Pack Keys: Special teams costly against Bulldogs

A look back at the key moments, players and plays from the Nevada Wolf Pack's 24-21 loss to the Fresno State Bulldogs at Mackay Stadium on Friday:

KEY PLAYS

The two plays that hurt the most involved punter Guy Gillespie, a junior college transfer from Northeast Mississippi Community College. But it wasn't Gillespie's fault either time that he was on the field when Fresno State drastically altered the course of events on Firday. The Wolf Pack led when it faced a 3rd-and-nine from its own 28 with just under seven minutes to play in the first half. The next thing the Pack new Gillespie was running for his life and being dropped for a 12-yard loss back on his own 16-yard line. The Bulldogs scored three plays later to take the lead. The second time Fresno State's special teams took control of the game was with 1:17 left in the third quarter and the Bulldogs' up 24-21. Gillespie lined up to punt again on a 4th-and-25 from the Wolf Pack 37. This time the Bulldogs forced Gillespie to tuck the ball away and again run for his life. The result was a 10-yard loss, giving Fresno State the ball at the Pack 27. That dramatic change in field position all but destroyed the Pack's ability to do anything on offense the rest of the game as their three drives in the fourth quarter started at the 6, 4 and 6-yard lines.

KEY COACHING DECISION

Fresno State led 24-21 with just under two minutes to play, facing a 4th-and-1 at the Nevada 46. The safe, logical play at that time would have been to punt, pushing the Wolf Pack as far away as possible from a game-tying field goal with well under two minutes left. Fresno State coach Tim Skipper, though, surprisingly sent his offense back out on the field and had quarterback Mikey Keene try to sneak his way to a pivotal first down. Keene, who had never rushed for more than nine yards in any of his previous 18 games at Fresno State the last two seasons, had three carries for minus 17 yards before that fourth down play. Keene, though, picked up two yards and a first down, allowing the Bulldogs to kill off another 1:44 before punting the ball back to the Pack with 11 seconds to play. Skipper's aggressive nature, though, didn't always work out on Saturday. Up 24-21, the Fresno coach went for a first down on a 4th-and-goal from the Nevada 6-yard line. The Bulldogs failed to pick up the touchdown on a Keene pass. Keene, by the way, completed his first eight passes for 82 yards in the first quarter and was just 5-of-12 the rest of the game for 108 yards and an interception the rest of the game.

Nevada backup quarterback Chubba Purdy (13) looks for rooming room against Fresno State’s Malachi Langley (9) and Jayden Davis (11) in Friday night’s game at Mackay Stadium.

Steve Ranson / LVN

 

KEY MOMENT

The Wolf Pack led 21-17 when Fresno State faced a 3rd-and-3 at its own 12-yard line with just six minutes to go in the third quarter. A stop here by the Pack defense and, well, the final outcome likely would have been much different than it turned out to be. Fresno quarterback Mikey Keene then flipped a simple screen pass down the middle to running back Elijah Gilliam and the Pack defense seemed to disappear. Gilliam rambled for 71 yards down to the Pack 17-yard line. The Bulldogs scored three plays later as a still-stunned Pack defense somehow allowed Bulldogs' backup quarterback Joshua Wood take the snap from center on an obvious Wildcat formation play and weave his way into the end zone from seven yards out for a game-deciding 24-21 Fresno State lead.

KEY STAT

The Wolf Pack, which had just run for 353 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-37 win over Oregon State the week before, finished with a mere 84 yards on 39 carries against Fresno State. But don't blame the running game. The problem in the Wolf Pack's final rushing stats took place when the Pack attempted to punt or throw the ball. Punter Guy Gillespie lost 22 yards on two botched punt attempts and the Pack quarterbacks lost 34 yards on three sacks (two on Lewis, one on Chubba Purdy). Take those disastrous plays off the rushing stats the Wolf Pack would have had a respectable 140 yards on the ground on 34 attempts. The Wolf Pack finished the game with an eye-opening 63 yards lost on running plays, its most negative rushing yardage in a game since it lost 78 in a 41-39 loss to Air Force in 2021. The 34 yards lost on sacks is the most by the Pack since it lost 49 against Fresno State in a 27-9 loss last year (Lewis was sacked six times by the Bulldogs in that game and A.J. Bianco was dropped once).

KEY HIDDEN STAT

The Wolf Pack had two quarterbacks throw for 50 or more yards against Fresno State. It is the first time two Pack quarterbacks had 50 or more yards (Lewis had 158, Purdy had 53) in the same game since last year's 27-9 Nevada loss at Fresno State when Lewis threw for 70 and Bianco passed for 97. The common denominator in both games was the Wolf Pack's inability to control the Fresno State pass rush. The punishment the Bulldogs put on the Pack quarterbacks the last two games in the rivalry prompted a quarterback shift in the Nevada offense both times.

KEY NEVADA CONCERN

What happened to the Wolf Pack offense in the second half? The Pack scored 21 points and had 236 yards of offense as well as 10 first downs in the first half. In the second half those numbers were reduced to zero points, six first downs and 59 yards. Fresno State also did its best to eat up clock (and avoid a 10th Mikey Keene interception this year) after Pack linebacker Drue Watts intercepted a Keene pass with just over two minutes to play in the third quarter. The Bulldogs ran the ball 17 times and attempted just two passes after Watts' interception and controlled the ball for nearly 10 of the final 16 minutes of the game. The Wolf Pack had the ball on Saturday for just 27:39. The Pack has had the ball for just 26:03 (Oregon State) and 27:39 (Fresno State) the last two weeks, the only times this season it hasn't had the ball for at least 29-plus minutes.

Nevada quarterback Brenden Lewis leaps headfirst for a late first-half score against Fresno State Friday night at Mackay Stadium.

Steve Ranson / LVN

 

KEY TREND

It's not difficult to determine why the Wolf Pack either wins (three) or loses (five) games this season. The Pack, which was shut out in the second half on Saturday, has scored just 20 points in the second half and just three points in the fourth quarter in its five losses this season combined. In its three victories it has scored 78 points in the second half and 50 points in the fourth quarter. For a team that, by design, wants to keep the score close heading into the fourth quarter, that is a telling statistic. Four of the Pack's five losses this year have come by a combined total of 15 points.

KEY MISSING INGREDIENT

Jaden Smith and Cortez Braham, the Wolf Pack's dependable duo at wide receiver over the first six games, has been a bit one dimensional the last two weeks. Smith, who had nine catches for 134 yards against Fresno State, did not have a catch two weeks ago in a 42-37 win over Oregon State and Braham did not have a single catch against Fresno State. Braham, who had 29 catches for 313 yards and two touchdowns over the first six games, has just one catch for 16 yards and no scores over the last two games. Marcus Bellon, the Pack's third wide receiver, has just three catches for 27 yards over the last two games (he had 18 for 233 yards and two scores after six games). A new weapon at wide receiver, though, might have peeked his head out of his hole (Punxsutawney Phil meet Nevada Nate) against Fresno State when Nate Burleson II caught a 46-yard touchdown in the second quarter. It was Burleson's first catch all season (he had two last year). Burleson, though, was targeted just twice all game and never caught another pass. The Wolf Pack the last two games has seemingly been more preoccupied with throwing passes to quarterbacks than making sure all of its wide receivers stay involved. Purdy and Lewis each caught a pass against Oregon State and Purdy had one catch against Fresno State.

UP NEXT FOR NEVADA

The Wolf Pack (3-5, 0-2) will travel to Hawaii to meet the Rainbow Warriors (2-5, 0-2) on Saturday (9 p.m.). The Wolf Pack has lost three of its last four games at Hawaii and four of its last five overall. Hawaii beat Nevada, 27-14, last year at Mackay Stadium.