word Cardinals at Mackay Stadium last Saturday:
QUARTERBACK: C+
Nate Cox started and played the whole game, finishing with relatively impressive numbers. He completed 22-of-43 passes for 302 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Cox gave the Wolf Pack its first true hint of a downfield passing game this season, averaging nearly 14 yards on each completion. Cox also scrambled 12 times for a net of 13 yards and another score. He actually had 51 yards rushing on six runs and lost 38 yards on six sacks, so he was able to move the ball with his legs when the defense wasn’t overwhelming him.
Cox’s afternoon, though, was a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs (22 completions, 21 incompletions). Cox, who played roughly half of the Pack’s first two games and completed just 12-of-18 passes for 70 yards, came out throwing on Saturday. And, surprise, he looked like a rusty sixth-year senior who had never started a regular season game before. The first half was a mess. Cox completed just 7-of-19 passes in the first half for 58 yards. His last five passes of the half fell incomplete.  And the results weren’t all positive when he did complete a pass. A 16-yard completion to Jamaal Bell was wiped out by an ineligible receiver downfield and another 12-yard completion to Bell ended in disaster when Bell fumbled the ball away.
Cox, however, was much better in the second half, though most of his success came after Incarnate Word built a 38-17 lead. He completed 15-of-24 passes for 244 yards in the second half with 11 of the completions going for 12 or more yards. Cox, though, also fumbled the ball away on a sack, resulting in an Incarnate Word touchdown and a 31-17 Pack deficit. If nothing else, Cox showed that he can hurt defenses through the air, something we had not seen much of so far this season before Saturday.

RUNNING BACK: A
Toa Taua and Devonte Less did what was expected on Saturday. They physically dominated a Division I-AA defense, just like they do against most I-A defenses.
Taua had 101 yards on 24 carries (60 on 13 in the first half) while Lee picked up 59 yards on 13 carries. They each scored a touchdown and averaged more than four yards a carry. The two combined for 160 yards, a number that might have surpassed 250 had Incarnate Word not exploded out to a 38-17 lead.
Taua and Lee were also instrumental in the passing game. Taua had three catches for 65 yards, including a 26-yard touchdown catch and run. He also had a 23-yard catch. Lee caught three passes for 42 yards. He had a 26-yard gain and a 20-yard gain (and lost four on his third catch).

RECEIVERS: B+
The Wolf Pack’s Power Five receivers finally emerged on Saturday. B.J. Casteel, an Arizona transfer, grabbed five passes for 85 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown. Casteel also had gains of 23 and 37 yards in his Wolf Pack breakout game. Dalevon Campbell, an Illinois transfer, had three catches for 64 yards, including two 14-yard gains. Jamaal Bell caught five passes for just 26 yards, but also fumbled the ball away on one of his catches. He would have had another 16-yard catch but an ineligible receiver downfield penalty wiped it out. Tight end Jacob Munro also had a 12-yard catch. Casteel and Campbell showed on Saturday that the Pack just might have at least two explosive, dynamic receivers that can hurt defenses.

OFFENSIVE LINE: C-
A week ago, the Wolf Pack couldn’t run the ball against Texas State. On Saturday, the Wolf Pack could not protect the quarterback against Incarnate Word. The offensive line, so far, has been exactly what we thought it would be this year. It’s a work in progress that will likely struggle at times all year. Incarnate Word sacked Cox six times. One of the sacks resulted in a fumble and an Incarnate Word touchdown. Isaiah World was called for a hold and a false start. Two more Pack holds were declined by Incarnate Word. The Wolf Pack also had an ineligible receiver downfield, wiping out a 16-yard gain.
The Pack did run the ball fairly well, as Taua and Lee combined to average 4.3 yards a carry. But giving up six sacks in a game is never acceptable, especially to a I-AA defense. Take away the sacks and the Wolf Pack offense might still be on the field and scoring touchdowns.

DEFENSIVE LINE: C-
Tackle Dom Peterson blocked an extra point, Christopher Love had a quarterback hurry, Thomas Witte recovered a fumble and Dion Washington had one tackle for a loss. But, for the most part, the Wolf Pack defensive line was invisible on Saturday.
Incarnate Word rushed for 210 yards on 44 carries. Quarterback Lindsey Scott was able to do what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it. There was little pressure applied to the Incarnate Word running backs and quarterback all afternoon by the Pack defensive front.

LINEBACKER: C
The linebackers made a few impact plays. But there just wasn’t nearly enough of them. Drue Watts had four tackles, one for a loss, while Josiah Bradley had five tackles and hurried Scott once. Adam Weynand and Naki Mateialona each had a pair of tackles. But we bring up those 210 Incarnate Word rushing yards once again and remind you that the top three tacklers were all defensive backs. The lone Pack sack was also by a defensive back.

SECONDARY: B-
The secondary, once again, was the most impressive unit on the Pack defense. Bentlee Sanders picked off his fourth pass of the season. Tyson Williams was all over the field, forcing a fumble, nailing Scott for a sack, breaking up a pass and leading his teammates with 11 tackles. Tyriq Mack was also a force with seven tackles and Isaiah Essissima had three tackles and knocked down a pass.
But, unlike the first two games, it wasn’t a near-flawless performance by the secondary. Scott did complete 18-of-25 passes and most everyone knew where he was throwing each time. Wide receivers Darion Chafin and Taylor Grimes combined to catch 13 of Scott’s 18 completions and for 362 of his 406 yards. Scott averaged more than 22 yards on each of his completions.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C-
Brandon Talton, of course, had nothing to do with the loss. The Pack kicker drilled field goals of 34 and 40 yards and was 5-of-5 on his extra points. The rest of the Pack special teams had an afternoon they hope never returns.
The Pack ran into the punter (wiping out a 35-yard return by Bentlee Sanders) and was called for an illegal block in the back on another Sanders punt return. Nevada was offside on consecutive on-side kick attempts and was also flagged for targeting while covering a punt. Matt Freem averaged just 37 yards on five punts and Harry Webster’s one punt went for 20 yards. All three phases of the Wolf Pack game on Saturday made numerous mistakes.

COACHING: D
Where did that offensive game plan come from? The Pack went up against a Division I-AA team at home and suddenly wanted to unleash its passing game.
Yes, the Wolf Pack fell behind by three touchdowns in the third quarter and had to play catch-up. But quarterback Nate Cox came out throwing from the start. Cox, who has barely played the last two years, threw almost as many passes on Saturday (43) as he threw his first two seasons at Nevada combined (46). He also let fly with more than twice the 18 passes he threw in the first two games combined this season. Cox came out rusty and inconsistent and only started piling up numbers once Incarnate Word had a big lead. The Wolf Pack also, for some reason, had Cox attempt a pass on 4th-and-9 from the Incarnate Word 35-yard line with five minutes left in the second quarter, leading 17-16. Where was that conservative, play-it-close-to-the-vest game plan that worked so well the first two weeks? Cox, though, kept dropping back and kept getting sacked. Taua and Lee had just 17 combined carries in the first half with the game close and probably should have had double that.
The Pack defense looked great on the first three Incarnate Word drives, forcing a punt and two turnovers. But the rest of the game was a Wolf Pack fire drill on defense as Scott suddenly turned into Lamar Jackson. Scott should have been the Pack’s No. 1 focus all game long but the Nevada defense had no clue how to contain him.
The special teams looked undisciplined, the offense was hit and miss and the defense simply stopped making plays by late in the first quarter.

OVERALL: D
Losing to a Division I-AA team at home should never happen to the Wolf Pack. This, after all, is the Pack’s 31st year in Division I-A. The unthinkable happened in 2017 when Idaho State came to Mackay Stadium to ruin Jay Norvell’s first season as head coach. And it happened again on Saturday in Ken Wilson’s first season.
Whether it ruins Wilson’s rookie year has yet to be determined. But there is no question that Incarnate Word exposed the Wolf Pack and all its flaws. How do you let a Division I-AA team come to your house and drop a 35-0 run on you? The Pack defense, the one area we thought was going to be the team’s foundation for success this year, gave up 616 yards.
We’re not sure what the Pack does well now. If you can lose to a I-AA team at home by two touchdowns you can lose to anybody, anywhere. The Wolf Pack and its 2022 rollercoaster just lost a few riders on its first hairpin turn.