Nevada-New Mexico Preview

12/18/2007 4:52 PM

By KATE HEDLIN
STATS Writer

New Mexico may have the advantage of playing at home, but Nevada believes a freshman quarterback and one of the nation's top rushers will be enough to top the Lobos on Saturday in the New Mexico Bowl.

For the second consecutive year, New Mexico will be playing at University Stadium in its bowl game. The Lobos, however, lost 20-12 to San Jose State in last year's inaugural New Mexico Bowl to extend their postseason futility to five games.

"It's no bigger than every other door we knock down around here, but it's a big challenge," Lobos coach Rocky Long said of the losing streak.

New Mexico, which went 5-1 this year at home, is looking for its first bowl victory since the 1961 Aviation Bowl. Overall, the team is 2-7-1 in postseason play.

New Mexico will have to find a way to slow down Nevada's highly potent offense. The Wolf Pack (6-6) averaged 36.3 points - 18th in the country - and 488.9 yards of total offense per game - seventh highest.

Much of the credit for the offense efficiency lies with quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the Western Athletic Conference freshman of the year. Kaepernick took over for Nick Graziano, who injured a tendon in his foot on Oct. 6 and was lost for the year. Graziano was 2-3 as a starter, but it was under the redshirt freshman that the Wolf Pack really showed potential.

Kaepernick threw for 2,038 yards, 19 touchdowns and just three interceptions in 10 total games, including nine touchdowns in his final four games. With him under center as a starter, Nevada averaged 39.1 points and 487.4 yards per game.

Citing Kaepernicks's statistics this year, Long said New Mexico's defense is expecting a challenge from the quarterback.

"That doesn't sound like a rookie to me," he said. "With seven games under his belt, I don't see that as a freshman quarterback that we are going to be able to rattle."

The Wolf Pack also have an equally dangerous running game. Luke Lippincott ranks 17th in the country with 1,380 net yards on the ground, and his 15 rushing touchdowns tie him 16th nationally. Nevada averaged 225.8 rushing yards per game - 12th in the country.

Despite the performance by the offense, the Wolf Pack still finished with their fewest wins since 2004 when they went 5-7. Especially frustrating was that four of their six losses were by a touchdown or less.

"Our season didn't turn out the way we had hoped but we get a chance to end our season and our careers with one more win. That means a lot to me and the rest of the seniors," tight end Adam Bishop said.

Nevada is hoping the time off won't negatively impact the progress the defense made later in the season. After initially struggling, allowing opponents to average 40.5 points in their first six games, the defense held opponents to 25.3 points over the next six, during which Nevada went 4-2.

This is Nevada's third consecutive bowl game. The Wolf Pack lost 21-20 to Miami in last year's MPC Computers Bowl and the year before, they beat Central Florida 49-48 in overtime in the Hawaii Bowl. Overall, Nevada is 3-4 in its bowl history.

The Lobos went 8-4 this year, marking just the fourth time since 1965 that they have won eight games. Receiver Travis Brown admits there was some disappointment that the team will remain on campus rather than travel to a more prestigious bowl.

"In a sense, we felt we should have had a - for lack of a better word - a better bowl game," he said. "But we're all happy to be here. We would have loved to have been in San Diego or Las Vegas, but we're here."

One New Mexico player who won't be there is leading rusher Rodney Ferguson, who was declared academically ineligible Tuesday. Ferguson, a junior, was the team's top rusher the past two seasons, running for 1,177 yards and 13 touchdowns this season.

His absence might put more pressure on quarterback Donovan Porterie, who completed 58.6 percent of his passes while throwing for 2,652 yards, 13 TDs and eight interceptions.

One of the most consistent players for the Lobos this season was kicker John Sullivan, who became just the second New Mexico player to be named a first-team All-American. Sullivan, who has played despite suffering from a torn ACL in his plant leg, has converted on 26 of 29 field goal attempts and 28 of 29 PATs. His 26 field goals are the second-most in the country, and he was also perfect on nine field-goal attempts between 40-49 yards long - tied for second-best in the nation.

This is the third meeting between these teams. Nevada won 26-7 in 1941 and the teams played to a scoreless tie the next year.