Nevada quarterback Nate Cox is hit by Air Force’s Vince Sanford during Saturday’s game in Colorado Springs.
Air Force Athletics
Grading the Nevada Wolf Pack’s 48-20 loss at Air Force on Friday.
QUARTERBACK: D
The Wolf Pack keeps changing quarterbacks every week like they are dirty socks and, well, it might be time to buy a few new pairs.
Nate Cox did the honors on Friday and the sixth-year senior was an uninspiring 12-of-20 through the air for 130 yards without a touchdown or interception. Almost half of Cox’s yards (58) came on one busted play in the fourth quarter against Air Force reserves. Cox had one legitimate, meaningful and productive drive, moving the Pack 75 yards on 10 plays for a touchdown (Cox ran it in from 10 yards out), cutting the deficit to just 10-7 early in the second quarter. Cox also had three impressive completions on the drive.
After that though, the offense disappeared until Air Force suddenly decided to empty the sideline and, it seemed, the stands and let anyone play defense in the fourth quarter. The offense under Cox had the ball for just 16:19 and picked up a mere 11 first downs and just 242 total yards. The bulk of those yards (139) came on two parting-gift, meaningless touchdown drives in the fourth quarter.
RUNNING BACKS: C
You can’t blame this 28-point loss on the running backs. But if you blinked you might have missed most of their carries. Toa Taua had just nine carries but he found enough time to pick up 73 yards and score two touchdowns. Yes, of course, most of Taua’s yards (48), like the bulk of the Pack offense, came in the fourth quarter with the game decided and the Air Force starters on the bench. Taua also caught three passes for 17 yards.
Devonte Lee had just five carries for 20 yards, 11 on one run in the fourth quarter. There will likely be a moment this year when the Pack coaches figure out that Taua and Lee need at least 50 touches (runs, catches) a game combined in order for this offense to function properly. But that moment hasn’t happened yet.
RECEIVERS: C
There just weren’t that many opportunities for the Pack receivers to make plays. Jamaal Bell did catch three passes for 65 yards, with one going for 58 yards in the middle of a confused Air Force secondary in the fourth quarter. Dalevon Campbell also caught three for nine whole yards. None of the other wide receivers or tight ends (B.J. Casteel, Spencer Curtis, Dazure Paggett and Jacob Munro) caught more than one pass for more than 15 yards. None of the receivers also got to the end zone and just four of Cox’s 12 completions were for a first down. In defense of the Pack quarterbacks and receivers the Nevada passing game seems to be taken out of some dusty, weathered 1972 playbook.
OFFENSIVE LINE: C
The Wolf Pack offensive line also wasn’t to blame for this four-touchdown loss. Cox wasn’t sacked (the Air Force defense has just one sack all season) and seemed to have plenty of time to throw on his 20 attempts for the most part (just two official quarterback hurries).
Wolf Pack runners also got at least back to the line of scrimmage or picked up positive yards on 17 of their 18 carries. The Pack averaged 6.2 yards a carry on the ground but 10 of the 18 runs were also for three yards or less. So, yes, the Pack offensive front didn’t dominate but they also weren’t dominated either. One Pack offensive lineman was caught illegally downfield (the penalty was declined) and another (Grant Starck) was called for a false start so it was a fairly clean game up front.
DEFENSIVE LINE: D
Keep these numbers in mind when judging the Pack defense: Air Force had the ball for nearly 44 minutes and picked up 30 first downs, 541 total yards (461 on the ground) and scored six touchdowns and had two field goals on all eight of its drives that didn’t end with the clock expiring. So, basically, the Pack defense never stopped the Air Force offense.
Thomas Witte, Christopher Love, James Hansen and Dion Washington each had three tackles among the defensive linemen. That’s likely because the Falcons made sure that Dom Peterson wasn’t going to make any play. Peterson finished with just one tackle. None of the tackles by the front were behind the line of scrimmage. The Pack defensive front was indeed dominated by the Air Force offensive front.
LINEBACKERS: D
Drue Watts, who might be the best Pack defender not named Dom Peterson, had 11 tackles, one for a one-yard loss on Air Force quarterback Haaziq Daniels in the second quarter. Maurice Wilmer and Naki Mateialona each had six tackles. Douglas High graduate Chris Smalley had three, including one on a 2-yard gain by Air Force running back Brad Roberts in the second quarter. But these stops were all empty-calorie tackles. None of the linebacker tackles ever forced an Air Force punt or got the Pack defense off the field.
Air Force simply ran the ball down the Pack throats the entire game and the Pack was rarely in the right place at the right time even though everyone in the stadium knew where Air Force was going.
SECONDARY: D
The Wolf Pack secondary only allowed one completion but it was for an 80-yard touchdown late in the first quarter by a backup quarterback. It also must be noted that Air Force only threw three passes. This game, like all Air Force games, is about the secondary stopping the run. And, well, that certainly didn’t happen.
Bentlee Sanders was active with eight tackles and Tyson Williams had six, one for a loss. Zeke Robbins had five tackles but was called for a pass interference. Isaiah Essissima had four tackles while Jaden Dedman had the Pack’s lone sack to go along with three tackles.
But compiling tackles is one thing. Making meaningful tackles is another. And there just wasn’t enough of those, even against the Air Force substitutes from the middle of the third quarter on. Most of the tackles by the Pack secondary were after gains of five or more yards. Just two of Sanders’ eight tackles, for example, were stops for less than a six-yard gain. Three of Essissima’s four tackles were after gains of 12 or more yards.
SPECIAL TEAMS: C
Starting kicker Brandon Talton didn’t play. Matthew Killam, who handles the Pack kickoffs, missed one of his three extra points. Matt Freem and Harry Webster shared the Pack punting duties with Freem averaging 37.7 on three punts and Webster averaging 43.3 on his three punts.
The Pack also didn’t make any plays of note in the return game. Marquese Allen-Patmon was off-side on one Pack kickoff. Air Force didn’t return any of the Pack’s six punts. The special teams had nothing to do with this game.
COACHING: D
We’re still waiting to see this Wolf Pack coaching staff make an impact on any area of this football team. The Wolf Pack offense once again remained lifeless and the defense looked unprepared. The play calling on offense, once again, also gave off a “we surrender” tone. The Pack tossed a 5-yard pass on one 3rd-and-14. On another 3rd-and-12 the Pack tossed a pass to Dalevon Campbell that resulted in a 2-yard loss. The Pack simply has zero identity on offense right now. It is all over the place and nowhere good.
If the defense doesn’t force a turnover it doesn’t stop anyone. This coaching staff remains a mystery. The offensive playbook, for example, looks eerily similar to that of the Pack’s plan of attack in the Quick Lane Bowl against Western Michigan last December when the team didn’t really have an offensive coaching staff. The defense disappeared against Air Force and looked like it didn’t want to be on the field.
What is the culture of this team? What is the philosophy on offense or defense? The season is nearly half over and we still don’t have any answers. The next two weeks (Nevada doesn’t play again until Oct. 7 at home against Colorado State) is crucial for this coaching staff to put its stamp on the team.
OVERALL: D
How anemic was the Wolf Pack offense and defense on Friday? Well, try historic. The Wolf Pack had the ball for just 16:19 against Air Force, which is likely a Wolf Pack school record for futility. The NCAA doesn’t officially keep track of time of possession records but the record for the lowest time of possession in a FBS game is believed to be the 12:10 that Rutgers had the ball against Michigan in 2017, followed by Georgia State (14:46) against Air Force in 2016 and San Diego State (14:59) against BYU in 2010.
The lowest Pack time of possession over the last 22 years before last Friday, for example, was 18:40 against Air Force in 2017, 19:11 against SMU in 2003 and 19:22 against Nebraska in 2007. The Pack also had just 38 plays against Air Force, its fewest in a game since it had 37 against Boise State in 2006 (they had the ball for 22:12 in that game).
The Pack just went through its toughest two-game stretch of the year at Iowa and Air Force and simply didn’t show up in either game. The Pack climbed into the ring against two heavyweights at Iowa and Air Force, arguably its two most physical opponents of the year, and didn’t take a dive. But they also seemed afraid to even throw a punch.
