Keys to the Game: Down 14, Pack rallies for first win under Choate

A look back at some key moments, players and plays from the Nevada Wolf Pack's 28-26 victory over the Troy Trojans on Saturday at Troy. Ala.:

KEY DRIVE

The Wolf Pack was trailing 14-0 late in the first half and doing almost nothing on offense. The Pack failed to score over its first four drives of the game, punting the ball twice, coming up short on a fourth down and missing a field goal. The Wolf Pack, down by two touchdowns, took the ball over at its own 43-yard line with just 3:01 to play in the half, desperate for some momentum and positive thoughts to take into the third quarter. And then everything just started to click. The Pack came out aggressively with three minutes left in the half as quarterback Brendon Lewis threw the ball on the first six plays of the drive, completing five (one completion was wiped out by a Pack penalty). The Pack then faced a third-and-1 with 51 seconds left in the half at the Troy 20-yard line. Patrick Garwo picked up three yards on the ground and then Lewis connected with tight end Jace Henry on a perfect throw down the middle for a 17-yard touchdown with 25 seconds left until halftime. The touchdown drive put the Pack right back in the game at halftime, now down just 14-6, and full of confidence.

KEY ADJUSTMENT

It was subtle and likely something planned before the game. But it worked to perfection and certainly was the biggest reason why the Wolf Pack came home with its first victory of the season. The Wolf Pack, with starting running back Sean Dollars on the field, had the ball for just six plays and a mere 10 yards, no first downs and no points over its first two drives of the game. The Pack then inserted Savion Red and Patrick Garwo into the backfield and the offense head coach Jeff Choate envisioned finally emerged. It took a couple more drives for the Pack to finally put some points on the board but Red and Garwo breathed life into the Pack offense immediately. Red went for nine yards on his first carry of the game and Garwo went for 10. Red finished the game with 135 yards on 11 carries, becoming the first Pack back to rush for at least 100 yards since Tua Taua in 2018 against UNLV. Garwo had 53 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns. Dollars had just two yards on four carries, getting two carries after the first two drives of the game.

KEY PLAY

The Pack final drive of the first half got them back in the game. The first play of the second half changed the game entirely. Red took a handoff from Lewis and exploded through the Troy defense for 69 yards, down to the 6-yard line. Garwo covered the final six yards over the next two plays and the Pack suddenly found itself in a 14-14 tie. Red's dynamic run turned the game around, giving the Pack confidence and all of the momentum and putting Troy back on its heels for the rest of the night on its home turf.

KEY PLAYER

Brendon Lewis is, it appears, taking the Nevada quarterback job and literally and figuratively running away with it. Lewis played a near-perfect game, completing 17-of-20 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns and also running the ball eight times for 34 yards. Six of his passes and one of his runs went for first downs. The Pack, with Lewis at the controls, converted 7-of-12 third downs into first downs. Wolf Pack quarterbacks, of course, have had more dynamic and explosive games in the past with more eye-opening numbers. But Lewis executed the Pack's run-first game plan to perfection and helped his teammates excel.

KEY NUMBERS

We saw Choate's grind-it-out offense come to life on Saturday. The Wolf Pack ran the ball on 34 of its 55 offensive plays, picking up 214 yards and averaging 6.3 yards per carry. Almost half (15) of the Nevada runs went for five yards or more. Three went for 20 or more yards, including Patrick Garwo's 22-yard touchdown run that put the Pack in the lead (21-17) to stay with 3:20 left in the third quarter.

KEY CALL

The Wolf Pack was trailing 17-14 with 5:34 left in the third quarter, facing a pivotal third-and-six from the Troy 49-yard line. A.J. Bianco, who had yet to throw a pass this season, was behind center in place of Lewis. The Pack boldly had Bianco put the ball in the air on the third-down play. Bianco confidently connected with wide receiver Jade Smith for 21 yards down to the Troy 28-yard. The Pack scored a touchdown three plays later on Garwo's 22-yard run for a 21-17 lead and never looked back.

KEY COACHING DECISION

Troy, trailing 28-17 with just over six minutes to play, simply did the Wolf Pack a favor. Troy's first-year head coach, Gerad Parker, played it ultra conservatively, facing a fourth-and-1 from the 1-yard line. Instead of going for the touchdown, which was three feet away and cutting the Pack to lead to less than a touchdown, Parker elected to go for the short, 19-yard field goal which reduced the Nevada lead to 28-20. "I heard the groans," Parker said after the game. But it's very simple. I would have loved to have gone (for the touchdown). But the risk of not getting anything (no points) and still being down two possessions is not worth it." Troy did score on its next possession but missed the game-tying two-point conversion and lost, a conversion they would not have needed had they scored a touchdown from a yard out on the previous drive.

KEY PACK DEFENDERS

Defensive end Henry Ikahihifo, linebacker Drue Watts and Tongiaki Mateialona, and defensive backs Kitan Crawford and Chad Brown continued to lead the Pack defense. Watts had 12 tackles (1.5 for a loss) while Ikahihifo, Mateialona, Crawford and Brown each had seven tackles. Ikahihifo also teamed with Kristopher Ross for the lone sack of the game. Brown broke up a pass.

KEY EMERGING PLAYERS

Tight end Jace Henry and wide receiver Marcus Bellon once again made their presence known in just their second Pack games. Henry, like he did the previous week against SMU, opened the Wolf Pack scoring with a 17-yard touchdown catch late the first half. The 6-foot-4 transfer from Dartmouth (23 catches in 25 career games over three seasons) had three catches for 31 yards at Troy and has now caught four passes for 36 yards and two touchdowns this season. Wide receiver Bellon, a Truckee High grad, spent the past two seasons as a backup at UTEP (15 catches over 16 games) and returning punts. The 5-foot-9 Bellon caught three passes for 38 yards at Troy, including a 7-yard touchdown for a 28-17 lead early in the fourth quarter. He also caught an 18-yard pass the previous week against SMU.

KEY LINEUP SWITCH:

Wolf Pack running back Ashton Hayes muffed a kickoff return against SMU that helped pave the way for the Mustangs’ 29-24 season-opening comeback victory on Aug. 24. The Pack replaced Hayes on the kick return team against Troy with Marquis Ashley and Ashley played an instrumental role in the Nevada victory. The 5-foot-7 Ashley, who did not make an appearance in each of the last two seasons after transferring from Riverside (Calif.) Community College, returned three kickoffs for 84 yards against Troy. His 43-yard return helped set up the Pack's first scoring drive late in the second quarter.

KEY WOLF PACK LUCK

The football gods smiled down upon the Wolf Pack on what turned out to be Nevada's game-winning drive late in the third quarter and into the fourth quarter. Troy's Robert Cole had a horrendous 8-yard punt out of bounds with just over a minute to play that gave the Wolf Pack the ball at Troy's 36-yard line. On the Wolf Pack's first play on that fortunate drive, however, Nevada running back Savion Red fumbled the ball at the 31-yard line. Fortunately for the Pack, though, offensive lineman Tyson Ruffins recovered Red's fumble to keep the drive alive. The Pack then tried a strange wildcat play with running back Caleb Ramseur, who came to the Pack as a walk-on after last season from Morehead State. Ramseur promptly lost six yards. The Wolf Pack, though, somehow salvaged the pivotal drive four plays later with Lewis' touchdown pass to Bellon for a game-clinching 28-17 lead, taking advantage of the good fortune because of Troy's anemic punt and Ruffins' fumble recovery.

KEY HIDDEN FACTOR

The work of the Wolf Pack's offensive line likely wasn't overlooked by the Pack players and coaches, but it might have gotten lost in the excitement of the program's first-ever victory under head coach Jeff Choate. The Wolf Pack offensive line paved the way for the ground game to run the ball 34 times for 214 yards (6.3 a carry). It also didn't allow the Wolf Pack to suffer a sack. The only penalty on the Pack offensive line all night was an illegal use of hands call on John Bolles in the second quarter (the Pack committed just four penalties all game, none in the second half).

UP NEXT

The Wolf Pack will host Georgia Southern at Mackay Stadium on Saturday at 4 p.m. It will be the first meeting between the two programs since they met for the Division I-AA national championship on Dec. 15, 1990, in Statesboro, Ga. (won by Georgia Southern 36-13).