A pair of 7-5 teams meet to start the bowl season with the Mountain
West's Nevada Wolfpack and the PAC 12's Arizona Wildcats facing off in the New
Mexico Bowl.
Offense:
Nevada and Arizona both enter this game as some of the best offensive
teams in the nation with the Wolfpack 11th nationally with 502 yards per game
and the Wildcats 7th nationally with 521 yards per game. Nevada is paced by
running back Stefphon Jefferson who is 4th nationally with 1703 yards rushing
on the season. Jefferson started out very strong to start the season and has
ended the regular season leading the nation in rushing touchdowns with 22 on
the year. Arizona counters with running back Ka'Deem Carey who ended the regular
season with 1757 yards on the ground ranking him 2nd nationally. Carey added 20
touchdowns rushing, just a mere two touchdowns behind Jefferson.
Both teams have strong passing games with Cody Fajardo of Nevada
throwing for 2530 yards and 17 touchdowns compared to Matt Scott's 3238 yards
and 24 touchdowns for the Wildcats. Both teams rank in the top 20 nationally in
scoring average and have rarely been slowed down with both teams putting up 37
points per game.
Advantage: Arizona by a sliver.
Nevada has an outstanding offense but statistically the Wildcats have more
production from the QB and RB positions although Jefferson found the end zone
more than Carey.
Nevada
T 78 Jeff Nady 6-7 305 Sr. 2V Minden, Nev. (Douglas HS)
G 75 Chris Barker 6-4 305 Sr. 2V Fontana, Calif. (Etiwanda HS)
C 65 Matt Galas 6-1 275 So. 1SQ Modesto, Calif. (Central Catholic HS)
G 77 Alex Pinto 6-3 305 Sr. 3SQ Wheatland, Calif. (Wheatland HS)
T 70 Joel Bitonio 6-4 315 Jr. 2V Long Beach, Calif. (Long Beach Wilson
HS)
TE 44 Zach Sudfeld 6-7 255 Sr. 3V Modesto, Calif. (Modesto Christian
HS)
Z 12 Richy Turner 5-11 180 So. TR Long Beach, Calif. (Fullerton
College)
X 4 Brandon Wimberly 6-3 215 Sr. 2V Los Angeles, Calif. (Gardena HS)
F 81 Aaron Bradley 6-1 180 RS-Fr. RS Stevenson Ranch, Calif. (Gahr HS)
RB 25 Stefphon Jefferson 5-11 210 Jr. 1V Visalia, Calif. (El Diamante
HS)
QB 17 Cody Fajardo 6-2 205 So. 1V Brea, Calif. (Servite HS)
Arizona
WR 4 Dan Buckner 6-4 215 Sr.-1L
SLOT 16 Garic Wharton 5-11 164 So.-1L
LT 68 Mickey Baucus 6-8 285 So.-1L
LG 62 Chris Putton 6-4 280 Jr.-2L
C 76 Kyle Quinn 6-3 290 Sr.-3L
RG 72 Trace Biskin 6-5 282 Sr.-1L
RT 73 Fabbians Ebbele 6-8 310 So.-1L
TE 87 Drew Robinson 6-5 256 Sr.-1L
QB 10 Matt Scott 6-3 196 RS Sr.-3L
RB 25 Ka’Deem Carey 5-10 197 So.-1L
FB 31 Taimi Tutogi 6-1 260
Sr.-3L
SLOT 29 Austin Hill 6-3 211 So.-1L
WR 18 Terrence Miller 6-4 226 Sr.-3L
Defense:
While both teams are offensive juggernauts, the defenses need some work
to say the least. Arizona brings in a defense that is ranked 116th nationally
giving up 485 yards per game, 54 touchdowns, and nearly 6000 total yards on the
season. Nevada gives up just over 50 yards less per game than Arizona but gave
up a disappointing 50 touchdowns on the season. The Wolfpack gave up nearly
5200 yards of total offense on the season.
Arizona comes into this game as the NCAA's 88th ranked rushing defense
giving up 189 yards per game, 30 rushing touchdowns and a 4.45 yards per carry
average. The Wildcats struggled to stop many teams from dictating the line of
scrimmage and could not even come close to stopping the strong rushing teams.
While Arizona struggled to stop the run, Nevada was just horrible against the
run ranking 111th nationally allowing 213 yards rushing per game, 23 touchdowns
and 5.09 yards per carry. With statistics like that, Carey may have the chance
to go for 2000 yards on the season with a strong performance today versus the
Wolfpack.
While Nevada was horrible against the run, they were good versus the
pass with the 43rd ranked passing defense giving up 218 yards in the air per
game but 24 touchdown passes given up. The Wolfpack were only able to pull in 4
interceptions on the season and much of their passing defense success can be
attributed to their ineptitude at stopping the run. The Wildcats come into this
game after facing some strong passing teams in the PAC 12 with a slightly
exaggerated ranking of 116th nationally in pass defense. The Wildcats gave up
295 yards per game in the air but surprisingly only 22 passing touchdowns on
the year.
The Nevada Wolfpack gave up a very underwhelming 32.5 points per game
this season with those 50 touchdowns allowed on the season. Arizona one-upped
the Wolfpack with their defensive inefficiencies giving up 34.3 points per game
including 54 touchdowns allowed on the season.
Advantage: Nevada. While not
giving Nevada any credit for being a good defensive team or even competent, the
Wolfpack are better than the horrible defense that Arizona put on the field
from week to week.
Nevada
E 53 Brock Hekking 6-4 260 So. 1V Vacaville, Calif. (Vacaville HS)
T 97 Mark Avery 6-4 280 Sr. 3SQ Stockton, Calif. (Amos Alonzo Stagg HS)
T 92 Jordan Hanson 6-2 285 So. 1V Stockton, Calif. (Amos Alonzo Stagg
HS)
E 94 Lenny Jones 6-3 250 RS-Fr. RS San Leandro, Calif. (San Leandro HS)
SAM 54 Jeremiah Green 6-2 235 Sr. 1V Tulare, Calif. (College of
Sequoias)
MIKE 51 Albert Rosette 6-2 240 Sr. 3V Antioch, Calif. (De La Salle HS)
WOLF 42 DeAndre Boughton 6-1 225 Sr. 1V Fresno, Calif. (Fresno City
College)
CB 24 Charles Garrett 5-11 190 So. 1SQ Los Angeles, Calif. (Dorsey HS)
SS 5 Duke Williams 6-1 200 Sr. 3V Reno, Nev. (Hug HS)
FS 8 Marlon Johnson 5-11 205 Sr. 2V Los Angeles, Calif. (Inglewood HS)
Arizona
END 84 Reggie Gilbert 6-4 252 So.-1L
NOSE 91 Sione Tuihalamaka 6-2 271 Jr.-2L
TACKLE 90 Dan Pettinato 6-4 265 So.*-1L
SLB 2 Marquis Flowers 6-3 221 Jr.-2L
MLB 33 Jake Fischer 6-0 215 RS Jr.-2L
WLB 53 Sir Thomas Jackson 6-0 215 Fr.-RS
SPUR 21 Tra’Mayne Bondurant 5-10 207 So.-1L
BANDIT 38 Jared Tevis 5-10 197 So.-1L
CB 5 Shaquille Richardson 6-1 186 Jr.-2L
CB 6 Jonathan McKnight 5-11 167 RS So.-1L
FS 26 Jourdon Grandon 6-0 186 So.-1L
Special Teams:
Nevada has a very strong return game although they have not broken any
returns for a touchdown on the season. Khalid Wooten averages 16.4 yards per
return on 14 punt returns while Kendall Brock averages 23 yards per return on
39 kickoff returns on the season. Field
goal attempts are 8-11 on the year with 2 different kickers although the range
is limited with only one attempt from longer than 40 yards The punt game is
solid with a 42.9 yards per punt average including 10 punts over 50 yards for the
Wolfpack behind the leg of Chase Tenpenny. Ditsworth is putting 35% of his
kickoff attempts into the end zone and has kicked none out of bounds.
The Arizona Wildcats do not bring quite as good of a return game as the
Wolfpack but Morrison took one punt for a touchdown to raise his average from
single digits to 10.2 yards per return on the season. Jenkins was the leading
kickoff returner with 20 yards per return and a long of 56 yards. Nothing
really stands up for the Wildcats with the return game but it is solid and that
is important for getting the ball to the strong Wildcat offense. Bonano for the
Wildcats was less accurate than the two kickers for Nevada but was given more
difficult chances and succeeding. Bonano was 3-4 from 40+ yards with a long of
46 yards on the season. The one concerning issue is that Bonano was only 8-11
from 20-29 yards. Close misses drive coaching staffs crazy. Dugandzic has been
good this fall with a 43.4 yards per punt average and 9 punts over 50 yards.
Bonano also handles the kickoff duties and is putting nearly 46% of his
kickoffs into the end zone negating the solid Nevada return game.
Advantage: Arizona. The Wildcats
have much more faith in their kicking game than the Wolfpack and Nevada may end
up losing points in the long run taking 4th down gambles rather than taking
what is to most teams the easy 3 points. This could be what decides the game.
Nevada
KO 46 Colin Ditsworth 6-0 195 So. 1V Las Vegas, Nev. (Bishop Gorman HS)
PK 60 Allen Hardison 6-4 210 Sr. 1V Newport Beach, Calif. (UNLV)
P 37 Chase Tenpenny 6-4 255 Jr. RS Oskaloosa, Kan. (Fr. Scott CC)
KR 20 Kendall Brock 5-9 195 So. 1V Fresno, Calif. (Clovis West HS)
PR 2 Khalid Wooten 6-0 200 Sr. 3V Rialto, Calif. (Carter HS)
LS 57 Connor Talbott 6-3 285 RS-Fr. RS Reno, Nev. (Bishop Manogue HS)
H 2 Khalid Wooten 6-0 200 Sr. 3V Rialto, Calif. (Carter HS)
Arizona
P/Hold 13 Kyle Dugandzic 6-0 200 Sr.-1L
LS 63 Brian Chacon (PAT/FG) 6-3 267 Jr.-1L
PR 84 Sean Willet 6-0 192 Jr.-SQ
KOR 23 Jared Baker 5-8 191 Fr.-RS
Prediction: Arizona 38, Nevada
31.
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