The Nevada Wolf Pack football team that coach Chris Ault envisioned heading into the season is finally peeking its head out from behind a cloud of turnovers, penalties and head-scratching mistakes.
"We played our best game as a team last week," said Ault of last Friday's turnover-free 37-14 victory over Louisiana Tech at Mackay Stadium. "But, still, we're marching uphill. We still have a ways to go."
That uphill climb from an 0-3 start will take the Wolf Pack, now 2-3, to Logan, Utah on Saturday (12:05 p.m. kickoff) to take on the 1-4 Utah State Aggies at Romney Stadium. The game, which will be televised by Channel 21and broadcast on 630-AM in northern Nevada, is the second Western Athletic Conference game for both teams.
"The past two weeks we really started clicking," said Pack quarterback Colin Kaepernick, referring to a 63-28 victory over UNLV on Oct. 3 and last week's WAC-opening victory over La Tech. "Right now we're just in a good rhythm and in that place where we need to be."
"We've found our groove," said Pack running back Vai Taua, who returned from a one-game absence (elbow injury) to run for 107 yards against Louisiana Tech.
A big reason for the Pack's recent rhythm and groove is a running game that has piled up 904 yards over the past two games. The Pack now leads the nation in rushing at just under 289 yards a game.
"They are a very physical offense," Utah State head coach Gary Andersen said this week. "What they run is not an option but you still have to commit a lot of people in the box especially with the tremendous ability of their quarterback to run the ball.
"After watching film of them the last 48 hours, I'm surprised more teams aren't doing what they're doing. That's an unbelievable offense to have to defend."
Kaepernick, who has now passed for 921 yards and six touchdowns and run for 384 yards and three scores this year, has led the revival of the Pack offense. The junior was named the WAC's Offensive Player of the Week for his 89 yards rushing and two touchdowns and 15-of-21 passing for 166 yards and three more touchdowns against Louisiana Tech.
"Kap is an incredible player," offensive tackle Alonzo Durham said. "He always gives us (the offensive line) credit and it's our job to open up holes to let him do his thing."
His thing, lately, has been to help the Pack play mistake-free football. The 6-6 Kaepernick played out of character the first two weeks by being intercepted four times combined in losses to Notre Dame and Colorado State on the road.
In the last three games, all at Mackay Stadium, he has thrown 69 passes without an interception.
"Kap has been outstanding," Ault said. "He's making all the right decisions."
As Kaepernick goes, so goes the entire Pack offense. The Louisiana Tech game was the Pack's first this year without a lost fumble after losing 10 fumbles over the first four games.
"That was great to see," Ault said. "That was the key to our controlling the ball (over 36 minutes against La Tech) and getting in a good rhythm on offense."
It has all added up to a lot of happy faces around the program this week.
"You look around the locker room and guys are more excited and happy," Durham said. "It's good to have that energy and it shows on the practice field."
Utah State, which has lost four games in a row to the Wolf Pack and 15-of-19 in the all-time series, is in its first year under Andersen. Andersen, a former Utah assistant, was the head coach of Southern Utah, the team that almost spoiled the first night game in Mackay Stadium history in 2003 (a narrow 24-23 Pack victory).
"Their offense is as multiple as any offense we'll see," Ault said. "It's centered around their quarterback and his legs. He's very explosive. And they run out of a lot of different formations, which keeps you off balance."
Utah State quarterback Diondre Borel, the Aggies' all-time leader in rushing yards (817) for a quarterback, has passed for 1,140 yards and six TDs and run for 175 yards and four score this year. He was just one of seven quarterbacks in the nation last year to lead his team in both passing (1,705 yards) and rushing (632).
"He's like a little Kaepernick," said Ault of the 6-foot, 174-pound junior who threw for 262 yards and ran for 50 yards in a 44-17 loss to the Pack a year ago.
The Aggies this year are led on the ground by sophomore Robert Turbin (604 yards). Turbin had just eight yards on eight carries last year against the Pack.
"We're playing OK upfront on the offensive line," Andersen said. "Just average. A lot of what Robert gets is on his own right now. He has the ability to make a lot of runs on his own."
The Wolf Pack has won its last six games in Logan, Utah dating back to 1993.
The Pack hasn't lost to Utah State in Logan since a 7-6 setback in the season opener in 1950. Ault is 7-0 all-time against the Aggies.
"From the last time I saw them back in 2003, what Nevada has done in recruiting the last few years is very impressive to me," Andersen said. "It's a whole different type of young man now out there on the football field."
