Opening Day Gripe But There Is Some Good News Too
Life is occupied in both perpetuating itself and in surpassing itself; if all it does is maintain itself, then living is only not dying.
- Simone de Beauvoir
The University of Nevada ran over the Grambling Tigers, 49-13, and won their first season opener since 2003. A win is always welcomed but in the upcoming weeks the Pack host Texas Tech and then hit the road to take on Missouri. After three weeks the Pack will likely be 1-2 and as usual in this latest Chris Ault era the pack will playing towards mediocrity.
2007 6-7, 4-4
2006 8-5, 5-3
2005 9-3, 7-1
2004 5-7, 3-5
28-22 .560
In the last four seasons the Pack has managed a mainly mediocre .560 winning percentage and a 1-2 record in post season bowl games.There have always been constant grumbling on the message boards that no one shows up to the games but one must remember that you have to give the fans a reason to come to Mackay Stadium and at this point they aren’t all lot of reasons. Positive showings against Texas Tech and Mizzou could remedy the situation and maybe create some buzz around Reno.
But as the Coach Ault ship keeps drifting in a sea of mediocrity the University of Nevada announced that they will honor their greatest son, Marion Motley. Throughout the 2008 season the Wolf Pack will have an image of Motley on their scoreboard at Mackay Stadium and their website will have various features honoring him throughout the season. 2008 marks the 40th anniversary of Motley’s introduction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
2008 Nevada Football Preview
The 2007 version of the Wolf Pack finished the year 6-7 (4-4) and were lambasted by their Lobo hosts 23-0 in the New Mexico Bowl. That season was filled with close calls; four losses by seven points or less. Including losses to Boise State and Hawaii by a total of four points. Of course they squeaked out close wins against a pair of Aggie (31-28 at Utah State and 40-38 at New Mexico State). Throughout the season you never knew what version of the Pack was going to show up: the one that went toe to toe with national powerhouses or team that played down to its lesser opponents.
This season will likely be a similar to 2007 with some missed opportunities at victory and a general sense that the Pack is not ready to make the jump from mid level WAC team to the Boise States or Fresno States of the world. The Pack will beat the opponents that they’re supposed to and like 2007 they will fall short against the better teams in the WAC and the rest of the NCAA.
- 8/30 Grambling (W) The Pack scheduled a cupcake to start of their new campaign. It seems that they have learned from last seasons opening day fiasco against Nebraska and want to start their new season on the right foot. I am probably more stoked to see the Tiger Marching Band than the actual team.
- 9/6 Texas Tech (L) The Red Raiders are a preseason top 25 pick by many pundits and bring their high powered passing game, dubbed Air Raid, to Reno, and they will invoke memories of the Blitz to the Pack’s revamped 4-3 defense.
- 9/13 @ Missouri (L) Missouri finished 5th (AP) in the country and the Pack will likely wish that they had stayed in No Town after squaring off against the Tigers and Heisman finalist Chase Daniel.
- 9/27 @ UNLV (W) Coach Ault makes it a point to always beat the Rebels. Maybe he should also focus on the other 11 games each season…
- 10/04 @ Idaho (W) I almost attended the University of Idaho and I am glad I didn’t. The Vandal football program is one of the reasons why I am glad I didn’t go. Some of my negative vibes about the Vandals are also shared by Pete Fiutak, of FoxSports.com, who stated “Idaho won’t go 1-11, but it’ll likely be the underdog in all 11 FBS games.”
- 10/11 New Mexico State (L) It’ll definitely be a high scoring affair in Reno. The Pack have more fire power and a better defense than the Aggies and this will be a prototypical WAC game.
- 10/18 Utah State (W) The WAC’s other Aggies are about as potent as the an AARP memeber that forgot its Viagra.
- 10/26 @ Hawaii (L) Sure they lost everything that got them to the BCS but even a stripped down version of the Warriors are a tough opponent when they’re playing at home.
- 11/07 @ Fresno State (L) The Bulldogs will be the third straight team from the WAC to play in a BCS bowl game.
- 11/15 San Jose State (L) When I attended Nevada I used to laugh at the Spartans but Coach Tomey has changed the culture of San Jose State.
- 11/22 Boise State (L) Nevada has not beaten Boise State since 1998 and this decade of futility will continue.
- 11/29 @ Louisiana Tech (W) The Bulldogs are led by a champion… only that Champion is named Zac.
Two Man Pack In The Vegas Summer League
Courtesy of Misc. WAC Football Notes…
Western Athletic Conference foes, Nevada and Louisiana Tech, were both listed by Rivals.com as being the hosts in match ups “where the visiting team has a lot to lose and not much – or anything – to gain.” The article is slap in the face to the Pack by portraying the WAC stalwarts as nothing more than victims to their more prominent brethren.
The Wolfpack are hosting the Texas Tech Raiders on September 6th. The Red Raiders averaged 40.9 points per game and will likely light up the scoreboard against Nevada’s defense that gave up 32.2. ppg, 95th in the NCAA, last season.
The LA Tech Bulldogs open up with the Mississippi State Bulldogs on August 30th. Per Rivals.com,”This is the first time an SEC team has deigned to travel to Ruston to play the Bulldogs.”
In all likelihood Nevada will get throttled by Texas Tech but scheduling the Red Raiders is an indication that Coach Ault and the Pack are making the proper scheduling strides.Hopefully the results will not be as one sided as last season’s fiasco against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
NCAA Tournament 2008
It seems that I am spoiled fan and that my expectations are through the roof for University of Nevada basketball. After four straight NCAA Tournament appearances the Wolf Pack were in rebuilding mode this season and finished the season 21-12 (12-4) which is a good season but relegated the team to the College Basketball Invitational, which I think is a step below the N.I.T.
When one considers that Nevada lost four out of five starters, Kemp being the only one back form the 2006-07 season, 21 wins is good showing. Essentially the program has reached the point where 21 wins is a disappointment and this is a good thing. The University of Nevada has never been an athletic powerhouse but Coach Fox has developed a squad that plays at a very high level on a national stage.
Nevada Alumni For Obama
Anti-Ault Website
Courtesy of http://www.fireault.blogspot.com/
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Mission Accomplished: Another “Bowl” Invite
Chris Ault has led the Wolf Pack to yet another default-appearance in the post season. After completely dominating perennial cellar dweller, Louisiana Tech 49-10 on Saturday (in front of approximately 10,000 fans), Ault gladly accepted an invite to the 2nd annual New Mexico Bowl.
The Wolf Pack, 6-6 on the season, “earned” an invite due to the fact that June Jone’s Hawaii football team will be playing the BCS’s Sugar Bowl. Had UH not been invited to a non-WAC affiliated bowl, the Pack would have almost assuredly been left out in the cold. This marks the second consecutive year that the University of Nevada’s football team has accepted a bid to a WAC affiliated bowl game because another WAC team earned a BCS bowl appearance. The Western Athletic Conference is aligned with 3 bowl games.
The Pack fan base has acknowledge this seemingly undeserved bowl-eligbility, by attending home football games in alarmingly small numbers. Chris Ault’s football team is recently drawing an attendance less than that required to remain NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (D1) eligible. Click HERE to read a USA Today blog on the issue of D1 attendance requirements.
The auspicious New Mexico Bowl will be held on December 22, 2007, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Thank you, whoever coaches Nevada
When you don’t ice someone, you only have 24 seconds to make the kick. He gave me another 60 seconds to think about it,” University of Hawaii kicker Dan Kelly said. “Unless you’re a total head case, thinking about it shouldn’t be that difficult of a task because it’s only a 45 yarder. “So, thank you. I don’t even know the guy’s name, but whoever coaches Nevada, ‘Thank you.”‘
Maybe I was wrong in my perpetual assertion that no one likes Ault on the Nevada sidelines. If Hawaii goes on to BCS bliss they need to thank Ault because he once again showed that he is playing checkers while the rest of the football world is playing chess.
Last Friday’s match up against the University of Hawaii was the greatest opportunity that the Pack had to salvage some semblance of respectability from this poor 2007 campaign but like every other close game Ault found away to sink his own ship. Nevada is now 5-5 and can count nail biting losses against Boise State, Northwestern, and now Hawaii as bad game management and that responsibility lies solely on Ault. If you want the accolades of being a leader, well you have to take the brunt of the criticism.
“Courage is often found in having the willingness to chuck the textbook out the window and trust one’s own instincts,” Matt Zemek of CollegeFootballNews.com said. “Perhaps this is what Ault was thinking in the final minutes of Friday night’s nailbiter against unbeaten Hawaii. The evidence, however, suggests that the leader of the (Wolf) Pack simply committed a few astoundingly bad errors in judgment.”
They Pulled The Plug On DPC of the RGJ
“I nearly had a heart attack when I saw there was a guest columnist for basketball”, Reno_Zen said. “I thought the Gazoo was letting that Castro guy write about basketball too. Thank goodness they did not…that guy is not a good writer.”
Truthfully it is a lack of interest for the Lil’ General and His Soldiers. Nevada has developed into a school like Indiana. Where basketball is king and the only reason I know the Hoosiers have a football program is because of Antwaan Randle El.
Wolf Pack Guest Column: New Mexico State Aggies
The University of Nevada held of New Mexico State, 40-38, in Las Cruces. The Pack held on to victory after the Aggies shanked the game winning field goal attempt.
The Pack are now 5-4, 3-2 in the WAC and have slim bowl hopes. They now have a week off to prepare for the Hawaii Warriors. The Warriors are 14th in the BCS and even though the Colt Brennen Heisman campaign has died off but the Warriors offense should be feared, regardless of the weather in No Town.
Reno Gazette Journal- Wolf Pack Guest Column
