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The Goal - See 'em all!

Nevada Wolfpack defeats the Idaho Vandals, 37-21, as Collegefootballfan.com completes The Goal of seeing all 119 College Subdivision Bowl teams!

Reno, Nevada – The Nevada Wolfpack (4-4, 2-2 WAC) pulled away from a 17-14 lead in the fourth quarter to subdue a never-say-die Idaho Vandal team (1-8, 0-5 WAC), 37-21, as CollegeFootballFan.com saw the last two teams of 119 to complete Our Goal to see every college football Bowl Division team (formerly 1A) play in person at least once.  In two years, Western Kentucky will join the ranks, and Collegefootballfan.com will plan to see them play when they do to become our 120^th  team!  On the Nevada campus in Reno, we hooked up with Pack fan Paul Andrew and some of his cohorts for a pre-game tailgating party put together by his friend, Steve. We watched the game with Paul and his pals Todd and Phil as we sat in Mackay Stadium next to the Wolfpack band on about the 20-yard line.  The Pack took an early commanding lead, but the Vandals came back to make it a tight ballgame into the final period where the final score became an important factor to CFF.com!

     The Wolfpack's Alex Rosenblum put UN-Reno in great field position with a 19-yard punt return to the Idaho 33.  Paul pointed out Head Coach Chris Ault’s unique “Pistol Offense” where the tailback lines up deep behind the QB in the shotgun.  The Wolfpack wasted little time to score as RB Luke Lippincott (27 rushes for 119 yards) took it in from one, and PK Brett Jaekle’s PAT gave the Pack a 7-0 lead.  Rosenblum returned the next Idaho punt 26 yards to the IU 37.  This time the Wolfpack came up with three on Jaekle’s 37-yard FG for a 10-0 lead.  Paul, Todd, and Phil warned that as good as Nevada’s offense was playing, the defense was apt to let the Vandals back into the game.  They insist that their team tends to play to the level of its competition.  Two weeks ago, Nevada fell in four OTs to Boise State, 69-67, tying an NCAA scoring record for most points scored by two teams in a game.  Last week, they edged 0-8 Utah State, 31-28. Next Idaho offensive series - bang! Nevada applied pressure on IU Freshman QB Quin Ashley who forced an ill-advised pass.  LB Ezra Butler’s quick hands snagged the ball out of the air, and his quick feet carried him into the end zone for an 11-yard TD return for Nevada, and the Pack had a seemingly comfortable 17-0 lead.  Paul mentioned that Butler is the stalwart on defense and has the best shot of all to continue his football career on Sundays. It looked like his team was on the verge of a blow-out in the first period, but their Faithful remained pessimistic.  They said they’ve seen the Pack do this too often before.  Ashley, who supposedly was not going to be available to start this day, would be replaced by R-Fr QB Nathan Enderle the next time the Vandals came out on offense.

      In the second period, the change paid off for the Vandals as Enderle threw a 10-yard TD pass to his TE Peter Bjorvik to finish off a 78-yard drive. Tino Amando converted for the Vandals.   The Pack tried to respond while leading 17-7 with a 27-yard FG attempt by Jaekle that looked close, but was no good.  The half ended with Jaekle coming up short on another attempt, this one from 54 yards out.  At the half, Nevada had 165 yards in total offense, the Vandals garnered only 79!  Field position and the turnover contributed to UN-R’s scores.  Enderle’s entry helped IU get back into the game (12 for 15 for 156 yards and 2 TDs).

     The Wolfpack Marching Band, for whom Paul’s son plays, performed at the intermission.  The school bookstore was closed on Saturday as it was on Friday, possibly for Nevada Day, so the concession stand was visited for cool Wolfpack stuff to bring home for the family.  Disappointedly, they had a limited selection, and the better shirts they had were only available in XXL, too large for blossoming teenagers.  It was a surprise to be so short on stock at a game where the attendance was 11,960. They were even out of shopping bags.  Somebody has to plan better.  Nevada-Reno has some great Wolfpack logos.  Paul says that Mackay Stadium, with a capacity of 29,964, sells out for the “Battle of the Fremont Cannon” when UNLV comes to town every other year.  Reno probably has plenty of UNLV alum managing the growing Casino business downtown.  He says that Boise and Fresno in the “top-heavy” conference bring in the best followings for the biggest crowds at Mackay.  He and the other Nevada die-hards contend that many of locals turn their interests to pro and college football in northern California when the have a pretty decent program right here in Reno.  They’ve played in two consecutive bowl games the last two years, losing 21-20 to Miami in the MPC Computer Bowl and besting Central Florida the year before 49-48 in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.  Halftime festivities included about 150 kids known as the “Little Pack Dancers”, dressed in their Halloween costumes, dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”.  They did a great job.  To finish the entertainment portion of the half, three guys rolled tires from the ten-yard line in a contest with the winner winning a free set of tires from a local service – a pretty worthwhile prize to someone who recently replaced his!  The winning roll went down to the far 35-yard line.

     For a Halloween week game, it seemed appropriate that a team of “Vandals” kicked off to a team called the “Wolfpack”! The pack of Wolves looked to get things rolling on the right foot to start the second half, but the Wolfpack’s Dwayne Sanders fumbled the ball away to those egg-hurling Vandals, and Idaho took charge of the ball at the Nevada 31.  On a third and nine at Nevada’s 18, Enderle fire a TD pass to WR Eric Greenwood to cut the score early in the third period, 17-14.  The Nevada fans expected the worst and it seemed to be happening before our eyes.  The Wolfpack sideline seemed lethargic until red-faced LB Kevin Porter screamed at his teammates to try to exhort some emotion to get his team into this game.  The teams traded punts through the end of the period, but the Pack was driving as Nevada’s ROTC howitzer across the field exploded shocking the stands to signal the end of the third.

     On a fourth and one at the four, Coach Ault decided to forgo an easy chip shot for three and the Pack came through with a first down.  Lippincott took it in from the two, and UN-Reno extended the lead to 24-14.  Nevada forced IU to punt and took back over on its own 15.  Frosh QB Colin Kaepernick’s 23-yard pass to WR Kyle Sammons and his 18-yard scramble put Nevada at the Idaho 28-yard line.  Kaepernick’s next pass fluttered enroute to the end zone, but WR Marko Mitchell came back to get it with a diving catch for the TD to widen the margin, 31-14.  The Pack fans cheered, of course, but I was somewhat disappointed since I had taken Idaho and the 16-1/2 points – hey, what else are you supposed to do when you visit Reno?  With 4:22 remaining, Idaho started anew from its own thirty-five.  Three penalties including two pass interference calls put the Vandals on UN-R’s two.  RB Deonte Jackson, who came into this game as the WAC’s leading rusher and the nation’s eleventh in rushing yards, scored from the two to close the gap back to ten, 31-21.  Jackson, sharing duties this day with SR RB Brian Flowers, finished with only 45 rushing yards this day.  Lippincott would surpass him in conference standings.  2:20 remained.  IU tried for the onsides kick, of course, and didn’t get it, of course, for my sake!  The Pack had the ball on the IU thirty-nine.  A pass reception and a roughing the passer call put them at the IU twelve.  Lippincott’s run from deep in the Pistol for 11 yards around the right side gave the Pack a 37-21 lead.  The Pack fans were ecstatic as I cringed awaiting a 17-point Nevada win.  Jaekle missed the extra point!  I was happy – for a while!  I found later that another team on that ticket lost.  Oh, well!  That’s why I never bet – unless I visit Nevada, of course!  37-21 was the final of CollegeFootballFan.com’s Grand Finale!  119 teams seen and none are left, but plenty of exciting college football action still lies ahead.  I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

     At 4-4 and 2-2, Paul and other Nevada fans envision a third consecutive bowl invitation.  The major obstacle comes up after next week’s game at 4-4 New Mexico State.  That’s two weeks later when 8-0 and #14 BCS-ranked Hawaii comes to Mackay.  With an 8:05 pm start on a Friday night in mid-November, the Pack fans hope for cold weather to help hinder the Rainbow Warriors after their trip from the tropics. Phil’s hoping he has to bring his snow-plow!   Snow has already fallen this month in Reno, so it might get cold again by then.  The game will be on ESPN2.  Idaho hosts Louisiana Tech (shouldn’t they be in the Sun Belt instead of the WAC?) next week and then faces conference leader and in-state rival, Boise State, two weeks later.  CFF returns to our most visited venue, Beaver Stadium in Happy (?) Valley to see 6-3 Penn State host 7-2 Purdue after Saturday’s butt-whipping by #1 Ohio State.  The outcome will sort out Big Ten bowl invitations other than the Rose Bowl and BCS bid. 

     With the Goal now complete having seen Idaho and Nevada as #118 and #119, we plan to attend games featuring the best match-ups we can attend at any division level.  The Goal’s been great.  We’ve seen some great games, and along the way we’ve got to visit with friends and to meet some new ones along the way as we did in Nevada this week. We love college football and now we can say, “Seen ‘em all!”

Extra points – We noticed a few things on our flight into Reno on Friday.  First, the heavy haze of smoke from the fires out in California covered the area.  We hope all our acquaintances in California are fine, especially our San Diego State friend Tom Ables.  Second, we noticed no typical activities taking place around schools on a Friday morning.  As reported, we later found out that we flew in on Nevada Day. Schools (including UNR) and banks were closed to celebrate statehood.

Making a connection from Newark to Reno in Salt Lake City, several members of the Weber State football team were seen wearing gray sweats with purple Weber trim as they meandered to a gate to catch a flight to play Portland State in Oregon.  Little did we know at the time that we were flirting with college football history once again as the two 1AA teams played a game of historic consequences as they SET the record for the highest scoring game in the annals of college football history this particular weekend.  Weber State triumphed, 73-68.

 Toured the University campus on Friday when few were about. Like many campuses we’ve seen, there is a lot of construction taking place.  Tuition is free for in-state students who have good grades.  Much of the funding comes through gambling taxes.  As Paul, who live in the Tahoe area said, ”Don’t worry.  Whatever you lose in Reno, remember you’re helping me!” His son is at UN-R now and his daughter may follow unless she finds a better offer somewhere to play volleyball.

 On Friday, I stopped by The Ritz Bar and Grill next to campus.  Chloe, the bartender, filled me in on Nevada Day, and we had a shot along with Mike, the cook, to celebrate. Mike makes great burgers.

 Stayed at the Sands which the locals call “old Reno.”  I spent most of my time (and money) at the Silver Legacy, one of the newer places where the ventilation cleared the smoke much better. 

 Idaho coach Rob Ackey is one of the coaches in Idaho’s revolving door.  His predecessor stayed at IU for one year and now coaches one of the last remaining undefeated Bowl division teams (I don’t want to give away the trivia answer here).  Too bad for IU, that coach, who led them to four wins, could have made a difference long term for the Vandals if he stayed longer.     

 Deonte Jackson found his way to Idaho through word of mouth from his cousin, RB Steven Jackson now with the St. Louis Rams.  He called his former college coach and told him of Deonte, and IU signed him up (I can’t believe I’ve given another hint!).

 Walking on Virginia Avenue to campus, a bridge crosses over Interstate 80, the same I-80 that traverses Jersey.  Traffic on 80 moves a lot faster in Reno than it does back home!

 One thing nice about Pacific Time – football on TV.  I went to the hotel gym and watched Game Day Saturday morning at 7 am.  I watched eastern games start at 9 am while drinking Bloody Marys at the Silver Legacy where my bets were in.  I left at the half of those games doing pretty good when I left to meet Paul at his tailgate party hosted by his buddy, Steve.  I met a nice bunch of Nevada fans there.  After the game, I caught up on scores at the local Wolfpack hang-out near the stadium, the Little Waldorf.  I left to collect some winnings and analyze to pro games for Sunday, but I even stayed up to watch the end of the Arizona State comeback over Cal.  I basically broke even on the weekend, but my point is, you can watch football from 7 am to midnight in Pacific Time – especially at places with satellites and a lot of TVs!

 Several people including the host of the tailgate party, Steve,  asked why this game was “saved” for last.  Told them that the best the best game was saved for last as they laughed and shook their heads.  Paul figured I had to be a die-hard if I opted out of the possibility of attending Penn State-Ohio State for Nevada and Idaho.  Been there, done that two years ago though in PSU-s 17-10 win!  I didn’t want to wait to get to Idaho next year for the rematch or wait two years to get back to Reno.

 Paul’s dad played for Cal back in the early ‘50s.  In the Homecoming edition of Nevada’s game magazine, Pack Edge, Paul did a nice article entitled, “The Battle Born Rivalry”.  It’s got some great stories about the Nevada-UNLV rivalry played since 1969.