RENO - Nevada football coach Chris Ault isn't thinking much about San Jose State, the Pack's opponent this coming Saturday.
Ault certainly isn't overlooking the Spartans, but he's more concerned about his own squad, which suffered its eighth straight road loss, 42-21 against Colorado State on Saturday.
"Our priority is us," Ault told reporters before Monday's practice. "My emphasis is us. You have your role players, and they're supposed to do their job. You have the produce guys, the experienced players, and they have to produce. We're not very consistent; not very consistent at all."
Especially on defense. Nevada has been especially soft against the run, yielding 237 yards a game. Simply put, if you can't stop the run, you won't win many games.
"Defensively speaking, our linebacker play was really inconsistent," Ault said, referring to inside starters Jeremy Engstrom and Roosevelt Cooks and outside starters Nick Fuhr and Ezra Butler. "They just didn't make plays. When you play against a big, physical team like that (Colorado State) you have to make plays.
"In the second and third quarters I thought the defense had some consistency. In the first and fourth quarters, we didn't match up. We were missing tackles that we were right there for. We gave up six yards a carry. We can't allow that to happen. It's the same people making the same mistakes."
And, Ault said that can be traced to practice. He also hinted during the weekly WAC teleconference that changes could be coming.
"It's how you do in practice, and you have to take those habits into Saturday," he said. "Look at the fourth quarter, the guys did that. It has nothing to do with speed. We've got speed. We're not sluggish."
FLOWERS BEING RESTED
Ault said that wide receiver Nichiren Flowers, who re-aggravated a groin injury against Colorado State, will be kept out of practice the next couple of days. Ault said he is probable for Saturday's game.
Ault showed frustration at some of the nagging injuries that have hit Nevada. Running back Tommy Haug suffered back spasms in warmups and didn't play and tight end Blaine Bishop also has been injured. Their absence doesn't allow Nevada to run certain packages.
n Contact Darrell Moody at dmoody@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1281
