Nevada 52, Nicholls St. 17

9/15/2007 11:58 PM

RENO, Nev. (AP) -Nick Graziano passed for 236 yards and five touchdowns Saturday to lead Nevada over Nicholls State 52-17.

Luke Lippincott rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown for the Wolf Pack, 1-2, which won its home opener after road losses to Nebraska and Northwestern. Nicholls State, of the Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA), dropped to 2-1.

Adam Bishop caught three touchdown passes from Graziano, including two in the third quarter as the Wolf Pack put the game out of reach. Graziano finished 11 of 23 with two interceptions.

Nevada had 581 yards of total offense. He was the first Nevada quarterback since David Neill in 1998 to throw five touchdowns in a game.

Nicholls State, which defeated Rice in its season opener, took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter on a 32-yard field goal by Alex Romero with 6:03 left and a 42-yard touchdown run by Zack Morgan with 18 seconds left.

Brett Jaekle put Nevada on the board with a career-long 45-yard field goal to make it 10-3 and Graziano hit Bishop from 25 yards out as Nevada tied it with 6:47 left in the half. A failed fake punt attempt on the Colonels ensuing possession gave Nevada the ball at the Nicholls State 28, and two plays later, Lippincott burst up the middle from 16 yards out for a touchdown.

The Wolf Pack needed only two plays to score on its next two possessions as Graziano completed a pair of long touchdown passes, the first to Marko Mitchell from 49 yards out and the second to Arthur King Jr., from 52 yards out, which put Nevada ahead 31-10.

Nicholls State, a triple-option team, attempted only one pass, which was incomplete. Cole Broderick had 54 yards and Zack Morgan 53 for the Colonels. Each had a touchdown run.