Wolf Pack blank Rainbow Warriors in second half to win big

The University of Nevada, Reno Wolf Pack defeated the visiting Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii on Saturday 34-17.

Junior quarterback Carson Strong had his fourth game of the season with over 300 passing yards. He finished with a season-high 395 passing yards, to go along with his two passing touchdowns. This was the ninth 300-yard passing game of Strong’s career with the Nevada Wolf Pack.

After getting a field goal on the opening drive, the Wolf Pack found themselves trailing quickly. On the ensuing drive by the Rainbow Warriors, freshman running back Dae Dae Hunter took his first carry of the game 75 yards for a touchdown on the first play for Hawaii.

Hunter finished with eight carries for career-high 174 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdowns came on runs of at least 75 yards, with the longest run being for 81 yards at the beginning of the second quarter.

After an exciting first half, the Rainbow Warriors failed to put points on the scoreboard in the second half. The Wolf Pack outscored them 14-0 with both touchdowns coming in the third quarter.

Nevada’s defense came up huge with five turnovers on the day. The Wolf Pack’s senior linebacker, Daiyan Henley, came away with two of the defense’s four interceptions thrown by Hawaii’s freshman quarterback, Brayden Schager.

Schager, who was standing in for Hawaii’s starting quarterback, Chevan Cordeiro, was making just his second start of his short career with the Rainbow Warriors.

Nevada was able to turn four of the five turnovers into scoring drives. Three of the four scores ended with touchdowns by the offense, including back-to-back drives to start the second half for the Wolf Pack.

With this win, Nevada now sits in second place of the West division in the Mountain West Conference standings. They’re just one game in back of the San Diego State Aztecs for the division lead.

Nevada’s next game will be on Saturday, Oct. 23, when they travel to Fresno State to take on the Bulldogs. Fresno State is coming into this game fresh off a shutout victory over the Wyoming Cowboys.

Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.

Contact Sports Editor Danny Smyth at dsmyth@pvtimes.com