Keys: Pack was never really in the game in Minnesota loss

A look back at the key moments, players and plays from the Nevada Wolf Pack's 27-0 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday in Minneapolis:

KEY PLAY

The Wolf Pack was trailing just 6-0 with under five minutes to go in the first half, facing a 3rd-and-9 at their own 21. Quarterback Brendon Lewis, who was already intercepted once in the first quarter, then dropped back, again looking to throw. Lewis' ill-advised pass was picked off at the Wolf Pack 33-yard line by Kerry Brown (his second pick of the game) and returned 17 yards to the 16-yard line. It took Minnesota just two plays to score the game's first touchdown to take a 13-0 lead. The Gophers would add another touchdown just 32 seconds before halftime to basically put the game away.

KEY DRIVE

The last five minutes of the first half wiped away any chance Nevada had to win the game. Minnesota, buoyed by its second interception of Lewis (see Key Play) and touchdown for a 13-0 lead, then took possession at its own 31-yard line with 1:55 to play in the half. The Gophers shredded the Pack defense, going 69 yards in seven plays for a game-deciding 20-0 lead. The drive, Minnesota's best of the day, was a work of art. Quarterback Max Brosmer found running back Darius Taylor for 11 yards through the air and wide receiver Daniel Jackson for 14 to open the drive. Three plays later, he connected with Jameson Geers for 22 yards to the Pack 18 with 46 seconds to go in the half. A pass interference call on Nevada defensive back Michael Coats Jr. (one of eight Pack penalties) put the ball at the 4-yard line. Taylor scored from the 4 two plays later for a demoralizing 20-0 lead just 32 seconds before the break. Game over.

KEY PLAYER

Minnesota's Taylor had fancy numbers, rushing for 124 yards and two touchdowns and catching five passes for 37 yards and another score. He was clearly the star of the game. But Minnesota didn't really need a star to beat the Pack on Saturday. Dragan Kesich's two first-quarter field goals (52, 21 yards) on this day would have been enough to subdue Nevada, with all of its missed tackles on defense, continued undisciplined play (eight more penalties) and costly mistakes (three Lewis interceptions).

KEY NUMBERS

It's hard to look past the three interceptions simply because it was so out of character for Lewis. The Pack quarterback went into Saturday's game without getting intercepted in almost a year, since he was picked off twice in the first half last year (Oct. 14) at home against UNLV. His streak of attempts without a pick reached 177 in a row when he connected with Cortez Braham for nine yards in the first half at Minnesota. To put Saturday in perspective, Lewis had been intercepted just nine times his entire career (609 attempts) over his first four-plus seasons of college football (the first three at Colorado). That included 26 attempts in two games (in 2020, 2021) against Minnesota. But there was Lewis on Saturday, getting picked off three times in a span of just 20 throws from the first quarter to early in the fourth quarter. It was just a weird day all around for Lewis. When he wasn't getting picked off, it seemed, he was getting sacked (four times). Over the first three games this year he was never intercepted and was sacked just twice.

KEY STRATEGY

The Wolf Pack, it also seemed, lost confidence in its running game even before the game started. Lewis either threw or tried to throw passes on five of the Pack's first seven plays. Only one of those five passes, though, survived to be recorded in the official stats (a 9-yard completion to Cortez Braham). The other four resulted in a sack and three that were wiped off the books because of two penalties on Minnesota and one on Nevada. The pass-heavy attack to open the game set the tone for the Pack run game in a negative way. The Pack ran the ball 31 times for just 58 yards (1.9 a carry). Those ugly numbers were, in large part, due to 27 yards in losses on the four sacks on Lewis. But the Pack backs also had little room to maneuver, gaining just 59 yards on just 21 carries combined. The Pack fell behind, Lewis kept dropping back and the Pack offense vanished for the first time this year.

KEY PROBLEM AREA

The Wolf Pack was whistled for eight penalties (89 yards) against Minnesota. That effort was after getting called 14 times for 134 yards in losses the week before in a 20-17 loss at home to Georgia Southern. The Pack has committed 37 penalties this year in four games for 349 yards in losses. But even those numbers are softened a bit because they only had four penalties for 45 yards on the road at Troy which, not surprisingly, is their only win this year. The Pack is on pace for 120 penalties for 1,134 yards this year (13 games). Last year in 12 games the Pack had 81 penalties for 702 yards. The year before (2022), also in 12 games, it was 72-661.

KEY HIDDEN STAT

The two teams combined for just 112 total plays, 58 by Minnesota and 54 by Nevada. Each team had just four possessions in the second half. It is the fewest combined plays by both teams in a Wolf Pack game this century, since Nevada joined the Western Athletic Conference in 2000. The previous low this century was 113 by Nevada (60) and Colorado State (53) in a 28-10 Pack win in 2006. The 112 total plays were fewer than the Wolf Pack had by itself in a three-overtime win against Furman (114) in the 1990 Division I-AA playoffs. The Pack also had 109 plays itself against San Diego State in 2013 (a 51-44 loss).

The Pack's 54 plays against Minnesota were its fewest since it had 38 against Air Force in 2022. The only other time it had fewer than 54 plays this century was 53 against Colorado State in 2015.

The Wolf Pack's 172 total yards on offense is its fewest since it had just 151 at Iowa (also a Big Ten school) in 2022. The Wolf Pack defense has allowed the opposition just 114 plays (58 by Minnesota and 54 by Georgia Southern) the last two weeks combined. The Pack lost both games.

KEY KEEP-AWAY MOMENT

Lewis' third interception (tossed into triple coverage in the end zone), with just under seven minutes to play, was the Pack's final offensive play of the game. Minnesota controlled the ball for the final 6:55, chewing up the tired, exhausted and demoralized Pack on a dozen plays with its reserves on the field. The Pack, surprisingly, still had a 30:47 to 29:13 edge in time of possession for the game despite the fact they didn't touch the ball for nearly the final seven minutes of the game. It must be noted that before the final drive, Minnesota had the ball for just 22:18 to the Pack's 30:47 and still led 27-0 without a defensive or special teams score.

KEY HISTORICAL NOTE

The Wolf Pack on Saturday was shut out for the first time in two seasons. The last time the Pack was kept off the scoreboard, the score was the same (27-0) and it also happened against a Big Ten team (Iowa) on the road, a mere 300 miles or so from where Saturday's shutout took place. The shutout at Iowa was the first against the Pack since a 10-0 loss at Weber State in 1980. That Weber State whitewashing was the only shutout the Pack suffered between 1975 and 2022. The Pack, on the other hand, was shut out 12 times from 1961 through 1975, the year before coach Chris Ault took over the program.  

UP NEXT

The Wolf Pack (1-3, 0-0) will host Eastern Washington (1-2, 0-0) on Saturday (noon) at Mackay Stadium. The Eagles of the FCS Big Sky Conference lost to Southeastern Louisiana, 28-24, this past weekend.